Rise of the Enemy (26 page)

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What are the ingredients for a classic thriller?

The single most important ingredient for a thriller – any type of book really – is conflict; whether it’s the internal conflict of your main character or some external conflict affecting a character, or perhaps just the wider subject on which the book is based. Certainly for the Enemy series the key conflict comes in the form of Logan and his troubles, not just in terms of the assignments he faces, but with regards to the personal demons in his own mind. It’s this element of Logan that I really enjoy writing about, that for me brings him to life and makes him so interesting but also vulnerable in a way that action heroes and super spies rarely are.

The other key elements for me are pace and intrigue. I love to read books that flow freely, where you get caught up in the story and have to hold yourself back from rushing ahead to find out what happens next. I try to make all of my books as action-focused as I can without leaving out any of the important setting and characterisation that are needed to really keep the reader engaged. Essentially what
I’m describing is your classic page-turner – a book that once you start to read it you can’t stop.

What makes the perfect villain?

I really enjoy creating villains because you don’t have to hold back with them at all. In many ways the nastier they are the better. I want readers to hate my villains and look forward to them getting their comeuppance. But that said, just like with the main character to a story, I don’t think villains are entirely effective if they are one dimensional. There needs to be more to them than just devilishness. That could be in the form of an interesting backstory as to how they came to be who they are, or by showing a different side to them; they may have a family or interests or positions in life that either serve as an explanation for their wicked ways or simply adds to the confusion about who they really are.

Who is Carl Logan to you?

To me, Logan is such a complex and intriguing person because there are so many elements to him. In many respects he’s your classic action hero – he’s highly trained and he’s a fighter, much like all of the protagonists from the big, best-selling thrillers that we know and love. That said, to me at least, there is much more to Logan. Sure, there are plenty of washed-up heroes but it’s Logan’s absolute naivety of what a normal life is that makes him so interesting and vulnerable. For all of the qualities he has as a secret agent, he’s almost childlike in the way he sees the world as black and white; in the way that he feels emotions so powerfully and uncontrollably, having felt so little for so long. The Enemy series deals with the big concepts of love, betrayal and revenge in various guises and I get real pleasure
from putting Logan into those situations and seeing how he reacts, and imagining the emotion he would be feeling.

Why do you write thrillers?

They say you should write what you know. I’m an accountant by trade and whilst I’m sure I have some interesting stories from my time as a fraud investigator, it just doesn’t do it for me as the main basis for a thriller novel. I’m not an ex-detective or ex-army, I’ve never been a secret agent, so I don’t have those real life experiences, but I know thrillers. For years it’s what I’ve read, it’s the TV series I go for, the movies I love. Basically I write the type of book that I love to read myself.

When and why did you start writing?

People are always really shocked when they learn how I got into writing. It wasn’t something I’d always thought about doing at all. I’d never attempted to write fiction until I was 28 years old and had never even contemplated it if truth be told. It all started from a seemingly innocuous comment I made to my wife that I reckoned I could write a ‘can’t put down’ thriller. We were on holiday at the time and the comment was borne of frustration from me having read a number of books in quick succession which I hadn’t been very impressed with. I don’t think either of us thought too much about the comment at the time but from that point I started planning some ideas in my head – just individual scenes really. I started writing out those ideas in secret at first. I was almost embarrassed that I had the audacity to think I could be a writer. But I got into it straight away – it felt really comfortable to me. When I finally built up the
courage to show my wife the few chapters I’d written she gave me the nod to carry on. I’d half expected her to burst out laughing but she didn’t. She was really supportive then and has been throughout the years that have followed.

Since that time I’ve just fallen in love with writing. I can’t stop it now. It’s been a long, hard road to get to where I am but it’s been worth it and I’ll carry on writing now regardless of how successful the books are, even if it’s just for me. Luckily, so far the reception to my work has been really positive.

Do you always use exotic locations in your novels?

I’m not sure the locations are all exotic, but certainly there’s a really international feel to the books with few – if any – scenes based in the UK. I think that just fits the nature of the stories and in particular the role of Carl Logan.

Do you visit the locations in your books as part of your research?

I don’t yet have the luxury either in terms of time or money to visit all of the locations for research unfortunately! That said, I’ve visited many of the places I write about either on holiday or as part of my job as a fraud investigator. As you can imagine, when you’re investigating cases of large scale fraud and corruption there’s a good chance of you being required to travel the globe to less salubrious locations. The settings for the books are certainly influenced by my own experiences in that regard – either places I’ve been to or places where colleagues I’ve worked with are from.

When and where do you write?

My life has changed immeasurably in the years I’ve been writing so far. When I first started I had a full time job to contend with. I was writing any spare moment I could; mornings before work, lunchtimes, evenings, weekends. And I’ve written in countless places; trains, planes, ferries, hotels, offices, both in the UK and around the world.

Thankfully, I’ve now become more regimented at least in terms of when and where I write. My usual place is sat on the sofa in my lounge, looking over the garden. It’s not great for my back – my physio says I should sit in a proper chair – and the sofa is definitely getting worn out from over-use, but it’s where I feel most comfortable and productive. In the future I’d love to have my own little writer’s retreat somewhere; a place in the mountains or by the sea perhaps. I love the Lake District, where my parents live, and every time I visit there I feel really relaxed and inspired. It’s an incredible place that has certainly worked well for plenty of writers in the past, so maybe there. One day.

What’s your favourite part of being a writer?

Two things really stand out for me. One is the writing process itself. It’s the moment when it all comes together. I’ve never started a story with a fully-formed plot, just a few big ideas. That means I don’t know where the story is going necessarily and it can become quite nerve-wracking when you have the self-doubt about whether or not the ideas will come to finish the book. So that point when you finally get to the last chapter and everything has come together is a really great feeling – even though after the first draft the story generally still needs a lot of editing.

The other thing is positive feedback and reviews. There’s nothing better than somebody saying they enjoyed my
work, whether it be someone I know, a reader or a reviewer. It makes all of the hard work, both in writing and publishing the stories, worth it. If I didn’t have people telling me the work was good I probably wouldn’t continue publishing – I guess I can be quite a vain person but I’m not vain enough to continue putting my work out to the world if people were consistently telling me how bad it was!

The Enemy Series:

Dance with the Enemy