1:40pm Thursday 18th March 2010
By Vicki Stockman
COULD the silver screen beckon for an Orford Green author’s characters?
Conrad Jones certainly hopes so as film producers are looking at his sixth novel The Child Taker as a potential movie in the making.
The 44-year-old writer said: “Some of the bigger agencies have started to come to me. They have had the book for two to three months and they’ve not said no yet and normally they are quick to say no.”
Agents in New York and the UK are currently looking at buying the film rights to the sixth in Conrad’s series of books following the fictional Terrorist Task Force as they battle against terrorists around the world.
The former carpet cleaner added: “The latest book is about five-year-old twins taken from a tent in the Lake District so it appeals more to women readers. It was a tough story to write but sales have gone really well.
“Each new book is reinvigorating the sales of the first book Soft Target and the first book has now sold 20,000 copies. It’s only really two years ago that Soft Target came out and I’m more than happy with the sales.”
And the new book has received rave reviews from online reviewers who describe The Child Taker as a tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
There has also been a change to his first book Soft Target too.
“When I finished the sixth book I went back and re-read the first one for the first time since I had written it.
“I ended up re-writing it, it’s 2,000 words shorter.
“You learn a lot more as you go along,” said Conrad.
With the series following lead character John Tankersley, otherwise known as Tank, now reaching its sixth book is there any sign of the stories wrapping up?
Not just yet, says Conrad. “I’m about a month away from finishing book seven, I have probably got two to three more stories to take me to number 10,” he says, adding: “People enjoy them and ask when the next book’s coming out.”
l The Child Taker is available from amazon.com and Waterstones in Golden Square.
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