Maxim Loskutoff was just 11 years old when Ted Kaczynski was captured in a cabin outside Lincoln.
Through the years, the Missoula native thought about writing a book about the Unabomber as he matured and honed his skills as a writer. However, even after delving into diaries, manifestos, and neighbor accounts, he found Kaczynski to be an enigmatic figure. Loskutoff struggled to grasp the motivations of Kaczynski, stating, “the more I learned, the less clear his motivations became.”
“His motivations were a complex mix of ideology, resentment, and pathology that took me a long time to understand how to approach in writing this book,” he said.
He eventually developed a strategy. In his novel “Old King,” he made the infamous character Kaczynski one part of the ensemble. The central storyline follows Kaczynski’s criminal activities, including 20 years of living in seclusion building bombs that caused casualties. However, Kaczynski is integrated into a broader narrative about the lives of his Lincoln neighbors and the overarching themes concerning the American West.
The Unabomber symbolized to Loskutoff a dark, complex shadow over Montana, along with movements like back-to-the-land, environmental terrorism, and separatist groups. By creating a co-lead character who contrasts Kaczynski, he explored the dynamics between someone embracing the American dream of progress and someone seeking to dismantle American society.
The book is not a typical crime novel; it aims to provide the structure of a thriller while subverting expected outcomes. Loskutoff didn’t want to portray a hero or a clear resolution to the narrative.
Loskutoff, a Hellgate High School graduate, left Montana for California and New York for his education. He drew inspiration from his Pacific Northwest roots, rural working-class grievances, and social movements for his previous works.
His meticulous research and portrayals of Lincoln capture the tensions and social dynamics of the region, emphasizing the conflicts between environmentalists, ranchers, and loggers, and the ever-present struggle between growth and preservation in Montana.
Ultimately, Loskutoff aimed to depict nature as a complex character in his novel, emphasizing its power and complexity without romanticizing it. The novel delves deep into human-nature interactions and the impact of technology on society.
