Lee Child at UEA on 31 March /Symposium/ In Conversation/ Exhibition

To celebrate the opening of Lee Child's Archive at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and twenty-five years since the publication of the first Jack Reacher novel, the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing and the British Archive for Contemporary Writing are hosting two landmark events on 31 March 2022 to explore Child's legacy and the evolution of the crime thriller.

Lee Child will be with us throughout the day. Join a range of extraordinary writers, leading critics and researchers to consider what's next for this most exciting and malleable of forms.

The full programme can be found here.

Tickets are available for both events. A ticket for the Symposium is discounted for alumni and provides free entry to the evening event. Further information and booking can be found at www.uea.ac.uk/bacw/leechild.

Running Away with Harlan Coben

After reading Harlan Coben’s latest thriller Run Away my thoughts drifted back to a pivotal point in this novelist’s career – what we term his breakthrough book. I am writing about a novel that was extraordinary. It was different from what came before, and one that would launch Harlan Coben’s career as one of the World’s most engaging thriller writers, and one that changed the direction of his writing career, as well as being one (that I firmly believe) nudged the direction of the thriller genre. The book I allude to was of course TELL NO ONE, the first of his work that would be adapted for film, and curiously it would be Europe that acclaimed his talent.

But first a little context, and also a look at the surreal happenings in this reality, that at times makes one feel as if life contains the elements, reflections and occurrences that would not be out of place in a Harlan Coben novel.

I was first introduced to the work of Harlan Coben, thanks to one of my regular visits to the long-gone Murder Ink bookstore in Dawson Street, Dublin. It was in the late 1990s, and I recall sitting with Mike Gallaher, Murder Ink’s owner and as we sipped coffee, we discussed what books we’d read. Michael asked if I had read the Myron Bolitar novels penned by Harlan Coben? As I hadn’t, Michael told me about them, and about Myron Bolitar who was involved in investigating sports……and at that point I told Gallaher, sorry I’m not interested in sports, at which Gallaher told me “trust me Ali, the sports angle is just a foil. These novels by Harlan Coben are terrific, funny and exciting”. Michael also knew of my fascination with the music of Bruce Springsteen, so he added “and he’s from New Jersey, like Bruce Springsteen”.  

I trusted Michael Gallaher as I had purchased many books from him, over the years and he was rarely off target. Never one constrained by the forces of moderation, I bought all he had in the store, the first four of the Myron Bolitar novels [Deal Breaker, Drop Shot, Fade Away and Back Spin].

To be totally honest, I had low expectations as they looked way too sports-orientated for my palate, but Michael Gallaher was my friend, so I placed them into the bag with some others I purchased. I put off reading them as they appeared (as what I term) ‘Spunkbubbles’ with tennis rackets, golf clubs, US footballs, baseball bats emblazoned on the covers. As a result, they languished for several months in my TBR [to-be-read] pile, as each time I looked at the covers, my heart sank, because I dislike sports, and the idea of a crime fiction novel set in the world of athletics made me feel nauseous, they made me feel ill. They appeared to me, like literary Ebola.

Then on one particularly rainy day, I sifted through my masses of books and stumbled upon those four books by Harlan Coben, the ones Michael Gallaher of Murder Ink recommended, the ones that were crime and mystery thrillers set in the world of sport.

I held my nose as I cracked the spine of DEAL BREAKER expecting to abandon it after a few pages; BUT following reading the first chapter I realised I had been an idiot. I failed that test, the adage - “never judge a book by its cover”.

The writing was exhilarating, I found myself laughing out aloud, and I also found myself thinking deeply for this novel provoked intense thought and introspection. Then I read the next three books, back-to-back and they were just so damned good, extraordinary writing, words that made me think. They contained a dry wit, a humour that made me laugh, as I turned the pages, but also the humour was useful, because they were in fact very, very dark books; all despite the amiable nature of Harlan’s protagonist (and alter-ego), Myron Bolitar.

The sports angle, the backdrop was just that – purely a backdrop, it provided a ‘frame of reference’ in which a thought-provoking narrative could unfold – it was the lens.

