Gil's feature

[gil]

Well, it's the first chapter of a thriller. I wrote one and a half thrillers back in the seventies, but couldn't get the first published, so sort of lost interest. Back then, there was no such thing as word processing, folks, so Beryl, my wife, typed the whole thing, and revisions were incredibly painful, as it often involved typing two pages for a simple insertion.

In 1990, I wrote, typeset into camera ready and got published a book on Computer Adventures.

So when I got my laptop, I felt I could go back to a novel. It took till 2002 for me to get started. I'm several chapters into it now.

I'd really like feedback. Beryl is my only critic so far, other than some politely worded rejection notices for the first book. And you don't have to be polite.

[NottyImp]

Right, Gil, so I guess we're in Ian Fleming/John Le Carre territory here? Not a genre I'm overly familiar with in print, I have to say.

My first impressions were that this first chapter was quite well written, if a tad down-beat in style. Although we're dealing with a British secret agent and service here, I guess I'd want a bit more "zing" to get me hooked.

I'd also have some worries about character development for your central character, as although I guess he must inevitably remain urbane, to be interesting he'll have to have some quirks. Inevitably he'll be compared to James Bond, and that's a tough act to follow!

As I say, though, I'm not a regular reader of this genre at all, so maybe my comments are well wide of the mark.

[Colyngbourne]

I would agree with NottyImp's impressions. I found it hardest to imagine how old the protagonist was and what he looked like, and I also presumed it was set in the present day, though it seemed a little vague stylistically on that score. I don't usually read spy/thriller-type stories but I was intrigued by the ned of the first chapter, and what exactly was going on.