When Shots asked for a piece on writing The Japanese Bond, I was rather flummoxed. There is only one James Bond. The enormous impact of Ian Fleming’s character has proved to be an enduring and phenomenal legacy, which has inspired countless books and films and has revolutionised the spy genre for over 70 years. Yes, our protagonist is half Japanese, and he is also a spy. If anyone mentions him in the Bond context, I feel extremely flattered!
Background to writing A Strange Way to Die (The first book in the Hiroshi Suzuki Files)
When my son-in-law George Bamford asked if I might be interested in collaborating with him to write an action-adventure spy thriller, I was intrigued. For years, George had had ideas revolving in his head and wanted to do something positive with these daydreams.
At the time, my experience of published pieces was confined mostly to player-profiles of famous sportsmen and women for various magazines. George recognised that I had no background as an author, but he liked my style of writing. He’s very positive, enthusiastic and persuasive, so I agreed to try my hand at writing a few chapters based on his ideas.
We agreed that we’d only go ahead if a) he liked what I’d written, and b) if I enjoyed the process. The answer was ‘yes’ from both of us, so I bought a book on how to write a novel! The first sentence to catch my eye stressed the importance of writing about what you know. This posed an immediate problem. As a sixty-year-old wife, mother and grandmother, the world of espionage was not on my radar. I’ve always enjoyed action adventure and spy books and films, but that certainly wouldn’t be enough.
What plusses did I have on my side? I’m a daydreamer with a vivid imagination and a love of the written word and have always enjoyed creating stories. I’ve travelled widely and have a working knowledge of many aspects of the background information needed for the plot, including polo, golf, luxury cars, helicopters, glamorous locations, business dealings and the corridors of power. George has in depthexpertise in fields ranging from luxury watches and classic cars to yachts, private jets and global culture and much more. Together we’ve tried to infuse these stories with texture, authenticity, and style. The result is an ongoing series of books rich in detail and momentum: one which we hope will pull readers in and keep them turning pages.
To write a convincing story I realised that I’d need specialist help with the technical details, so I set about looking for the right people. A few of them George and I already knew, but the majority were strangers. I was delighted to find that there were generous experts out there, who loved their subject and were willing to help. This was before the advent of AI and my initial research was spent trawling through the internet. I then wrote what I wanted to happen, asked my experts to read the text and see if what I’d written was a) credible, b) factually correct and c) that if I’d made any howlers, please would they let me know. Any technical jargon they provided was a major bonus to writing accurate and plausible parts to a story, on subjects of which I had zero experience.
The inspiration behind The Hiroshi Suzuki Files - George first visited Japan as a child and fell in love with the country and the people. He was fascinated by the blend of the high-tech modern world combined with Japan’s ancient history, traditions and cultural identity. As he puts it, “It’s a land of constant discovery.”
He envisaged a character with an English father and a Japanese mother, who’d been brought up in both countries, embraced both cultures and felt equally at home both in the West and the East. He said that he wanted to know the answer to a single compelling question: what kind of hero emerges from mystery, legacy, and untold stories? We set out to create a character who stands entirely on his own: bold, intelligent, and credible.
Hiroshi Suzuki (27) steps onto the pages as an experienced covert operative working for CIRO, the Japanese Secret Service. I really like and admire our hero. We’ve endowed him with many qualities and values to help him on his missions. He’s intelligent, skilled and highly trained. He’s well educated, cosmopolitan, with a keen sense of right and wrong. He has a sense of humour and is popular with his friends and colleagues. While some may consider his traditional values somewhat dated, he is honourable, intensely loyal and has a sense of duty. Failure is not a word in his vocabulary. Does he have any weaknesses and failings? Yes, of course he has, which are for the readers to discover.
How our collaboration works - George discussed his ideas in depth. As I finished the first draft of each chapter, I sent them to him for his comments and thoughts. We spoke often, refining the way the story was progressing and working-in various new ideas as they occurred to us. George has been incredibly flexible in allowing me to diverge from some of his original ideas and positively encouraged me to include new ones, and a sub-plot or two.
This is the way we collaborate, and it works well for us.
We hope readers will enjoy this first book as a few hours of escapist fun, and find it an entertaining, fast-paced thriller, with glamorous characters, set in exotic locations.
I’ve been overwhelmed by the initial feedback and positive comments made by book reviewers. Thanks to you all.
Dying for Power, the second book in the series will be available in October, the third, Dead Men’s Moneywill be published next April.
A Strange Way to Die by R Pearl and G Bamford (Arlingham Press)
An emperor marked for death. A killer wave that shouldn't exist. One agent caught in the crossfire. When Hiroshi "H" Suzuki, a deadly Anglo-Japanese operative, is sent to track a phantom assassin in Paris, he uncovers a chilling link to a billionaire genius with a secret agenda. As the clock ticks toward a global catastrophe, H is drawn into a high-stakes game of deception, desire, and ruthless ambition, where nothing is what it seems and failure isn't an option.
Dying for Power by R Pearl and G Bamford (Arlingham Press)
A shattered Bullet Train. Rising tensions between superpowers One agent to stop a bloody war. When a high-speed Japanese train is destroyed in a devastating explosion, Hiroshi "H" Suzuki is plunged into a deadly plot to trigger a war between China and Japan. From the neon streets of Tokyo to the windswept coast of Ireland and the glittering lure of Monte-Carlo, H must outwit ruthless enemies and unravel a global conspiracy before time runs out and history is rewritten in blood.
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