11: Jeremy Duns -Spy Reader Meet Spy Author

Jeremy Duns Interview on the Spybrary Podcast

Jeremy Duns

 

I straightened my Sony headphones, tapped the radio mic for levels, hit call on Skype and the nerves kicked in. It is not every day this spy fan gets to call an author who has earned such plaudits as ‘a treat for fans of traditional Len Deighton-style spy thrillers‘ or' whose work ‘reminded me of the best of Le Carre, Deighton and Forsyth.'

It is not every day this spy reader (Spybrary Host Shane Whaley) gets to chat with the creator of the MI6 agent Paul Dark who shall we say is not exactly whiter than white, Dark that is, not the author. (I was also suffering from ‘podcaster paranoia‘ constantly fretting that my kit and technology would let me down on on a big interview!)

Jeremy Duns

I should not have worried. Jeremy Duns is a fellow spy geek with a razor sharp intellect and a deep love of spy fiction. In this episode of the Spybrary Spy Podcast we chat about:

  • Jeremy's exciting news about film option on his non fiction work Dead Drop which is about Oleg Penkovsky.
  • How Jeremy Duns first got into writing and how a school teacher was a major source of inspiration.
  • How he first became interested in reading spy fiction
  • How he is able to write about spies so realistically without having served as an Intelligence Officer…(or so he says 😉
  • Which Spy authors Jeremy admires.
  • The Paul Dark Chronicles. Jeremy talks us through the story arc of Free Agent, Song of Treason, The Moscow Option and Spy Out the Land. Other than the big reveal early in Free Agent, Jeremy does not reveal any spoilers which is just as well as host Shane Whaley has only read the first book of the series and is looking forward to the 3 remaining books.
  • Each of the first three books was built around an actual historical event. Jeremy shares why he chose those events and what intrigued him about them.
  • Shane loves the cover of the Dark Chronicles and rates it as one of his favorite book covers. Jeremy shares with us how that cover came about and why the names of the second and third books of the trilogy were changed.
  • Jeremy's advice to new writers and his thoughts on book deals v self publishing.
  • The Quick fire round, Jeremy Duns shares with us how he would deal with being embedded in East Berlin.
    And Much Much more

Who is Jeremy Duns?

Jeremy Duns is the author of the Paul Dark spy novels. His first novel, Free Agent, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, was one of The Daily Telegraph's ‘Thrillers of the year.’

The Times called the second book in the series, Song of Treason, ‘a masterly excursion back to the bad old days of the Cold War', while The Guardian said it was ‘a treat for fans of traditional Len Deighton-style spy thrillers'.

The Dark Chronicles, an omnibus of the trilogy, was published in 2012, and was followed by Codename: Hero (titled Dead Drop in the UK), a non-fiction investigation of the Oleg Penkovsky spy operation. The fourth Dark novel, Spy Out The Land, was published in early 2016.
Shamelessly lifted from the Jeremy Duns Amazon Author Page

If you enjoyed this episode of Spybrary feel free to join our Spybrary Facebook Discussion Group. Let us know what you think and share your thoughts. Jeremy Duns is a ‘Spybrarian‘ himself and I am sure he would be delighted to answer any questions you may have on his work or the spy genre.

Spybrary Spy Podcast Discussion Group
Talk more about Episode 11 in our Spybrary discussion group

 

Spy Books and spy resources mentioned on Episode 11 of Spybrary Spy Podcast

 

Jeremy Duns' The Dark Chroncles, Shane Whaley Spybrary Host's favorite book cover
Jeremy Duns' The Dark Chronicles, Spybrary Host Shane Whaley's favorite book cover.
I think I mentioned Joseph Hone at some point. The great forgotten spy novelist of the Cold War, on a par with Greene and Deighton https://www.amazon.com/Private-Sector-Joseph-Hone/dp/0451054636/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500399536&sr=8-1&keywords=joseph+hone (I wrote the intros for the Kindle editions a few years ago)
The Free Agent cover Jeremy Duns mentioned

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