This will sound corny but if writers aren’t dreamers, who is? As a journalist, I got to cover real events, but I was also concerned about what could happen. But how do you write about something you fear will happen, but hasn’t happened yet? How to drive across future consequences when you are limited by that moment’s reality? A journalist will quote leaders, or reports, and hope that does the trick. A novelist can bring characters to life who will one day have to live with a tragedy and their own choices. My short story collection Still Hungry will be published in January 2023.
As a Washington journalist time and again I watched sources rely too much on assurances that situations were under control, surprises would probably never happen and technology was utterly reliable. Airplane cockpits were safe. Climate change would never disrupt the world. Disease was under control. Fail-Safe terrified the world and helped ignite a global movement by asking the question, what if – in the nuclear age – the assurances we are fed are wrong.
From the New York Times–bestselling authors, this “chilling and engrossing” nuclear-showdown thriller packs “a multi-megaton wallop” (Chicago Tribune).
Originally published during the Cuban Missile Crisis, this suspenseful novel takes off as a group of American bombers—armed with a deadly payload of nuclear weapons—heads towards Moscow, their motives unknown. Suddenly, a nuclear apocalypse looms closer than it ever has, and the lives of millions depend on the high-stakes diplomacy of leaders on both sides of the divide.
The basis for the classic 1964 movie starring Henry Fonda, this two-million-copy bestseller is not only a terrifying thriller, but a fascinating social commentary…
James Grady was 23 years old when he wrote this cold war spy thriller masterpiece in his loft apartment in Helena, Montana, yet what he imagined came true. He created a secret CIA division so realistically that – The New York Times later found – the Soviet KGB, assuming the division existed, created one of their own. Grady also came up with a unique way to carry out an assassination....which unfortunately was copied by Iranian agents in Washington after the book came out. I love the real connection between the “what if” of thrillers and what is in the world.
'From the bottom of the stairwell Malcolm could only see that the room appeared to be empty. Mrs Russell wasn't at her desk. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Dr. Lappe's door was partially open. There was a peculiar odour in the room . Malcolm tossed the sandwich bags on top of Walter's desk and slowly mounted the stairs.
'He found the sources of the odour. As usual, Mrs Russell had been standing behind her desk when they entered. The blast from the machine gun in the mailman's pouch had knocked her almost as far back…
Like most readers, I’m scared these days about the future of our democracy. As a reporter I’ve covered trouble spots; like Somalia – where no law existed - and Sudan, where I was in a crowd fleeing at the mere sight of an airplane, fearing bombs. One of my friends lost his wife in a Washington car bombing. Others escaped danger during a Chilean coup. Seven Days in May imagined an attempted coup in the US, and although the setting was decades ago, some forces at play are the same, since human motivation never changes. This book sobered up the nation back then by reminding readers what happens when some of us....any of us...think they know better than everyone else and believe force is the way to go. We could use that reminder now.
As you can guess from the last answer I hate totalitarianism, whether it comes from the right or left. Child 44 pits an average, decent man – who happens to be a Soviet detective in the Stalin era – against the idiocy that comes when politics interferes with justice, and tragedy results. If you think it’s tough when a US detective has to buck a Mayor, or city council member, think how much worse it would be if the impediment to justice is a whole national system.
MOSCOW, 1953. Under Stalin's terrifying regime, families live in fear. When the all-powerful State claims there is no such thing as crime, who dares disagree?
AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER IN OVER 30 LANGUAGES
An ambitious secret police officer, Leo Demidov believes he's helping to build the perfect society. But when he uncovers evidence of a killer at large - a threat the state won't admit exists - Demidov must risk everything, including the lives of those he loves, in order to expose the truth.
Another oldie, copyright 1957. These days, preoccupied with diseases or terrorists, we tend to forget that nuclear war is still possible. It hasn't happened yet so we've relegated it to a back shelf. On the Beach remarkably combined the gentlest writing with a portrait of humankind's final days. It left millions of readers weeping. It galvanized the real world.
Pearson English Readers bring language learning to life through the joy of reading.
Well-written stories entertain us, make us think, and keep our interest page after page. Pearson English Readers offer teenage and adult learners a huge range of titles, all featuring carefully graded language to make them accessible to learners of all abilities.
Through the imagination of some of the world's greatest authors, the English language comes to life in pages of our Readers. Students have the pleasure and satisfaction of reading these stories in English, and at the same time develop a broader vocabulary, greater comprehension and reading…
It’s Russian against Russian in Cold War Washington and no American ever finds out. Ash, Corrina, and David were raised in a mock US town in Siberia, snuck into the US at the height of the cold war, and made interns for famous people. They’ve risen to prominence now as well-placed spies - Ash a prize winning reporter, David a former Undersecretary of State and high-level lobbyist, Corrina a Justice Department lawyer - but the Soviet Union is collapsing.
These three never met their parents. Their memories of home are of a mock town surrounded by barbed wire. Their assignments are getting very odd and they must turn against each other to live. Can’t stay in DC. Can’t go home. Can’t tell anyone who they are.
My wife suggested we try scuba diving while on holiday in Grand Cayman. We were already falling in love with the island, and the incredible experience underwater opened a whole new world to us. From that moment on, our yearly travels changed completely. Our destination choices were now based upon diving opportunities. That was twenty years ago. Today, I’m a certified divemaster with dives all over the US (including Hawaii), the Caribbean (including Cuba), Australia, and even Iceland. Throw in my sense of adventure as a former race car driver, motorcycle rider, and outdoor adventurer, and I had plenty of personal experiences to create the AJ Bailey series.
Readers who enjoy police procedurals with an offbeat main character and fascinating locations will love this thriller.
One missing girl. Two lives on the line. Four treacherous challenges.
Nora Sommer's first case for the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service is one she'll never forget... if she survives. When the daughter of a wealthy businessman is taken, Nora is first on the scene and unwittingly 'chosen' by the kidnapper.
With the crime live-streamed across the internet, the eyes of the world are upon her as she faces a sequence of difficult challenges with the life of the kidnapped girl hanging on…
One missing girl. Two lives on the line. Four treacherous challenges.
Nora Sommer's first case for the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service is one she'll never forget - if she survives.
When the daughter of a wealthy businessman is taken, Nora is first on the scene and unwittingly 'chosen' by the kidnapper. With the crime live-streamed across the internet, the eyes of the world are upon her as she faces a sequence of difficult challenges with the life of the kidnapped girl hanging on Nora's success - or failure.
Deadly Sommer is the thrilling first book in the Nora Sommer…
