Sunday, January 6, 2008

Kevin Wignall

From a Q & A with Kevin Wignall about his latest novel, Who is Conrad Hirst?:

Okay, what about comparisons with The Bourne Identity and the rest of the series?

I haven't read any Ludlum but I've seen the films. My publisher used it as a marketing device in the early stages, but I suspect they were aiming at people who'd seen the movies rather than those who'd read the books. The similarity is that identity naturally plays a part in both works, but they deal with it in different ways. Jason Bourne has no idea who he is and is trying to find out, Conrad Hirst is certain who he is but sees that identity being chipped away as events unfold. Added to that, Bourne is something of a superman, whereas Conrad is all too human. And I seem to remember that Bourne doesn't like killing people, whereas it's Conrad's default option. Having said that, I'd hope people who liked Bourne would also take something from this book.
Read the entire Q & A.

Kevin Wignall is the author of the novels, For the Dogs, People Die, Among the Dead, and Who is Conrad Hirst? as well as a number of acclaimed short stories.

The Page 69 Test: Who is Conrad Hirst?.

--Marshal Zeringue