24 Hours to Doomsday follows a veteran SAS Sergeant who’s out for revenge when a terrorist group kills his wife. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?

I was looking for a very powerful emotional core to my story so I opted for revenge as that is a strong motivation. Many films and books have used this e.g. the ‘Death Wish’ series of films and their many imitations. More recently, the ‘Taken’ films used this theme and they were very successful at the box office. My first two novels had a sci-fi element but this time I had a rule that everything in the book had to be scientifically plausible and set in the real world so it features a drone attack on London and a terrorist carrying an explosive charge inside his body, things which the Intelligence Services have always feared.

Rick is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?

Almost everyone has suffered at the hands of criminals at some point in their lives and we have all thought of revenge. But most people don’t act out these fantasies because they are civilised people and also don’t have the necessary skills or weapons. In the case of Rick he is a highly experienced former soldier in the SAS with all the necessary skills, including unarmed combat and weapons training, to wreak havoc on his opponents and get away with it.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

One theme was that terrorists are not reasonable people and can only be defeated by military action. At the same time, I have gone into a lot of detail about why the terrorists act the way they do and I have attempted to explain their behaviour without condoning it. At the same time, I have charted Rick’s personal journey. He experiences a terrible trauma – the death of his wife- just two years after his first wife died – but overcomes a series of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, saves the world and finds lasting happiness with a new love.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

My next book will be a direct sequel to ’24 Hours to Doomsday’ and continues Rick’s story. I will start this book later this year so it should be available sometime in 2022.

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