Though his work is dark, and when later I got to meet the writer, Harlan Coben, I understood that writers with the darkest and most troubling imaginations are the nicest and most life-affirming of people.

I was hooked, and at that time of my life, Harlan Coben joined my other favourite writers, on my bookshelves; novelists such as Dennis Lehane, Lee Child, Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Thomas Harris, Michael Connelly, John Connolly, Martina Cole, Robert Crais, Jeffery Deaver, Philip Kerr among many, many others. What is impressive about these writers is the fact that despite selling books by the bucket-load, they could easily slack off and write ‘any old biff’ – but they continue to provide great and insightful novels, narratives that make the reader think deeply.

Harlan Coben is one such writer.

Harlan Coben’s work acts as a prism from which we can inspect our own lives, for his work makes us think, and that is what makes a novelist I consider to be ‘extraordinary’.

Just before Michael Gallaher closed down his shop Murder ink, we sat for a final coffee, and I thanked him for introducing me to the work of Harlan Coben.

We laughed at my initial reticence in cracking the spine of Deal Breaker, with all that Sports backdrop that had put me off. Michael amused me with an anecdote, which I will share –

“Do you remember when I told you about the work of Harlan Coben all those years ago? And as I knew the sports angle didn’t appeal to you, so I told you that Harlan Coben was from New Jersey, the same state as Bruce Springsteen?

I nodded.

“Well his guitarist Nils Lofgren was in the shop yesterday. He’s playing with Springsteen in Dublin tomorrow, and as he’s a big reader of Crime Fiction he was in the shop yesterday - and just like you, he asked for a recommendation, so I told him about Harlan Coben. Just like you, those many years ago, Nils Lofgren had never read a Harlan Coben novel before. He was intrigued due to the link to New Jersey, so he bought a few of his books here in Dublin.”

It was not long after that I noticed on Harlan Coben’s old website, before it became the ultra-slick www.harlancoben.com that there was a photo of Harlan backstage with the E-Street Band, and that a friendship developed with Nils Lofgren

But coming full circle, it would not be one of the first seven Myron Bolitar series thrillers that changed everything for me. it would be his standalone novel TELL NO ONE that would become the breakout, the novel that readers outside the confines of the crime, mystery, thriller genre would pick up, and the first that made it to film, the one that the French saw merit, and later Sky TV and Netflix would follow suit.  

When I read TELL NO ONE, I was very excited to meet Harlan Coben, and bought multiple copies of that hardcover (the one with that distinctive purple cover). Soon I found myself in a queue at the fondly remembered Crime-in-Store bookshop in London’s Covent Garden to get those books signed. For it was that year that many of my friends would receive signed copies of TELL NO ONE as gifts. It was also in that signing queue (just after the millennium) that I would first bump into Shots Blogger Ayo Onatade. I was in awe as Ayo had copies of those very rare paperbacks of Harlan’s early books Play Dead and Miracle Cure for signing.

Then over the years I would bump into Harlan at many book launches, award ceremonies as well as his appearances at Conventions such as Bouchercon, Theakstons’ Crime Writing Festival – and I applauded until my hands were red, when Harlan brought back Myron Bolitar a decade ago, as well as seeing his foray into YA fiction.

So, what were my thoughts on Harlan’s latest RUN AWAY?

Renowned for his twisty, serpentine plots, we often overlook just how great a novelist and narrative stylist Harlan Coben truly is. His latest, Run Away is a thriller but also a novel that makes you think deeply as the pages race, not unlike protagonist Simon Greene’s journey to save his daughter, and ultimately his family.

Simon and his wife Ingrid Greene maybe suffering middle-class guilt, in failing their daughter Paige who has slipped through the cracks within their picture-perfect suburban life. The three children, Sam, Anya, and Paige have all the opportunities afforded by their parents, New York professionals in paediatric medicine, and with PPG Wealth Management in the financial sector.

But something goes wrong.

