The Kompromat Kill @FailsafeQuery #SpyThriller #Q&A

The Kompromat Kill

When a British Diplomat is kidnapped in the heart of London, followed by a brutal double-assassination in Chelsea, MI5 braces for the threat of deep sleeper cells coming alive.

Hiding overseas with a price on his head, Sean Richardson is tasked to lead a deniable operation to hunt down and recruit an international model and spy. Moving across Asia Minor and Europe, Sean embarks on a dangerous journey tracking an Iranian spy ring who hold the keys to a set of consequences the British Intelligence Services would rather not entertain.

As Sean investigates deeper, he uncovers dark secrets from his past and a complex web of espionage spun from the hand of a global master spy. As he inches closer to the truth, the rules of the game change – and the nerve-wracking fate of many lives sits in his hands…

Tense, absorbing, and insightful, The Kompromat Kill is a gripping thriller leaving you breathless at the pace of intrigue, cleverly unravelled in a dramatic finale.

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I Read The Fail Safe last year and became a MASSIVE fan of Michael’s writing! So when the chance came up for some Q&A to help promote the publication of The Kompromat Kill I was first in the queue.

My review of The Fail Safe can be found HERE

Q1: What inspired you to write the book?

I was keen to follow up from my first novel, and provide a high octane novel incorporating some of the same the same characters, but taking the storyline from the failsafe query, on a new journey but keeping the golden threads of the agencies, politics, and ground operators. Hopefully, it will be seen as an insightful step forward. The novel can be read as a stand-alone, or as a follow on from the failsafe Query.

Q2: If you could go back to when you first started writing what one piece advice would you give yourself?

Learn from, and listen to other authors, and read lots to learn the tips and genius ideas that many authors have. Then create your own voice and style which I hope I have. The keep learning through reading, doing online research or attending courses

Q3: What would you say to someone who wants to write?

Play about with it – learn online and from courses about creative writing and all the tips that readers love to see in a novel. Write as if you are a reader wanted to be entertained, and wanting to turn the page at every chapter end – leave them if you can on a cliff-hanger. But have your own natural style.

Q4: If you weren’t writhing what would you be doing?

Climbing mountains and planning scientific exploration ventures across the world – age has suggested to me that writing is now a better career for me !

Q5: What are your writing routines?

Absolutely zero routine! I have a full time day job, a family with children, and a hectic life with social and sports that stops routine – I spend the first 3 months thinking and plotting a spy novel, creating linkage maps of characters and plots, then I create an outline plot with sub plot – plus more research and thinking. I like to intertwine topical political events, with current geo-political threats, and then build a story line and a character arc that merges the strategic politics with the frustrations and conflict of the ground operators. Then I’ll write for 5 or 6 months grabbing time at home wherever I can. The final 3 months is editing and preparing for publication.

Q6: Why did you decide to self-publish?

I spoke to a few authors who suggested it was great fun and gave better control. So I decided to dabble, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I enjoy creating my own marketing images and campaigns, formatting for kindle and paperback, typesetting for print, and planning marketing ventures. It really is a great journey to take the novel through from plotting to writing, then publishing with all the frustrations and drama it entails.

Q7: What writing tools do use, and which one could you not live without?

Very simple really – a laptop with office 365, a desk, a plotting book, and some great marketing software. I really need the software – else it’s back to the written word!

Q8: Which authors inspired you to write?

Tom Clancy, Wilbur Smith, Len Deighton, John Le Carre, Graham Greene.

Q9: Who would you want to play the main characters in your book if your novel was optioned for tv / film?

For Sean, I think Tom Hiddleston or Luke Evans, and for Jack, probably someone like Michael Kitchen

Q10: Tell me something about yourself your readers might not know.

I work in cyber security and am a passionate rugby union fan and former coach of youth and children – I love all sports and represented Wales at Athletics and cross country in my youth.

Thank you Michael X

Michael Jenkins served for twenty-eight years in the British
Army, rising through the ranks to complete his service as a major. He served across the globe on numerous military operations as an intelligence officer within Defence Intelligence, and as an explosive ordnance disposal officer and military surveyor within the Corps of Royal Engineers.

His experiences within the services involved extensive travel and
adventure whilst on operations, and also on many major mountaineering
and exploration expeditions that he led or was involved in.
He was awarded the Geographic Medal by the Royal Geographical
Society for mountain exploration and served on the screening committee
of the Mount Everest Foundation charity.

He was awarded the MBE on leaving the armed forces in 2007 for his services to counterterrorism.

 The Failsafe Query  Failsafe Query

 

https://www.michaeljenkins.org/

 

I will be back next month with a review of The Kompromat Kill and I can’t wait!