Portobello Book Blog

Joining me to share #TenThings about himself today is author Sean Heary Thanks to Kelly at Love Books Tours for inviting me to take part. The Circle-A Killings, the sequel to The Concordat, is published by Matador and is available to buy now. Buying Link: https://amzn.to/3cHv556

1. I was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia. My father was Irish and mother Australian, making me Irish Australian. I grew up during the Cold War on a diet of the Avengers and The Man from Uncle. As a kid, I was never much interested in fantasy or space adventures. No comic book superheroes for me. I found what I needed in newspapers. Genuine stories of conspiracy and espionage.

2. After graduating from the University of Western Australia, I joined a global mining house and travelled the world. A thirty-year adventure that included a decade in Moscow and several years in Tashkent, where I picked up a taste for Uzbek food and met my wife.

3. For the last few years, I’ve lived in le Carré’s ‘Small Town in Germany’: Bonn, where I write noir spy and detective thrillers.

4. I’m a latecomer to writing, having published my debut novel, ‘The Concordat’, in July 2018 – which incidentally was awarded a coveted Kirkus Star.

5. I like to write about political intrigue because it enables me to communicate my concerns about the chaotic state of the world, without being seen to preach. For instance: my latest novel ‘The Circle-A Killings’ has something to say about the collapsing European project and the rise of right-wing populism but without ramming it down the reader’s throat.

6. In my writing, I try to create stories that are escapist while at the same time inconspicuously informative. My stories are fast-paced, blending suspense, political intrigue, romantic tension and a wry humour in complex but accessible plots.

7. Despite my wife being Russian, my son being born in Tashkent and my youngest daughter in Moscow, I like to cast the Kremlin as the bad guy. Mind you in the book I’m presently writing I’ve added China (the rising super power) to the mix.

8. I was a big fan of President John F Kennedy and ‘Camelot’. The period drew me towards the enigma of the Soviet Union and Khrushchev. The Cuba missile crisis and the botched CIA funded Bay of Pigs operation to depose Premier Fidel Castro still looms large in my mind. So, you can imagine the grin on my face when some years later I found myself standing on the rocky shoreline of the Bay of Pigs visualising what transpired that fateful day.

9. I have two projects in the pipeline. After publishing ‘The Concordat’ I started a children’s adventure novel based on bedtime stories I used to tell my son. I got about fifty pages in before the Vatican gendarmerie’s head man called me back to write the sequel. And now I’ve begun the third book in the Rossi series, I guess my children’s book for now must wait.

10. When I’m not writing, I keep fit – swimming and running. My wife and I like to eat out a lot. Most school days we take lunch at one of the dozen or so café’s that run off our street. I read, naturally. Mainly spy thrillers. John le Carré and Graham Greene are at the top of my list. And when I need a cultural pickup, it’s usually James Joyce, Thomas Hardy or Evelyn Waugh. And for weekend relaxation I like to walk through the nearby forest or ride my bicycle along the Rhein.

From the back of the book

Returning from Moscow, Lorenzo Rossi finds himself forced to quit his job as head of the Vatican police. And to make matters worse, his fiancée, CIA Agent Cathy Doherty, calls off their wedding. Just as Rossi is settling into his new life as a visiting academic at Cambridge University, the CIA persuades him to rejoin Cathy in catching the killer of three American billionaires. Barely on speaking terms, the two devise a plan to befriend the CIA’s main suspect.

As they get closer to the suspect and his coterie of friends, Rossi and Cathy realise that they’re being played for fools. But why? Everything points to an international conspiracy. As friends and foes drop dead around them, they arrive at the truth. But to prove it they need to set a trap. A trap that turns them from hunter to prey. Will they survive to tell their tale?

About the Author

Sean travelled the world for thirty years as a mining company executive, living for many years only a stone’s throw from the Kremlin. No wonder he likes to write political thrillers. He also worked for several years in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where he picked up a taste for Central Asian cuisine and met his wife. Born and raised in Australia, Sean now makes Germany his home.