Read the full review from Shots Magazine HERE because like TELL NO ONE, Harlan’s latest, decades on is extraordinary, very special.

So as Harlan launches his new thriller, as well as an upcoming visit to England as a guest of Theakston’s Crime Writing Festival 2019, In Harrogate, he kindly agreed to answering a few questions for Shots Magazine.

Ali:         Welcome back to Shots Magazine Harlan, so how exhausted are you after penning the breathless Run Away?

Harlan:      Ha!  Never! I feel more energized than ever!  (This is a lie)

Ali:        And again you mine the lives of normal families to create an extraordinary story, so what is it about the mysteries concealed in suburban life that interests you?

Harlan:          Well, the Greene’s live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan so it’s very much city rather than suburban life. Family fascinates me – the ties and bonds of blood. That was a good place to start. Throw in some of the new genealogy websites, a cult, a few killers, a drug problem….

Ali:        I felt Run Away to be perhaps your most personal book, in terms of the backdrop of Simon Greene’s wife being a Physician and having three children? The Lanford College; am I right?

Harlan:          All the books are personal, but here’s something funny. When my four kids read RUN AWAY, they all started trying to guess which one of them was supposed to be Paige, Simon’s most troubled daughter. (Answer: None – I’m remarkably lucky)

Ali:         So, tell me, was there a spark that ignited the story behind Run Away, or was it just your work ethic of needing to get your derriere onto your chair and releasing your imagination into the dark-side?

Harlan:  It’s always both. I had a few things I wanted to write about – family, religion, drugs, DNA – but nothing came together until, like Simon on the opening page, I was sitting on a bench in Central Park listening to street musician mangling out a John Lennon tune. That was the spark I needed.

Ali:         And I see you are back at Theakston’s Harrogate Crime Festival, so tell us what is it about Europe that you consider appeals to readers of your work, as Run Away, like much of your work is heavily set in America?

Harlan:          Oh, I don’t know. From what I’m told, the European reader really values thrillers with heart. I hope that’s what the appeal is, but whatever, I’m so grateful.

Ali:         I see that you are in conversation with Ian Rankin while a guest of Theakstons’ Crime Writing Festival, so what are we likely to expect?

Harlan:          A very serious, weighty, mono-toned, dry discourse that will put the audience to sleep. Or maybe the opposite. I’m not sure.

Ali:         The last time we met, was at Bouchercon New Orleans back in 2016 a wonderful party managed by Heather Graham and her team, so tell us about that time in Louisiana?

Harlan:          It was magical. Being guest of honor at a conference I first came to as a total unknown… well, wow, that was a pretty heady. Heather Graham is the best too. She’s just a great person in so many ways. I adore her.

Ali:        I hear that it was during a military assignment that Heather asked you about being one of Bouchercon’s GoH, so tell us about that assignment?

Harlan:          I traveled with Heather and several other crime writers – F Paul Wilson, Phillip Margolin, Kathleen Antrim – on a USO Tour to entertain (more like, hang with) the troops serving in Kuwait, UK, Germany and at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC. It was an incredible and poignant experience.

  

Ali:       Back to Run Away, I noticed a few subtle nods to previous work, such as Lanford College [from Six Years] being where Paige Greene’s problems may have started. So, are these references just part of the writing process, or written for fans of your work, and also nerds like me to uncover?

Harlan:  A little bit of both. I love what I think is commonly called Easter eggs in both books and TV. On the tv show THE FIVE, for example, savvy viewers/readers picked up that we named Pru’s medical clinic after Win from my Myron books. But I also do to show that I’m often working in the same world when I write my books. For that reason, overlap ends up being natural.

Ali:         And is it true that your own memories of Amherst College became fictionalised in your work and is it also true that while a student there, you met not only your wife, but an aspiring writer entitled Dan Brown? And what ever happened to that Dan Brown bloke?

Harlan:           Certainly, there are similarities between Amherst College and Lanford, but that’s true of many things, if not most things, I write about. Yes, I met my wife at Amherst College. And yes, I met Dan Brown there too. Dan and I remain friends, but meeting my wife was better. I think Dan would agree.

