What prompted you to write THE PALE TIGER?
I wanted to bring these characters to life – and against the backdrop of a geopolitical crisis that’s real and relevant. How America deals with the rise of China is the Great Power challenge of the 21st century, and should be on all our minds. I was also keen to stretch the characters, to really test them, giving them scope to fail or rise to the challenges. The locations are also characters, especially Hong Kong and London. Hong Kong is a magical place, fizzing with the desperate energy of a city that’s not sure it should even be there. London, like all ancient cities, is built on secrets. No one really knows what lies beneath your feet.
What do you find fascinating about the relationship between the United States and China? Do you think the fictional scenario in your novel could happen in real life?
History tells us that when the rising power grates up against the sitting power, the outcome is almost always war. They call this the ‘Thucydides Trap.’ Yet despite these dire warnings from history, both hawks and doves console themselves with the idea that ‘no one wants a real war.’ That is a dangerous delusion.
I recently reread some of the headlines from the Summer of 1914, the eve of the First World War. Then, it was Germany asserting itself as a newly-minted great power against the incumbents, most notably the British. In June 1914, Special Adviser to the US President, Edward House, made a tour of the European capitals to assess whether there really was a risk of a major conflict. Back in London, he reassured the audience that ‘neither England, Germany, Russia nor France desire war.’ Within five weeks, all these powers were embroiled in the bloodiest conflict the world had ever seen.
Whether we can prove history wrong, and somehow engineer a peaceful accommodation between the world’s two great powers will define this era. We are at a critical point, and history will look back and mark the coming years as either a time of progress and prosperity, or a time when the world took itself to the edge of destruction.
As to whether the ‘Pale Tiger’ plot could really happen, absolutely it could! And the frightening thing is that it might not be so hard to pull it off, as you read in my book.
What do you hope readers will take away from your novel?
I’ve discussed the geopolitics in play here – but aside from that, I hope readers will really enjoy their journey into the unpredictable and deadly world of The Pale Tiger.
Tell us more about Theodora? What is ‘she’? Do hedge funds, like Crator Capital, have sophisticated computer systems which provide analysts with vital information?
We will all meet a ‘Theodora’ soon. I use the word ‘meet’ because ‘she’ has the processing power and software sophistication to replicate personality. Still a machine, of course, but our brains will be telling us that ‘she’ is somehow real.
Data processing is at the heart of what many hedge funds do. If you know how to use it, data is the closest thing we have to predicting the future. The more – and the rarer – the data, the more powerful it can be.
One of your characters has an interesting line, ‘money without muscle just makes you a bigger target.’ Explain that.
It may be that many hedge fund managers are pretty ruthless – but when they come up against criminals who will, literally, stop at nothing, then all their wealth can’t protect them. In fact, quite the reverse.
Which of the characters do you most identify with and why?
Anne Perry. She’s just an ordinary woman plunged into this harrowing world of deceit and danger, having to call on all her courage and resourcefulness just to survive. The kind of person you might find at a West London book club, suddenly and unexpectedly finding herself trapped in a pitiless landscape of double-agents and assassins. She could almost be our next-door neighbor.
During one of Anne Perry’s visits to Crator Capital she experiences mild hypoxia. Can you tell us what this is? How is it possible to create this kind of effect in a room?
Hypoxia is altitude sickness, caused by a lack of oxygen. It significantly impairs your cognitive abilities. I don’t think it would be too hard to create this effect in a room and would put anyone at a huge disadvantage.
Your thriller features two incredibly strong women – Emma Wilson and Anne Perry. Was it important for you to have your main characters to be such remarkable women?
Well, I’m not sure I’d use the word remarkable – I’ve worked with men and women in the past who share many of the traits that make Emma and Anne such resourceful and effective operators. Somehow, they both just seemed right for the roles. I really enjoyed writing for them
Do you think in real life hedge funds would go to such extreme measures to protect their assets?
Given the mind-bending sums of money at stake you shouldn’t rule anything out.
Is there a sequel in the works?
Absolutely!! Emma Wilson and Anne Perry will be back soon.
