Police chief Lanier basis of best-selling author's new book

WASHINGTON - A brand-new book from a bestselling fiction author is set in D.C., and some of the characters are very familiar to the city's top cop.

David Baldacci's latest thriller, "True Blue," was released last month. About a year ago, Baldacci went on a ride-along with Metropolitan Police, and sat down with Police Chief Cathy Lanier.

"He's just such a nice guy when we sat and had talks, I wasn't really sure what to expect," Lanier tells WTOP. Now that the novel is out, it's clear that Lanier was inspiration for at least two characters.

In the book, D.C. Police Chief Beth Perry owns a blind dog. Chief Lanier says that detail has "amazing similarity" to her own life. She owns five blind dogs, and some are deaf as well. What does Lanier think about the use of that detail in the book?

"I think it just shows that police officers are human too, and we love our dogs, and I think the compassion that drives us to do this job also shows in our private lives."

What does it take to own blind dogs?

"You don't move the furniture around a whole lot. They learn how to map their way out around the house, so moving furniture around could be a problem. Other than that,they just need a lot of love," Lanier says.

Another prominent character in the book is Chief Perry's sister Mason, who is also on the police force.

"I kind of had to giggle at a couple of the the little characteristics that he put both into the police chief and into her sister that mirror things that have happened to me throughout my career," says Lanier.

Lanier has not finished reading the book yet, but says she's impressed already.

"People on my staff have read it and they love it. I love the storyline so far, so I want to try and finish it as soon as I can."

Readers can expect to hear more from the characters Lanier inspired. Baldacci says this book is the first of a new series.

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All rights reserved.)