Alison Morton's Accidental Series
- clare5291
- 12 minutes ago
- 4 min read
I'm delighted to welcome Alison Morton to the blog today. Alison, who lives in France, is the author of the popular Roma Nova alternative history thrillers. She is now publishing the third in her contemporary Mélisende thriller series, Double Stakes – congratulations, Alison! I asked Alison what prompted the genre change. Over to Alison.
I’ll come clean. My latest book is the third in a series I had no intention of writing. The first one was a response to a challenge from writing friend and historical novelist Conn Iggulden. He was reading Insurrectio, a Roman alternative history thriller and the seventh in my established Roma Nova series. He gave me a superb endorsement for the front cover, but also commented, ‘You clearly have the knack for fast plotting tension. I kept coming back to see what happened next.’ He suggested I recast one of my alternative Roma Novan heroines as an agent for a contemporary European organisation in the ‘real world’ (whatever that is) and run the story as a crime thriller. I couldn’t resist such a challenge.
Double Identity, written in Covid lockdown, was the result. Main character Mel/Mélisende, very much a new heroine, has strong roots in France, but giving her a French father and an English mother brought additional layers of internal conflict and confusion about her own identity. Then I parachuted her into a European special operations agency and threw murder, illegal financial trading, a stroppy copper and heartbreak at her and watched what happened when she found she could trust nobody.
Once I’d met the challenge and the book was published, I felt I could return to my familiar niche of Roman thrillers. But as happens to many writers, the characters in that new, contemporary European world had become very familiar to me and I was curious about what happened next. So I wrote a sequel – Double Pursuit – full of gun-running, international crime conspiracy, French presence in the African Sahel and deep, personal revenge.
That was it. Determined to leave Mélisende and return to Rome, I wrote two historical novels set in the late 4th century, precursors to my modern Roma Nova thrillers. But Mel was still running around in my head. Writers are strange people in that half their minds are in a different world, or several different worlds. Mine was calling me back to contemporary France where I live. I breathe the same air, drive along the same roads and drink the same wine as Mel. How could I abandon her?
Putting my heroine into uniform seemed natural. It’s a structured, direct world where self-discipline and the ability to work collaboratively are essential, often in very risky environments. My earlier Roma Novan heroines joined the modern Praetorian Guard. Such an environment is perfect for thrillers brimming with secrets, action, government and supra-government operations.
My own time in uniform was a while ago, but even though parts were hard personally and professionally – the North German plain is a freezing place in winter – the camaraderie and sense of joint purpose outweigh hardships. Yes, you train hard, you become exhausted; military life can be very demanding. But the social life is something to treasure. The biggest lesson? You learn to become self-reliant and at the same time a giver rather than a taker.I served in a mixed unit where both men and women were weapons-trained and armed. Although there was sexism, women did give it back. These days, it’s reported to be a great deal more egalitarian, but as in my time the only measure is your competence to do the job. However, in such a high testosterone environment, some unfortunate attitudes do persist.
The French Army that Mel belongs to has similar missions and objectives and that same sense of camaraderie but the internal training and organisation are different. That was fascinating research! An interesting factoid: their uniform was designed by Pierre Balmain!
Double Stakes, the third in the series, is set against the danger of the rise of right-wing extremism and political manipulation – a reflection of contemporary concerns in Europe today. Even after decades of the legal reunification of the two Germanies, many anxieties persist, especially in the eastern regions, which leaves people there open to unscrupulous political manipulation. France, the Netherlands, Italy and Hungary are beset by similar challenges – challenges which we and our governments must wake up to face.
Writing contemporary novels gives authors the rich opportunity to examine current concerns. But Double Stakes is not merely about politics. As with all my thrillers, characters and their interactions are prominent. Banter, arguments, professional co-operation and tangled emotions are keystones to even the grimmest of stories. After all, readers want to be entertained as well as informed.
About Double Stakes
A kidnapped daughter. A rigged election. A family under siege.
Former French special forces intelligence analyst Mélisende is desperate for recovery time after a gruelling mission. But when enforcers attack her family home in rural France, she uncovers a shocking truth – her sister-in-law’s gambling debt has put them all in danger.
Before Mel can untangle the crisis, she is ordered to Germany, where the daughter of Achim Nessler – the front-runner for chancellor – has been abducted. The kidnappers’ goal? To force Nessler to throw the upcoming election, paving the way for a hard-right victory that could upend not just Germany, but all of Europe.
Racing against time, Mel and fellow investigator Jeff McCracken dive into the murky world of extremist politics where old wounds and new betrayals collide. But as their hunt leads them deep into eastern Germany’s shadows, Mel discovers a chilling link between the case and her own family’s troubles.
Now, with both a nation’s future and her loved ones at stake, Mel must risk everything to stop a conspiracy that hits closer to home than she ever imagined.
Clare again! - That sounds like a cracking, pacy read and I look forward to getting stuck in.
Find out more about Alison and her books on her website
Comments