David Chilcott is the author of the up and coming John McBride series: ‘Murphy’s Heist’ and its sequel ‘Cruise the Storm’. He is currently writing the third book of the series, planning to be published in early April. Having been an avid reader of fiction for a long time, David has toyed with writing a novel a few times previously. The first occasion was in his late twenties, a science fiction book that was never finished. Ten years later David completed a thriller novel, though never succeeded in getting it published. Third time lucky, with the knowledge of his ability to write thrillers, David set out to write for the e-book audience. He admits that when the first book went online, it has not undergone any editing. After this being pointed out in a review, David withdrew the book and had it edited. This resulted in him partly rewriting it, thus improving its rating to four stars!

David’s inspiration comes from a few admired authors, he told us as follows… “Firstly, the king of all thrillers, Elmore Leonard, who made writing look so easy. All his books are hard to put down before the last page is turned. Secondly, Robert B Parker is another gifted writer in the genre. Peter Temple living in Australia is one of the tops, and writes must-read thrillers. I could go on, there are many others, especially American writers”. Further chat from David advises to write about what you know; if you write about something you don’t know, you are in for a lot of research. Knowing about the subject gives an authenticity research will never give. This is why David’s passion for thriller novels has created such success in his own.

David told us about the methods of the novel writing process…”Every author uses a different technique to end up with 80,000 plus words on paper. I know some spend a lot of time on the plotting, and have everything in detail mapped out. I have the plot framework before I start to write, but it is a roughly drawn map on how to get from A to B. Then I just start writing, two thousand words a session, perhaps finishing many chapters, before going back and doing a first edit. When I finish the book, I’ll spend many weeks sharpening it up before I send it to my editor”.

Murphy’s Heist, the first book of the series, follows artist John McBride as he stumbles on a series of strange events. He finds that the biggest bullion heist since the eighties is about to be committed by the small time criminal, Belfast-born Eamonn Murphy, now living in England. His cruelty and greed exceeds his ability, and results in a bungled heist. However, he does get away with twelve million pounds worth of bullion. He struggles to get the haul out of England, but will his luck hold with McBride chasing him all the way?

Closely following is David’s sequel, Cruise the Storm. This time we follow John aboard an upmarket cruise ship, The Helena, setting sail for the Mediterranean. It is already in the Solent before the owners realise there are several members of a far right group aboard, and they might be aiming to hijack the ship, though they are sure that due to stringent security there can be no weapons aboard. Matters are discussed with MI5, and one of their operatives agrees to board the ship in Spain to monitor the situation. Encouraged by his agent to act as an art tutor, John McBride finds a role in the potential danger aboard. When the Captain learns that McBride used to be in the SAS, he thinks he might be useful if things get out of hand. Though it is not just a hijack that takes place; a rebellion by the passengers loathe to have their holiday ruined. A rare but not unknown hurricane in the Mediterranean engulfs the ship. At this point the Captain, on his last voyage before retirement, thinks life couldn’t get any worse. Though with the last hijacker roaming the ship in disguise, will he kill him?

Readers of David Chilcott appear to be more enticed by each book they read. Cruise the Storm has been described as “a fast, pacy read and it draws you in” as well as “a tale of deception, intrigue and crime”. The third book of the series will see John McBride meeting a girl who has lost her brother. He has gone missing, and the police aren’t interested because he is an adult. McBride follows the trail to a prison camp in Russia. The task isn’t just about breaking out, they need to find a way back to England and the SVR are trying very hard to stop them.