Review
'A terrific debut. Charters is definitely one to watch.' (Harlan Coben )
'A great read . . . gritty and authentic' (Andy McNab )
'BOLT ACTION is a stunningly assured debut, utterly credible in every detail and filled with fascinating characters. It builds to a nail-biting, gut-wrenching climax aboard a transatlantic jetliner that will have readers turning pages in thrilling desperation to find out how this brilliantly complex plot finally resolves itself. And in Capt. Tristesse Merritt, a beautiful, complicated, utterly feminine fighting soldier, Charlie Charters has created the most intriguing female character in contemporary thrillers since Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander.' (Tom Cain )
Brilliant, utterly unputdownable start to a series of military action adventures....Terrific stuff. (Sarah Broadhurst in The Bookseller )
'Hard driving, fast-paced, and all too probable, BOLT ACTION is a helter-skelter must-read.' (Sam Kiley, author of Desperate Glory 20100413)
'Take a pinch of Gerald Seymour's terse characterisation, add a sprinkle of Frederick Forsyth's peerless research, flavour with the jaunty cynicism of Robert Harris, and place in a pressure cooker for a few hours. Voila! BOLT ACTION, so hot it fairly sizzles off the page. Charters' debut novel has the sure touch of a seasoned author. The subtle ways in which he interweaves his storylines, and the confidence with which he carries off his terrifying hijack scenario, ensure you'll want to devour this in one sitting. And to those of you who pick this up in an airport, remember that it's only fiction . . . so far.' (Boris Starling 20100413)
'BOLT ACTION has all the ingredients of a terrific thriller: it's exciting, well-plotted and packed with interesting factual information about airport security, hijacks, the military, and so forth. But what makes it really stand out is the sympathy Charlie Charters feels for his characters. They're not the one-dimensional cardboard cut-outs you'd associate with this sort of fast-paced genre fiction. Rather, they're flesh and blood human beings with real frailties and because Charters cares about them you will too. A really first-rate debut.' (Toby Young 20100413)
This is Charlie Charters first book. All I can say is watch this space. This is a great thriller which is unputdownable! Unusually it is authentic. The military and espionage worlds in which the characters play out this extraordinary counter-terrorist drama are accurately portrayed down to the last detail. So often authors get the detail wrong. Not Charters. This is compelling stuff and frighteningly topical and possible. It has all the necessary ingredients - MI5, MI6, the CIA, the White House Situation Room, Al-Qaeda inspired terrorists, British military heroes, mid-air heart-stopping drama and the intrigue of the Islamabad bazaars. You won't be able to put this one down! (Colonel Mike Dewar 20100413)
'A seriously entertaining read from an author who delivers action and suspense in equal measure.' (Mike Atherton 20100413)
'BOLT ACTION is a fascinating insight into a terrifying world. It's a great premise for a novel and it's delivered with insight and humour.' (Alison Kervin 20100427)
'Well researched and scarily plausible, Charlie Charters brings an original twist to the world of hijacking and espionage. A classic page-turner that leaves you wanting more. A wondrous debut from a powerful new author' (Alan Pearey,
Rugby World 20100427)
About the Author
Born in London and raised in Fiji, Charlie Charters spent his working life based in Hong Kong and now lives near Malton, North Yorkshire, which rightly considers itself the horse-racing capital of the known world. One of his first memories is of traveling with his mother, an award-winning filmmaker, as she tried to piece together the rackety strands of Somerset Maugham's life-changing travels through the Pacific. This was eye-opening stuff for a seven-year-old: spying, brothels, homosexuality, suicide, casual affairs, and that was just the Good Guys. Those trips, and being caned on his 13th birthday by a headmaster whose own father it turned out had similarly thrashed the schoolboy Roald Dahl somehow gave him an early desire to become a writer. However he did very little about this until turning forty, by which time he had worked, variously, as a racing tipster, war reporter, radio DJ, award-winning TV producer and presenter. He was the youngest ever senior vice president of the legendary sports marketing company ISL, whose collapse in 2001 was the second biggest corporate failure in Switzerland's history and nearly bankrupted FIFA. Clearly, that couldn't have been his fault. In 2004, he helped launch the British Lions-styled Pacific Islanders rugby team, featuring the best players from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. He is married with four children and a Labrador that likes to watch the news.
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