The South China Morning Post ran my interview with author Mark Powell on Sunday on his first novel Quantum Breach. The book is set against the backdrop of the Lehman Brothers financial crisis, but is really a fast-paced action thriller set across Asia and the Middle East that draws straight from the world of espionage and military covert operations that the author once lived in. Powell joined the British armed forces’ parachute regiment when he was 17, before moving on to the Special Air Service (SAS), the special forces regiment that works on intelligence gathering and counterterrorism, often covertly and behind enemy lines. After nine years of taking part in covert operations, many in some of the worst conflict zones in the world, Powell had enough and quit the military to start a second career, in financial systems design for international banks. Now he’s in his third career: as a book writer. For those who like the genre (and I admit I’m not one of them), it’s fairly well-written and visually descriptive. I can already see the screen adaption! Powell is now writing his second novel, Deep Six, set against the backdrop of piracy in Somalia.
