Leigh Turner
My next book is my international thriller "Palladium", due for release on 17 May. You can put the book on your "to read" list on Goodreads!
In 2011 I visited Istanbul. At the time I was British Ambassador in Kyiv, Ukraine. The gulls swooped over the Bosphorus; the great dome of the Aya Sophia caught the sun; the throb of giant tankers echoed from waterfront yalis. Great ocean steamers lined the strait.
I thought: I must write a thriller set here.
In 2012 I moved to Istanbul, as British Consul-General. I saw the 15th century Bodrum Mosque, built in the 10thC as a Greek church, the Myrelaion.
I also visited the Valide Han, an ancient trading house whose domed roof gives a spectacular view over the city.
What, I thought, if an archaeologist racing to excavate a site ahead of the construction of a new skyscraper dug up an ancient relic that played into contemporary fears? Perhaps the novel might flash back to historic events? What if people believed the relic protected the city from harm? What catastrophe might threaten?
With the help of friends in Istanbul, I came up with a terrific idea for a cataclysmic threat. This in turn owes something to a previous job of mine, as the Director of Overseas Territories – but since that involves a key twist in the plot, I shall not refer to it here.
I then set out to weave all of these elements into a novel. The result was Palladium, which features the Myrelaion and its cistern; the Theodosian Walls of Istanbul; the Bosphorus; the Aya Sophia; the Valide Han; a building site; ocean liners; and much, much more of Istanbul.
Where do ideas come from? In the case of Palladium, it it all came back to those first, magnificent views of one of the most beautiful cities on earth – the sense of place.
In 2011 I visited Istanbul. At the time I was British Ambassador in Kyiv, Ukraine. The gulls swooped over the Bosphorus; the great dome of the Aya Sophia caught the sun; the throb of giant tankers echoed from waterfront yalis. Great ocean steamers lined the strait.
I thought: I must write a thriller set here.
In 2012 I moved to Istanbul, as British Consul-General. I saw the 15th century Bodrum Mosque, built in the 10thC as a Greek church, the Myrelaion.
I also visited the Valide Han, an ancient trading house whose domed roof gives a spectacular view over the city.
What, I thought, if an archaeologist racing to excavate a site ahead of the construction of a new skyscraper dug up an ancient relic that played into contemporary fears? Perhaps the novel might flash back to historic events? What if people believed the relic protected the city from harm? What catastrophe might threaten?
With the help of friends in Istanbul, I came up with a terrific idea for a cataclysmic threat. This in turn owes something to a previous job of mine, as the Director of Overseas Territories – but since that involves a key twist in the plot, I shall not refer to it here.
I then set out to weave all of these elements into a novel. The result was Palladium, which features the Myrelaion and its cistern; the Theodosian Walls of Istanbul; the Bosphorus; the Aya Sophia; the Valide Han; a building site; ocean liners; and much, much more of Istanbul.
Where do ideas come from? In the case of Palladium, it it all came back to those first, magnificent views of one of the most beautiful cities on earth – the sense of place.
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