Interview with Nicholas Snow, author of Malayan Enigma

Title: Malayan Enigma: An Andrew Bond WWII Adventure

Author: Nicholas Snow

Publisher: AuthorHouse UK

Genre: Military/History

Format: Ebook

PURCHASE HERE

Malaya, 1941 – a fool’s haven from the devastating war raging elsewhere in the world Sent to Singapore towards the end of 1941 to evaluate the intentions of the Japanese Empire, Lieutenant Andrew Bond finds himself embroiled in a series of events accelerating towards all-out war in the region. The city, a heady, exotic blend of cultures teeming with intrigue, is oblivious to what lies ahead. Facing betrayal, incompetence, Japanese spies, and the Yakuza underworld, Bond manages to gather a band of trustworthy companions, including the striking beauty Liu-Yang. In a desperate race against time, he must force his way through enemy-infested jungles and seas to bring home a device that will help change the course of the war – the Malayan Enigma!

INTERVIEW:

Could you please tell us a little about your book?

It is a spy thriller and historical novel set in Malaya (malaisia) and Singapore during WWII, November 1941 to February 1942. The Japanese are preparing to invade and the British Secret Service sents its best agent, Andrew Bond, to investigate their questions. He is caught in the war and has to try to escape from beleaguered Singapore bringing with him a Japanese encoding machine that may change the course of the war in the Far East. He has to fight in the jungle and the sea the Japanese and the criminal organization jacuza with some unexpected allies: one Italian and two British soldiers, the Anglochinese beauty Lou Yiang and some Chinese from the underground of Singapore. Although a work of fiction , it is based on facts and I respect the real historical events. Also, I try to give the carefree atmosphere of pre war Singapore, a city of entertainment and luxury. Almost a fool’s paradise.

Who or what is the inspiration behind this book?

Reading history and especially WWII history and having visited the region in order to get the Feeling of the place. Today’s Singapore has changed a lot from wartime although some landmarks like Rufles hotel and some fortifications remain. Parts of the jungle of central Malaisia seems  to be the same untamed , dark and forbidding.

What cause are you most passionate about and why?

As a university professor and as a citizen, democracy and freedom. Those who fought against the Nazi’s and the Japanese in WWII were fighting for democracy, freedom and man’s dignity. To a lesser extent, happily, the fight never ends.

Do you have any rituals you follow when you finish a piece of work?

Not after I finish, but during writing. I write novels in a country house on the Aegean Greek island of Spetsai, a small island where cars are not allowed with a long history, small lovely beaches, old mansion houses and a lot of forest. A very inspiring place to rite 3 hours every day before the usual distractions, even the pleasant ones like swimming or walking with my fire dogs!

Who has influenced you throughout your writing career?

Many writers but mostly my father, Kostas Kyriazis, Greece’s most well known writer for historical novels for the byzantine empire and my mother Artemis who teached me from a tender age to love nature, to feel, and to never say “I can’t”!

What are some of your long term goals?

I plan to write a whole series of WWII spy novels with the same basic characters, Andrew Bond and sir Stuart Menzies (the real chief of British Secret Service during WWII) covering many aspects of the war, based on true facts. There are so many amazing stories that need  only little embellishment to become fascinating spy thrillers!

Nicholas Snow is the pen name of Nicholas C. Kyriazis, who holds a diploma and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Bonn, Germany. He has acted as visiting professor at Harvard and at the University of Trier. He has worked as a consultant to the Directorate General of Research of the European Parliament, to the National Bank of Greece, and to the Ministries of National Economy and of Defence, and has served as secretary general of Public Administration. Professor of economics at the University of Thessaly, he is a member of the board of Alpha Trust Investment Fund (listed on the Athens Stock Exchange), vice president of Ergoman Telecommunications, and vice president of the Kostas Kyriazis Foundation. He has contributed more than sixty papers to academic journals and has published eight books on economics, history, and strategy as well as a volume of poetry. Poems of his have been translated into English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Maltese. As a novelist, he has published eighteen books in Greece, several of which have been translated and published in English, including Themistocles (Kosbil Publications, 2004), The Shield (AuthorHouse, 2005), Assassins (AuthorHouse, 2007), and, in collaboration with Guy Féaux de la Croix, Last Love (Plato’s Last Love) (AuthorHouse, 2014).