Ali                Can you tell us a little of what is happening to cinematic and TV adaptations of your work?

Harlan:          I just came back from Manchester where we started filming THE STRANGER, an eight-episode crime drama based off my book, starring Richard Armitage, Siobhan Finneran, Stephen Rea, Jennifer Saunders (yes, THE Jennifer Saunders – her first dramatic role), Hannah Kamen-John, Anthony Stewart Head, Paul Kaye, Shaun Dooley… it’s a dream group.

  

Ali:      Thanks Harlan for your time, we loved Run Away, and so what’s next?

Harlan:  Oh I never talk about the next book. It takes away some of the energy. To put it another way, I would LOVE to tell you about the next book, but the only way I get that satisfaction is to WRITE it. And thanks. I really can’t wait to hear people’s reaction to RUN AWAY. It’s one of my personal favorites – but who cares what I think??

Shots Magazine would like to thank Charlotte Bush of PenguinRandomHouse for her help in organising this interview

Click HERE for video and an insightful interview feature between Harlan Coben and Michael Connelly recorded at Bouchercon 2016, New Orleans

If you’ve not read Harlan Coben, then RUN AWAY is a great place to start, more information from www.harlancoben.com

Photos © 1997 – 2019 A Karim

Watching the Detectives

So, as we greet another adventure featuring the surreal detectives from the pen of Chris Fowler in the upcoming “The Lonely Hour”, Shots asked the author a little about these two iconic characters.

This may come as a shock but I don’t think of the Bryant & May mysteries (seventeen and counting) as a series. They’re a chance for me to write every kind of crime novel I can imagine, and to emulate some of my hero(ine)s. So far, I’ve tackled locked-room puzzles, whydunnits, how-will-he-get-away-with-its, races against time, comic capers, Christie and Crispin homages, and a dozen other crime sub-genres. I haven’t got around to gluing little clues into the pages as Dennis Wheatley’s publishers did but it can only be a matter of time. As a result, the books work well out of sequence because each is a fresh adventure.

The latest, ‘Bryant & May: The Lonely Hour’, is a darker, somewhat grittier adventure for my senior detectives. And it’s not a whodunnit, as I let the reader know the killer’s identity from the start, but there are questions about how and why, so there are still surprises to the very last page.

Each book feels like a new beginning, except that I get to use the same characters, and it really is like greeting old friends who have become so real to me over time, perhaps because each one is based at least in part on someone I know.

The new novel is about a man who knows what people fear most, and always strikes at 4:00am, the loneliest hour of the night, when we are all at our most vulnerable. To catch him Arthur Bryant changes his unit’s shifts to night-time, causing all kinds of havoc. It gave me a chance to explore the city at night and investigate murder, arson, kidnap, blackmail, bats and the psychological effects of loneliness on city-dwellers.

My research required me to chat to strangers hanging around in the street at 4:00am, many of whom didn’t make much sense. It’s a time when all the normal rules are upended, which only made the writing more interesting!

More information about these surreal detectives is available HERE

THE McILVANNEY PRIZE 2019

We were delighted to get news of the upcoming Scottish Crime Book of the Year, named after the legendary William McIlvanney, the Godfather of the so-called sub-genre we call Tartan Noir, with Laidlaw. Recently we thanked publisher Jamie Byng of Canongate for keeping the work of William McIIvanney in print.

This year is particularly melancholic as William’s brother, Hugh the renowned Sports Journalist recently passed away, though the family’s writing tradition continues with Liam – as this article indicates. It was at last year’s event that Liam McIlvanney was awarded the 2019 award, and his novel, The Quaker is currently in paperback and is one we recommend highly.

So without further ado, here’s more information from the Bloody Scotland Team >
 
Winner to be presented at Opening Reception of Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival in Stirling on Friday 20 September 2019
 

The McIlvanney Prize – Bloody Scotland’s annual prize awarded to the best Scottish Crime book of the year – is now open for entries. It provides Scottish crime writing with recognition and aims to raise the profile and prestige of the genre as a whole. Scottish roots are a must for competition applications: authors must either be born or raised in Scotland, have lived there for six years or more or their books are substantially set there. Only fiction is eligible. The prize was renamed in memory of William McIlvanney, often described as the Godfather of Tartan Noir, in 2016.

