Humphrey Hawksley

GEO-POLITICAL THRILLS

HUMPHREY HAWKSLEY

Exclusive Interview

His recent non-fiction Asian Waters: The Struggle Over The Asia-Pacific And The Challenge To American Power a has been acclaimed on every continent by those at the heart of global decision-making, such as Indian cabinet minister, Hardeep Puri; the last governor of Hong Kong Baron Lord Patten of Barnes; and Dr Wu Shicun, President of China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies. China's rise is a fast developing story. Humphrey’s work as a BBC foreign correspondent has taken him all over the world with postings in beijing, hong kong, manila, delhi and colombo. He has contributed to ABC, National Public Radio and other networks in the

United States and global publication of his work includes the Financial Times, New York Times, Yale Global, Nikkei Asian Review and others.

Q: WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS TO CREATE NOVELS LIKE ICE ISLANDS?

I try to absorb characters, conversations, landscapes of the world around me. From my work as a journalist, I peek behind lives, ask tricky questions and activate my imagination to weave that material into fiction. I am fascinated by how a single character can create high-stakes global events. Donald Trump is a living example. ICE ISLANDS is the fourth in the RAKE OZENNA series which originated from a BBC assignment to the U.S.-Russian border in Alaska. The border runs through a narrow strip of water between two islands, the Russian Big Diomede and the American Little Diomede. That is all that separates these two hostile nuclear-armed powers. There are no visible border protection or markings on either side.. Big Diomede is a closed Russian military zone: Civilians were moved off decades ago. An Indigenous American community of around 80 live on Little Diomede. My novelist mind kicked in by asking what would happen if a fleet of Russian helicopters suddenly flew across and occupied this American territory. From there, was born my protagonist RAKE OZENNA, a Little Diomede islander, who is very good in tough, cold environments at keeping people safe. Each of his subsequent adventures is anchored in realistic global enmity. In ICE ISLANDS, RAKE OZENNA tackles the nexus between organized crime and the Japanese government and the little-known dispute between Japan and Russia who, incredibly, have yet to sign a peace treaty to end the Pacific War.

Q: DESCRIBE YOUR LATEST BOOK, ICE ISLANDS, IN THREE WORDS.

HUNT. COLD. EVIL

Q: WHICH OF YOUR CHARACTERS WAS THE TOUGHEST TO CREATE WITHIN YOUR NEW RELEASE?

family. Also in Rake’s life is Carrie Walker, a trauma surgeon, who is the only woman he cannot get out of his mind.

Q: DID YOU EXPERIENCE ANY STRUGGLES IN FINISHING YOUR ICE ISLANDS?

Sara Kato is the daughter of a Japanese crime boss who exiled her to an English boarding school when she was just ten years old. Servants looked after her during early childhood. Both parents were cold and unemotional. Her twin brother bullied her. Her older brother, Michio, now heir to the crime empire, is the only family member she loves. But Michio is an epitome of ambitious evil. While Sara craves family love, she loathes her family for what it does and how it has treated her. All of this is set against her attraction to Rake Ozenna who is tasked with keeping Sara safe and turning her into an informant against her It is easier if there is a contractual deadline. For the ending itself, there were a number of re-writes to try to get the zing of the last line as right as can be, ideally a surprise and leaving the reader wanting more. After the final dramatic clash what are the denouement revelations and how to pace and order them. I take comfort in the numerous draft Ernest Hemingway wrote for his endings and that they filmed two alternate endings to Casablanca as to whether Ilsa Lund joined Victor Lazlo on the plane to Lisbon or stayed behind with café owner, Rick. With all stories, the most important element the reader really wants to know is who gets together with who at the end

Q: WHAT OTHER PROJECTS ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON THAT YOU CAN SHARE WITH US, READERS? Q: WHAT IS THE USUAL DEADLINE FOR WRITING EACH

BOOK?

I am structuring the next RAKE OZENNA thriller, while excitedly working on the expansion of the Goldster Book Club where we host two, sometimes three, hour-long live interactive interviews with authors of all genres. We range from global best-sellers like Sir Ian Ranking and Ely Griffiths to grassroots topics like The Knackered Mother’s Wine Guide by Helen McGinn and Justin Marozzi’s vividly compelling Islamic Empires. In September 2022, we have been running an Agatha Christie-themed month on the ‘cosy crime’ genre, tempered of course with appropriate shows on the passing of Queen Elizabeth. I urge anyone interested in writing and in the publishing world to take a look at the Goldster Book club and the past shows on my website. I like to give it a loop of a year, usually delivering December. That, of course, changes with publisher slots and different genres.

ABOUT HUMPHREY HAWKSLEY

Humphrey Hawksley has reported on key trends, events and conflicts from all over the world.

His work as a BBC foreign correspondent has taken him to crises on every continent. He was expelled from Sri Lanka, opened the BBC’s television bureau in China, arrested in Serbia and initiated a global campaign against enslaved children in the chocolate industry. The campaign continues today.

His television documentaries include The Curse of Gold and Bitter Sweet examining human rights abuse in global trade; Aid Under Scrutiny on the failures of international development; Old Man Atom that investigates the global nuclear industry; and Danger: Democracy at Work on the risks of bringing Western-style democracy too quickly to some societies.

Humphrey is the author of the acclaimed ‘Future History’ series Dragon Strike, Dragon Fire and The Third World War that explores world conflict. He has published four international thrillers, Ceremony of Innocence, Absolute Measures, Red Spirit and Security Breach, together with the non-fiction Democracy Kills: What’s so good about the Vote – a tie-in to his TV documentary on the pitfalls of the modern-day path to democracy from dictatorship.

His work has appeared in the The Guardian, The Times, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, Yale Global and other publications. His university lectures include Columbia, Cambridge, University College London and the London Business School. He is a regular speaker and panellist including at Intelligence Squared and the Royal Geographical Society, and he has presented his work and moderated at many literary festivals.