with Nick Pengelley
We are delighted to welcome author Nick Pengelley to Omnimystery News, courtesy of TLC Book Tours, which is coordinating his current book tour. We encourage you to visit all of the participating host sites; you can find his schedule here.
Nick's second thriller in his series featuring Ayesha Ryder, American Treasure (Alibi; January 2015 ebook formats), has the Palestinian-born antiquities expert digging into history’s most dangerous secrets — and hiding some of her own.
When the first book in this series was published, we had the opportunity to talk with Nick about his lead character. For his guest post today, we asked him to tell us more about the books that inspired the adventures of his dark heroine, Ayesha Ryder.
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Photo provided courtesy of
Nick Pengelley
The adventure stories I loved as a teen — mostly British and mostly pre-dating World War II — are the inspiration for Ayesha Ryder. Her name, incidentally, comes straight from Rider Haggard's She — one of my all-time favourite stories. John Buchan is a major influence. The 39 Steps. The Three Hostages. Greenmantle, in particular, for its focus on the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East — a topic that will be at the heart of the fourth book in the Ryder series.
Sapper's Bulldog Drummond, and the villains he battled — Carl Peterson in particular, but more so Peterson's paramour Irma — an evil female who was well ahead of her time. Irma provided the model for a major character you'll meet in book #3, Ryder: Bird of Prey. Dornford Yates — my love of secret passages, hidden doorways and lost treasures, derives from his tales, Blind Corner being a particular favourite. On the topic of lost treasures, I must mention Dashiell Hammett — The Maltese Falcon, which I love (book and movie), being a particular inspiration for Bird of Prey. P.C. Wren's Beau Geste stories. Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes — which first gave me my love of London, the world's greatest city, and dark, foggy settings. Alexander Dumas's The Three Musketeers, and the equally magnificent sequels — my token recognition of the French contribution to great fiction. Leslie Charteris's Saint. Ian Fleming's James Bond. And, perhaps more than anything, Peter O'Donnell's wonderful Modesty Blaise — subject first of a long running newspaper cartoon strip, then a series of novels. Modesty's strength of character, and her fighting abilities, were, and remain, a huge source of inspiration.
On the non-fiction front, anyone who has read the Ryder stories will know that T.E. Lawrence — Lawrence of Arabia — means a great deal to me. I first saw the movie as a kid in the late 60s. His story has fascinated me ever since. His own writings — Seven Pillars of Wisdom in particular, but also the book about his time in the Army, The Mint, as well as his letters, reveal a courageous, complex man who will never be fully understood. Other literary adventurers whose writings continue to motivate me include Winston Churchill, Teddy Roosevelt, Gertrude Bell, and Patrick Leigh Fermor. Like Lawrence, their real life adventures dwarf anything fiction can offer.
I should add that American Treasure has more than just literary inspiration. Those who've read it will know that major scenes takes place at Herstmonceux Castle, in East Sussex, not far from where the Battle of Hastings was fought, in 1066. The castle is not a figment of my imagination. It is in fact an international study centre owned and run by Queens University. I was privileged to teach there — not, unfortunately, medieval warfare, but international law. The time I spent at the castle and exploring the East Sussex countryside is among my fondest memories. I should add that, although the castle really does have its own pub (The Headless Drummer), the lost treasure of the Templars is not, as far as I know, hidden beneath it.
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Australian by birth, Nick Pengelley has had careers in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom as a law professor, legal consultant, and analyst on Middle East politics, which is his passion. Pengelley lives in Toronto with his wife, Pamela.
For more information about the author, please visit his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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American Treasure
Nick Pengelley
An Ayesha Ryder Novel
During of the War of 1812, British troops ransacked the White House and made off with valuables that were never returned. Two centuries later, a British curator finds a vital clue to the long-vanished loot. Within hours, the curator is assassinated — and Ayesha Ryder, a Palestinian-born antiquities expert, is expertly framed for his murder.
Who could be behind such a conspiracy? And why do they want Ryder out of the way? To find out, she picks up a trail leading from a mysterious nineteenth-century letter to the upcoming presidential election. As Ryder dodges killers in the shadow of hidden alliances, sexual blackmail, and international power plays, she finds that all roads lead to the Middle East, where a fragile peace agreement threatens to unravel … and another mystery begs to be discovered.
Ryder's rarefied academic career and her violent past are about to collide. And her only hope of survival is to confront a powerful secret agent who has been waiting for one thing: the chance to kill Ayesha Ryder with his own two hands.
