HENRY PORTER talks to Paul Burke about his new spy novel THE OLD ENEMY, Putin's Russia, Trump and the threat of white supremacists in the US, the Paul Samson spy series, inspiration versus hard work and his grandfather's hunting rifle.
Henry Porter has spent most of his career as a journalist, during which time he has covered the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the Bosnian Civil War, and, more recently, the migrant crisis in Europe. All have inspired novels – the Berlin Wall prompted Brandenburg, Bosnia produced A Spy’s Life and the trek into Europe of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the war in Syria is the genesis for Firefly, the first Paul Samson novel. The latest in the Paul Samson series is THE OLD ENEMY.
His books are about the times we live in, and they all seek to show the impact of enormous historical and current events
on the individuals caught up in them. As important to Henry, is the truth of the setting, which is why he spends so much time on the ground researching the locations he is writing about and the way people live their lives and overcome challenges that most of us never have to face.
THE OLD ENEMY Ex-MI6 officer Paul Samson has been tasked with secretly guarding a gifted young woman, Zoe Freemantle. He is just beginning to tire of the job when he is attacked in the street by a freakish looking knifeman. It's clear the target is on his back not hers. What he doesn't know is who put it there.
At that moment, his mentor, the MI6 legend Robert Harland lies dead on a remote stretch of the Baltic coastline. Who needed to end the old spy's life when he was, in any case, dying from a terminal illness? And what or who is Berlin Blue, the name scratched in the sketchbook beside his body?
A few hours later, Samson watches footage from the US Congress where billionaire philanthropist Denis Hisami is poisoned with a nerve agent while testifying - an attack that is as spectacular as it is lethal, but spares Anastasia Hisami, the love of Samson's life.
Two things become clear. One, it was a big mistake to lose the mysterious Zoe Freemantle. And two, Robert Harland is making a final play from beyond the grave.
Produced by Jem & Son, Paul Burke
Music: Southgate and Leigh Don't Wait
Photo credit Emma Hardy
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