WHEN Zoe Sharp realised there wasn't an action heroine she could identify with in the books she loved to read, it was hardly surprising she then decided to have a go at writing her own.
What was a surprise, however - at least to her - was the international reaction to Charlie Fox, now one of the top action characters in crime fiction.
The bodyguard with the special forces background is more than able to give as good as she gets, without becoming what Sharp describes as "a man in tights".
In this OutLoud interview, Sharp discusses women in crime fiction, the origins of Charlie Fox and just how far she would push her, and gives a reading from her latest thriller,
Third Strike.
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Sharp was born in Nottinghamshire but spend much of her childhood in northwest England. A "failure of mainstream education", she was allowed to leave school at the age of 12 to continue her education at home through correspondence courses. Unconventional though it may have been, it served her well and, while still a teenager, she qualified for adult membership of Mensa, which she did not take up.
Her enthusiasm for writing led her to journalism and she established herself as a magazine writer, later adding photography to her CV.
Her first novel,
Killer Instinct, introducing Charlie Fox, was published in 2001.
Riot Act and
Hard Knocks followed in subsequent years, with the fourth,
First Drop becoming an international bestseller.
Third Strike is her seventh Charlie Fox Novel.
Sharp, who is no mean shot herself, lives in the Lake District with her husband, in the house they built themselves. She also continues to work as a photo-journalist.
www.zoesharp.comThird Strike, £19.99, is published by Allison & Busby ISBN 978-0-7490-7965-9Please use the commenting facility to let us know what you think of this book, using the following ratings:
1) Dull as dishwater
2) Okay, but could have been better
3) Pretty good, decent holiday read
4) Really liked it, can't wait for the next one
5) FANTASTIC - couldn't put it down! The full article contains 436 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