Eligible novels must have been first published in the UK between 1 August 2018 and 31 July 2019. Full details at https://bloodyscotland.com/mcilvanney-prize-entry/

New this year we have a debut prize which will be selected from the highest scoring titles in the first round and judged by the board of Bloody Scotland including crime writers Lin Anderson, Craig Robertson, Gordon Brown and Abir Mukerjee.

The McIlvanney Prize itself will be judged by Alison Flood, books reporter for The Guardian and a former news reporter for The Bookseller; James Crawford, chair of Publishing Scotland and presenter of BBC series, Scotland from the Sky and Stuart Cosgrove, writer and broadcaster who was formerly a senior executive at Channel 4.

Entries (PDFs of the book sent by email to Director, Bob McDevitt bob@bloodyscotland.com with McIlvanney Prize Entry 2019 plus the book title in the header) should be submitted by 5pm on Friday 26 April 2019.

The longlist is expected to comprise up to 12 books which will be announced after the organisers meeting in June 2019 at which point finished copies will be sent to each of the three judges.

The winner of The McIlvanney Prize will receive a cheque for £1000 and a new prize of £500 will be awarded for the Scottish Crime Debut of the Year

This year the Festival will take place from 20-22 September 2019. Full information at www.bloodyscotland.com

The 2018 programme will be launched on Monday 3 June in Stirling and Tuesday 4 June in London.

Previous winners of the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award are Liam McIlvanney with The Quaker in 2018, Denise Mina with The Long Drop in 2017, Chris Brookmyre with Black Widow in 2016, Craig Russell with The Ghosts of Altona in 2015, Peter May with Entry Island in 2014, Malcolm Mackay with How A Gunman Says Goodbye in 2013 and Charles Cumming with A Foreign Country in 2012.

The initial longlisting is handled by over 70 crime fiction readers and booksellers from all over Scotland overseen by an organising committee and the longlist is then handed to the panel of judges to decide on the eventual winner.

Longlisted titles are promoted in bookshops throughout Scotland in the period between the announcement at the end of August and the presentation on 20 September 2019.

Publishers will make every effort to ensure that any longlisted author attends the ceremony on 20 September 2019 in Stirling and will be available for interview before, immediately afterwards and the following week.

We welcome TV & radio crews. BBC Scotland filmed the prize live in 2016 and last year spent the first day of the Festival getting footage of past winners and shortlisted authors which was broadcast immediately before the prize was announced.

Alan Yentob and the crew from BBC Imagine spent the whole weekend at the Festival in 2016 and last year Saturday Live, BBC Radio 4 broadcast live from Stirling during the Festival. Come and join us!
 

Linwood Barclay’s Parting Shot

When Linwood Barclay closed his remarkable Promise Falls Trilogy with The Twenty Three, there were a few questions that some readers ponded upon; like life itself we draw our own conclusions from what reality presents us. So like when his Award-winning No Time For Goodbye closed, Linwood went back with a coda of sorts, releasing Never Saw It Coming; which incidentally is currently being filmed.

The release of a Linwood Barclay novel is an event, of which his Promise Falls trilogy is a cube function, in terms of excitement, which even Stephen King commented upon.

Linwood Barclay kindly agreed to an interview as we had a few questions about his Promise Falls trilogy, as well what’s in store with his Parting Shot, the Coda to this dark trilogy, released in the UK / Ireland next week and in November in the US / Canada.

Ali       First question first. When you started the thinking process prior to penning Broken Promise, did you consider that it would become bigger than a single novel; a dark saga?

Linwood   I had set out from the very beginning to make this a three-novel project.

AK       And how were your Agent Helen Heller, your publishers Orion in the UK as well as your US / Canadian publishers about you embarking upon a saga, with their commercial considerations?

