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James McGee

Goodreads Author

Born

The United Kingdom

Website

http://www.jamesmcgee.uk

Genre

Historical Fiction, Thriller

Member Since

August 2014

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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

James McGee was born into an army family. He was educated in Gibraltar, Germany and Belfast, giving him a love of travel, which is evident in his meticulous, vivid portraits of diverse people and places. His career has encompassed banking, bookselling and thirteen years in the airline business. He has also presented book reviews for BBC local radio and several independent stations. ...more

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I liked that the first few titles began with an R word. I presume that was intentional. If so, why did you change it?

James McGee Hi Stuart,

Thanks for the question...good one!

Right, bear with me...here we go....
The change came about in a rather contrary way. After the third book …moreHi Stuart,

Thanks for the question...good one!

Right, bear with me...here we go....
The change came about in a rather contrary way. After the third book - Rapscallion - came out, and I was offered a new three-book contract, my publisher thought it might be an idea to veer away from the 'R' titles. At the time, I didn't have a major problem with that (though I'd already compiled a list of suitable 'R' titles if they'd wanted to carry on).

When I submitted the manuscript of the fourth novel I was still hunting for a relevant title and, as far as I knew, my editor was aware of that. Seems I was wrong, though, because when they sent me a proof copy of the book, I discovered, without any consultation, that HC had gone ahead and called it Rebellion, by which time it was too far along the publishing process to make a substitution.

I wasn't best pleased, frankly. If I'd known they were still prepared to go for an 'R' title, I'd have preferred Renegades, as that seemed more appropriate as far as the plot was concerned. To me, Rebellion has never really fitted. I'm still wondering, given that the story is set in Paris, why they just didn't stick with the French connotation and call it Revolution. Though even that would have been a bit of a stretch.

As a result (probably in a fit of pique), I decided to go completely off grid with the next one, set in America and featuring Hawkwood's early years, hence The Blooding, which did seem to fit. and with numero six, The Reckoning, I decided to continue in the same vein.

Now that my latest effort The Salma Option is out, and a world away from the Napoleonic Wars, I'm hunting for a plot in which I can bring Hawkwood and the gang back from their sabbatical. If that happens, I won't have any problem naming the thing as I still have those abandoned 'R' titles gathering dust...or rather, filed away for future reference...including...ahem...Renegades...

Hope that long-winded reply answered your query..!

Best wishes,
James
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Have you read A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley ? The basic idea has the makings of a best seller if sited in Victorian London - even Whitechapel . It looks perfect for your next book .

James McGee Hi Eric, thanks for your question. I'm afraid haven't read Jane Smiley's book. As for transferring a version of the story to Victorian London, sadly, …moreHi Eric, thanks for your question. I'm afraid haven't read Jane Smiley's book. As for transferring a version of the story to Victorian London, sadly, it's not a period I'm interested in, plus I'm not sure Jane would be too keen on me stealing her idea, either. I'd hate to be accused of plagiarism... I'll leave that to Melania Trump...!

But thanks for getting in touch...
James(less)

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James McGee’s books

Average rating: 3.96 · 4,213 ratings · 441 reviews · 51 distinct works • Similar authors

	Ratcatcher (Matthew Hawkwood, #1) 3.81 avg rating — 1,367 ratings — published 2006 — 26 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Resurrectionist (Matthew Hawkwood, #2) 3.99 avg rating — 938 ratings — published 2007 — 25 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Rapscallion (Matthew Hawkood, #3) 4.05 avg rating — 700 ratings — published 2008 — 23 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Rebellion (Matthew Hawkwood, #4) 3.83 avg rating — 460 ratings — published 2011 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Blooding (Matthew Hawkwood, #5) 4.21 avg rating — 289 ratings — published 2014 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Reckoning (Matthew Hawkwood, #6) 4.27 avg rating — 213 ratings — published 2017 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wolf's Lair 4.01 avg rating — 69 ratings — published 1990 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Crow's War 4.28 avg rating — 50 ratings — published 1989 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Trigger Men 4.18 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 2000 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Blooding: free sampler: A Gripping Historical Spy Thriller of the War of 1812 4.04 avg rating — 27 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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James McGee's Blog

Just a heads up...

For anyone who might be interested and for others who couldn't give a stuff, this just to pass the word that in light of my new(ish) website that's now up and running, I'm curtailing my blog entries on GoodReads. Not that there have been that many, anyway. As I'm not a great one for cutting and pasting between sites and given that I'm a fella and thus limited in my ability to multi-task, I'm savin Read more of this blog post »

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Published on June 24, 2015 09:12

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Series by James McGee

Matthew Hawkwood (6 books)
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James McGee (Goodreads Author)

3.95 avg rating — 3,967 ratings

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“I have.”
― James McGee, The Reckoning

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