As a child, I’d pretend I was a spy. I dreamed of having a powerful secret that
nobody else knew about, that would help save my family and eventually save the
world. Even then I knew that secrets
were incredibly powerful and it’s that word “secret” that drew me to write
about the spying world.
It’s not just keeping secrets or giving them away,
selling them or trading, it’s the danger it can put you or someone else
in. The stakes in the spying game are
huge, because the consequences if you get caught ranges from being fired to
being executed. It’s a terrifying place.
Being a very open, straight-talking person, I know I’d
struggle being a spy myself. I share too
much, for a start. Yes, I’m imaginative,
curious and open-minded (all good traits for an author) but to be honest, I’m
the Labrador who bounces in the room, wagging their tail. Spies are the quiet Spaniel in the corner,
lying there with one eye open, ready to be called upon at any time, but
generally unobserved.
Most people will never know when they’ve met a
spy. They could be chatting to a member
of the SIS in their local deli, at a party, on the train, oblivious that this
apparently “normal” individual leads a double life and it’s this duplicity that
I find fascinating. How to be genuine, flexible
and confident under pressure. How to keep
your integrity, which is probably one of the most important of all attributes
needed. Lives will be at stake, and
those trusted with our nation’s secrets must be above reproach. If my character is struggling in this area it
can create a fantastic conflict within the book.
Even more importantly, the officers and their agents have
to keep safe. I’m very careful about the
information I impart on the page, whether it’s a new weapon being developed by
QinetiQ or SIS trade craft. Careless
talk costs lives. Any knowledge I pick
up from my sources I get checked before publication to make sure I’m not giving
anything vital away.
Spies are the unsung heroes in our wars. They risk their lives for their beliefs, for
what they think is right. Their handlers
weep if they get caught. The emotions
are as high as the risks. A spy may be a
heroic myth, an urban legend, but I’m addicted to them. That’s the good ones I’m referring to, of
course. The good spooks.
I was brought up on a diet of Eric Ambler, Le Carré,
Ian Fleming, Len Deighton, so I guess it’s not surprising all this led me to
create Dan Forrester, ex-MI5 officer, who now works for a private firm that
gets hired to do the jobs that governments don’t want to give their spies. He’s a larger than life character with
extraordinary skills that help him get out of some really dangerous
situations. He’s taciturn and quietly
reserved, nothing like me, let alone anyone I know, which is why I rather like
him.
Know Me Now by C J Carver Published by Bonnier Zaffre
A murder. A conspiracy. Digging
up the past can be deadly. . . A thirteen-year-old boy commits suicide. A
sixty-five-year old man dies of a heart attack. Dan Forrester, ex-MI5 agent, is
connected to them both. And when he discovers that his godson and his father
have been murdered, he teams up with his old friend, DC Lucy Davies, to find
answers. But as the pair investigate,
they unravel a dark and violent mystery stretching decades into the past and
uncover a terrible secret. A secret someone will do anything to keep buried.