LB    They were excited, but the project did involve some marketing challenges. Do you tell everyone with book one that it’s a trilogy, and run the risk that they won’t buy it until book three is out? And if that’s the strategy, will some readers be annoyed when they get to the end and realize the story continues?

AK       So tell us a little about the writing process. How detailed was your plotting notes, and how high was the ‘tightrope’ in this high-wire act?

LB     Books one and two (Broken Promise and Far From True) are largely standalones, with another story running in the background that explodes in book three. So in many ways, the first two were not too unlike writing one of my regular thrillers. But I had to have the backstory all figured before I even started Broken Promise.

AK       With Far From True, did you know where it would lead to in The Twenty Three?

LB   Pretty much. I couldn’t wait to get to The Twenty-Three because I knew that what was going to happen was going to be huge, bigger than anything I’d written before.

AK       When it comes to ‘plotting’ writers have differing methods in terms of the level of detail in the treatment; though serendipity and the thinking process does produce unplanned surprises, so tell us about the contrasts between ‘plotting’ and ‘writing’ during the trilogy. 

LB     I can only plot so much ahead of time. I can map out the big picture, and I know where I am headed, but I don’t see the opportunities that exist in the novel until I am in it.

AK       The Promise Falls books interlock with an intriguing array of characters as well as a complex narrative, which must have been difficult to keep in your head. So what were you like as a person, while working on these books? And did you need to take Advil or anything stronger?

LB      Every day, around three, my wife calls up from downstairs. “It’s vodka o’clock.” That’s like the whistle blowing at the end of the shift. If I have 2,000 or more words done, I stop and heed the call.

AK       With the last part of the Trilogy [The Twenty Three] just out in paperback in the UK and US, did you consider the issue of the dénouement, as many readers like the close of a novel [or series] to be neatly wrapped up with ribbons and bows; others however prefer to have some loose ends for the reader to contemplate; like life?

LB       I felt the trilogy was really wrapped up, although some readers felt differently. What about Duckworth, they asked. Is he dead. No, he’s fine. And what about David Harwood’s situation? Well, I thought it was resolved, too, but maybe not to everyone’s satisfaction. Not everyone gets a happy ending in my novels. Some of these strands will be addressed in Parting Shot.

AK       How did you keep track of the characters, while writing and how did you ensure you kept them unique like Detective Duckworth and Private Investigator Weaver, as well as the many others that pepper the Trilogy.

LB      God, I don’t know. I always say, keeping track of 10 or 20 characters is nothing compared to what my wife Neetha had to do as a teacher, with 30 or more new kids every year. And she learned all their names in no time.

AK       Did you worry about the gaps between the releases of each book in the trilogy in terms of feeding enough backstory to prevent disorientation of the reader? As well as making them accessible as ‘standalones’?

LB       I tried to weave in some back story in the second and third books, just as refreshers. But I kept it brief. I suppose you can read the second and third as standalones, but I don’t recommend it.

AK       Of all three books in the Promise Falls Trilogy, which of the three gave you most enjoyment in the writing process?

LB       By far, book three. The Twenty-Three was in my head from the first page of Broken Promise. I couldn’t wait to get to it and create all that mayhem.

AK       I’ve been impressed by the professionalism of your book trailers, so who are Loading Doc Productions?

LB      That’s our son, Spencer. He’s a very good filmmaker. We have not done trailers for the last two or three books, as we’ve not been sure they work as a promotional tool. And Spencer is now consumed with working on a museum-like project depicting much of Canada in miniature.

AK       So tell us a little about the coda to the trilogy, ‘Parting Shot’ as well as when publication in US / Canada and the UK / Ireland is planned

LB   By the time anyone reads this, Parting Shot should be out in the UK and Ireland. The book has a November release in Canada and the US.

AK       Did it concern you that The Twenty Three might be confused with the 2007 Joel Schumacher film The Number 23, with Jim Carrey or with Ace Ventura, Pet Detective……laughing…….?

