Former Northampton journalist unveils latest novel
A FORMER newspaper editor who started his journalistic career on the Chronicle and Echo is celebrating the release of his latest thriller to a worldwide audience.
Thin Ice, by Michael Davies, is the latest instalment in a trilogy of novels featuring the protagonist Bill Kemp – described by bestselling author Jeffrey Deaver as “part James Bond, part Philip Marlowe and all hero”.
After subjecting Kemp to a host of trials in the Australian desert with his last book, Outback, Northampton-born Davies now transports him to central Europe at the height of the Cold War, where Kemp is introduced to the dark arts of espionage on the front line of the Iron Curtain.
A lifelong fan of bestselling thriller writer Desmond Bagley, Davies celebrates the author’s legacy with this all-new adventure featuring his protagonist Kemp. Davies, who completed Bagley’s first Kemp novel Domino Island for publication nearly 40 years after the author’s death before creating Outback in 2023, now spins another original tale of danger and daring.
He said: “It’s been a real pleasure putting Bill through a new set of challenges – physical, mental and ethical – in an environment that’s very different from his last adventure. I really wanted to put a toe in the water of spy thrillers, and the 1970s setting allowed me to explore some of the rich territory that people like John Le Carré and Len Deighton wrote so brilliantly – as well as Bagley himself, of course.”
The novel is released by HarperCollins on Thursday, October 24, with paperback, ebook and audio editions all available for pre-order now. Readers have heaped praise on all the Kemp novels. One five-star review of Thin Ice says: “Anyone looking for a thrilling novel to fill the Le Carré-sized hole in spy fiction could do no better than to look at Michael Davies.” Others have described the series as “unputdownable”, “gripping” and “a delight to read” with “plenty of twists and turns”.
Retaining the Bagley hallmarks of intrigue and adventure, Thin Ice’s Austrian setting is one of the few locations not previously featured in the canon. When Bill Kemp’s contact washes up dead on the frozen banks of the Danube, where the Iron Curtain falls across the map of Europe, he’s thrown into the heart of a dangerous conspiracy that threatens to destabilise the continent. As winter closes in and Kemp faces a treacherous expedition across the Alps to Switzerland, his introduction to the sinister world of espionage proves as deadly as the bleak, beautiful mountains.
Davies added: “In writing Outback, I got the chance to create an original novel featuring a Desmond Bagley protagonist. It proved such a joy for me that I really wanted to explore the character further in a setting that would challenge him in different and compelling ways. I’m thrilled to have been invited to complete a Bill Kemp trilogy, especially as his latest foe comes in the form of a Cold War adversary with a whole new set of obstacles to face.”
Since leaving newspapers, Davies has written for the stage, screen, print and online. His debut play won a national playwriting competition, and subsequent work includes the book and lyrics for Tess – The Musical, an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles, which had a workshop production at the RSC’s Other Place in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Thin Ice can be ordered at Waterstones, Amazon, WH Smith and all good bookshops. To sign up to Michael Davies’s regular newsletter, visit www.mrgdavies.com or follow ‘Michael Davies – Author’ on Facebook.