Peter May: Literary Salon in Berkeley

Peter May: Literary Salon in Berkeley (CA) Wednesday, April 7, 7 p.m.

Thriller Writer Leads a Double life

International thriller writer Peter May has been described as the Marlon Brando of the writing world. Just as Brando was famous for method acting, May is renowned for taking his research seriously and never writes about a subject or a place, unless he has experienced it personally.

This year, to satisfy his growing following of fans, May's U.S. publishers are taking the unprecedented step of releasing 3 brand new hardcover and 5 paperback editions of his China Thrillers and Enzo Files series along with his new standalone thriller Virtually Dead. 

Behind the Scenes with the Chinese Police

For his award-winning China Thrillers featuring a Beijing detective, and an American pathologist from Chicago, May managed to gain the trust of the Chinese police and got behind the scenes at their forensic science laboratories, pathology departments and morgues, even shadowing the work of Beijing homicide cops. The research paid off - a hit with critics and readers, his China Thrillers are a success around the world, winning May the prestigious French Prix Intramuros in 2007


From Michelin-Starred Kitchens to Sewers in France

May's critically-acclaimed Enzo Files series featuring a Scottish forensic scientist working on French cold cases has taken him from the heights of a 3-star Michelin chef's kitchen and the elite college where future presidents are groomed, to the depths of the French sewers and beyond. He explored a network of catacombs filled with skeletons, hundreds of feet under Paris in. When one story was set among French vineyards, he even took and passed a course in wine-tasting and was actually inducted as a "Chevalier" of French wine.


Leading a Second Life

His latest book, the standalone thriller, Virtually Dead involved his most in-depth research to date. May opened a private detective agency, and spent a year under another identity working on real cases and mastering surveillance techniques. Just one thing in it was in the online world of Second Life. The world was virtual but the people and their cases, were real, and May is proud of his 100% success rate.

May not only gained an insight into the life and work of a private detective, but discovered how important the online virtual world is to some of its residents.

"The cases bring you into very intimate contact with clients and their lives.  People fall in love, get married, and move across the real world to be closer to their 'virtual' partners.  These relationships become real in both worlds. And virtual infidelity hits people just as hard as in real life," says May. "The private detective is the only person with whom they can discuss their fears.  And sometimes the truth is the thing they fear the most.  I was unprepared for just how involved I would get.  Sometimes you feel you hold people's lives in your hands."

ABOUT PETER MAY
Peter May is the award-winning author of 15 novels including two series: The China Thrillers, and The Enzo Files, his standalone thriller Virtually Dead set in the online world of Second Life was published in January 2010.

Prior to concentrating on his novels, Peter established himself as one of Scotland's most prolific and popular television dramatists, garnering more that 1,000 credits in 15 years, he was responsible for the creation of several prime-time drama serials for the BBC and Independent television in the UK.

Born in Scotland, he now lives in France.  Frequent research trips; advisors at the top of their fields in criminology, pathology, genetics, politics, from around the world; and high-speed internet keep him well-connected from his isolated French farmhouse.

RSVP to attend this Literary Salon in Berkeley. Can't make it? Check out Peter's U.S. Tour.