LB    Not in the slightest……..laughing

AK       These three novels edge toward the horror side of the Crime-Mystery genre, though you avoid reaching for supernatural; so do you enjoy Horror Fiction? And what are the darkest books you have enjoyed?

LB  I like some horror fiction. I think it depends on the writer. As you know, I’m a big fan of Stephen King’s work, and some of his horror novels are among my favourite books. Pet Sematary, for example. But I don’t read widely in that genre.

AK       I was not surprised that Stephen King finds merit in your work, recalling him name checking your work in his own writing; so tell me which of King’s work are your favourites, and why?

LB      I just mentioned Pet Sematary, but 11/22/63, about the guy going back in time to try to stop the Kennedy assassination, is certainly my favourite of his in the last ten years or so. But I also love It, Misery, the stories in Four Past Midnight, Christine. How much time do you have?

AK       Like in many of Stephen King’s work, the protagonists in your novels are often ordinary people trapped in the grip of extraordinary events; so what is it about contemporary life that appeals to you in story-telling?

LB     That’s MY life. That’s OUR lives. I think when you write about regular people, regular people want to read it.

AK       I know many of your novels have been optioned for Film / TV so any news on green lights as yet?

LB      The Accident has been made into a six-part TV series in France. It’s all done but has yet to air. I’ve seen the first two subtitled episodes, and I’m very pleased. And Canadian director Gail Harvey has just finished shooting Never Saw it Coming, up in Sudbury, Ontario. I wrote the screenplay for that one. We hope to have it ready for a fall release. And something else is cooking, which I hope I’ll be able to talk about soon.

AK       And tell us a little about what books you have recently enjoyed as well as TV / Film?

LB       Happy Valley is one of the best cop shows ever made. Other recent series we have loved include Westworld, The Americans, Better Call Saul, Last Tango in Halifax, The Missing, The Night Manager and The Night Of. And I can’t wait for the return of The Leftovers (not a cooking show). 

AK       I understand your hobby of building large and detailed model railways and landscapes borders on a professional interest, so would care to tell us where this fascination came from and a little about this interesting hobby of yours?

LB      My dad made my a very simple train layout when I was around four or five years old. I love miniatures. When I became an adult, with a house and a basement, I returned to the hobby big-time. The layout I’m currently working on is, I think, my seventh or eighth. We’ve moved a few times so I have to tear it all down and start again. I think, when you spend your days thinking up an entire world in your hand, it’s fun to work on one with your hands. It’s very Zen-like for me to stand in a room with several trains circling around me.

AK       I know from many of our writing / publishing colleagues how hard it is to work when in the background we have this wave of so-called ‘populism’; with regime change in the US under Trump / Bannon; while in Europe we have Brexit in the UK and the growing lurch to the Right-Wing on the mainland – so have you any thoughts on how to cope and work with all this pervading the background of our reality?

LB      I’m appalled by much of what is happening in the world, but it doesn’t stop me from writing. In fact, some of that rage and anxiety probably works its way into the stories in some way, and makes it better.

AK       Though one positive is the need for professional Journalism, a career that got you writing, so are you doing any Journalism currently?

LB      I worked in newspapers for 30 years, nearly 15 of them as a columnist. It was a great experience, but I pretty much left that behind when I turned to writing novels full time about ten years ago. I write the occasional piece when asked.

AK       So what’s next for Linwood Barclay?

LB       My first novel for young readers, Chase, comes out in July, and the final book set in Promise Falls, Parting Shot, comes out this month in the UK and Ireland. It won’t be out until the fall in North America. Also, my four novels about Zack Walker, previously only released in English in Canada and the US, will all be released by my UK publisher, Orion, between August and November. Next year’s novel, which will be a bit different, is finished (well, there’s more editing to do).

AK       Thank you for your time and insight

LB      Always a pleasure!

Shots have copies of Parting Shot available for pre-order from our bookstore Here, as it is released on April 20^th, and read the Shots Review of The Twenty Three as well as a primer about the preceding two works that form this elegant, but dark trilogy.

More information about the work of Linwood Barclay is available here