The Code Within: A Thriller (Trent Turner Series) (55 page)

This book would have never been written if it wasn't for a ridiculously long layover at Heathrow airport in London, England around 2004. I was so incredibly bored that I picked up a book called The Increment written by Chris Ryan. Sadly enough, that was the first time I had read fiction for pleasure as an adult. After I finished that novel, I kept reading and reading and reading – perhaps I’ve been trying to make up for lost time. I would like to thank Chris for waking the reading beast inside me, and I hope to thank him in person one day.

At some point, I’d say around 2008 or so, I had figured out enough books before I had finished them to where I decided it might be fun to take a shot at writing one myself. I was a decent musician at one point in my life, after all, and I simply looked at writing as another creative outlet, so it was easy to carry over my confidence from writing music. Initially, I only gave writing a half-hearted effort. I had a sliver of an idea that continued to grow in my head, but only a few poorly written chapters (that had I thought were great at the time) to show for it. Then I told my sister what I had been up to and she introduced me to Vince Flynn and his Mitch Rapp series of books, and for that I owe her big time. Vince's writing struck a chord with me. I devoured his novels at what most (aside from my wife) would consider an unhealthy pace. If Chris Ryan was the spark for my interest in reading, Vince Flynn represented the fuel thrown on the fire to take writing seriously. Unfortunately, Vince Flynn passed away last year, so I'll never have the opportunity to thank him in person for his inspiration. I’d like to think he would have enjoyed my first effort.

Aside from Vince Flynn and Chris Ryan, my influences include the great Robert Ludlum, a few local guys who go by the names Tom Clancy, David Baldacci and Daniel Silva, as well as Dan Brown as the inspiration for my pacing and James Patterson for teaching me to keep my prose simple enough to stay out of the way of the story.