FAQ's

Robin reveals the background behind his character Nick McNally, UK National News chief investigative reporter

How much is the main character in your books, the investigative crime reporter Nick McNally, inspired by your own experiences in TV News?

During my career in journalism, I was privileged to meet many excellent and dedicated reporters, camera crews, and picture editors. Men and women who I admire to this day who taught me so much about the skills that differentiate the average from the excellent. For example, the slow and methodical process of building a contacts book full of people who trust you and will, hopefully, guide you from saying too many stupid things on TV. For example, camera crews who have been there and seen it all and yet will bring enthusiasm and good advice when you are a fledgling reporter trying to make your mark out in the field. And so many more. What staggers me to this day is how many superb professionals there are in the news business. People who take extraordinary risks for no other reason than they couldn’t conceive of doing anything else. I learned a lot from so many of them, and I know this knowledge has contributed to how I developed Nick McNally's character in the novels.

What is it about McNally’s character that drives him to seek out the darkest and most corrupt side of humanity – often at significant risk to his own life?

I have tried to set out in the books that McNally is a person driven by a keen sense of right and wrong, perhaps this is because his father was a policeman. As a journalist I remember many interviews when I instinctively knew that the person opposite me was delivering the company line, with no sense of their own convictions or morality, because that was what they were being paid to do. That might be all right if you are selling cars or cosmetics, but when you are a senior politician, a warlord, or an industrialist responsible for thousands of lives I want readers to know that McNally isn't prepared to accept that. When it comes to the gritty subjects he investigates in the books, such as human misery, people smuggling, torture, child labour, and so on, it goes far beyond that, and that’s why I call him ‘The Terrier.’ He simply isn’t prepared to let go.

The next three McNally books will be released soon. Will the series extend beyond the six books you have already written?

Absolutely. Book seven is already written and is about diamonds. Book eight is currently underway and is about..? You will have to wait to see.

Do you think the McNally thriller series could develop into a TV or film script in the future?

Yes. As someone who spent much of my career in visual media, I can always picture a scene as if it were in a film or TV drama as I'm writing. After all, don't we dream in pictures? The best films and television do exactly that—they become an extension of our imagination and bring it vividly to life. I write every one of my books with the hope of sparking a reader's imagination. If one day that journey leads to a film or television adaptation, it would be the perfect culmination of my efforts. But the greatest joy has always been the writing itself. I love dreaming up stories and bringing them to life on the page.

Do you have a question about the Nick McNally thriller series?

If you have a questions for Robin about his novels, please get in touch with his literary agent.

Watson, Little Ltd

office@watsonlittle.com