About the Author

Born in London, England to a New Zealand father and English mother, Gary thoroughly enjoyed weekends away on his father's boat on the river Thames and South of France. He moved out of London, preferring the peace and quiet and openness of the countryside. Owning a border collie called Abigail ensured many long family walks no matter what the fickle English weather decided to do. Finding Elderflower trees started a love of winemaking and plums and Blackberries resulted in homemade jams. A move north to Cumbria and the Lake District saw the family exploring the hills, lakes and coastal walks. A move back south to Cheshire saw the west coast being explored. A holiday to see the land where his father was born resulted in a move to New Zealand where favourite pastimes include wine making, gardening, propagating shrubs, growing vegetables and looking after two mischievous Dutch house rabbits. Before becoming a full time author, Gary spent his professional career in supply chain management rising through the ranks of major international electronics companies. The profession saw him travelling extensively throughout Europe, Mexico, America and the Far East where he still has many good friend. Taking a U.K based roll gave him the time to see his children grow up and finally enjoy travelling for pleasure. With the devastating diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, Gary took to writing as a way of keeping his mind active. All the books are based on an environmental and conservation theme, a subject close to his heart. The research required for each book broadens the mind and the books take on a life of their own. Writing and Multiple Sclerosis are a good match. When cognitive fatigue sets in, with writing, you can stop and rest but allow your imagination to carry on. Presently, Gary is working on the screenplay adaptation of the first book in The Charles Langham Series - The Pacific Affair and planning the third book in the series - The Caribbean Affair. Gary is married with 3 children and a grandson. Two moved to New Zealand and one remains in England.

Reviews

KIRKUS REVIEW September 2014 (Pre-Release) A billionaire's attempts to make profound changes to counter global problems such as climate change are met with severe resistance from the U.S. president in Stephenson's debut thriller. New Zealander Charles Langham, at a United Nations meeting, implores the U.N. to take more active roles in combating famine and the deforestation of rain forests and promoting alternative fuels. This plea includes a vague warning, giving the U.N. a week to comply or Charles will take action. It seems that U.S. President Mike Read, who views Charles as a threat to the American economy, may be the billionaire's biggest adversary. President Read sends a U.S. ship after Charles' superyacht, Sundancer, presumably to attack, and Charles responds by disabling the vessel with an electromagnetic pulse fired from one of his subs. Charles then makes a statement to the public that he plans to use a device to create two tsunamis (designed to inflict only "minor damage")to hit the U.S., but Read soon sends a covert team to eliminate Charles. The novel embraces its climate change message by directly addressing the issue, and its suggested solution-Charles sends specialists to countries to help the people become self-reliant-is both practical and feasible within the novel's context. America initially is the villain, but as the story progresses, it's clear that the true antagonist is President Read, who gradually loses the support of other nations and even his own advisers. The bulk of the novel is essentially a showdown between Read and Charles, who seemingly has enough money and employees to be a viable opponent for a man who leads a country. There's very little suspense, however, as Charles is never in any real danger; he's protected by boats, submarines, "extremely well paid" security teams and a deep-sea HQ. He supplements his story by moving beyond the U.S. situation, including Charles' team making a strike against a drug cartel in Brazil, and spotlighting strong characters-although the book is nearly stolen by Abbey, Charles' border collie, who has more personality than his children, Cathy and Chris. Charles isn't terribly charismatic, but his integrity and seemingly endless resources make for a great read.