So off we went into the wild blue yonder where, pretty soon, we were dubbed “the Fred and Woody show”—Woody insisting Patton’s death had been an accident pure and simple, and me saying well maybe it was, and then again, maybe it wasn’t). Our first stop was San Francisco, and at a “working lunch” with half a dozen or so local newspaper reporters, someone asked why I’d written the book. When I replied, quoting Ian Fleming, that ‘my main aim was to keep heterosexual readers turning the page,’ a hackette who looked like Rosa Klebb snarled “Ya got sump’n against homosexuals?”  Oops. I’d forgotten which city I was in.

In Detroit, after a book signing session, I announced I was going to walk back to the hotel. “Ya wanna get killed?” my horrified minder blurted. In Dallas, the driver of my limo (it was pink) made a detour to show me a Henry Moore sculpture at the Civic Centre. “Whatcha thinka that thang?” he asked me. I said I wasn’t very keen, and he nodded agreement. “Looks lak a dinosaur took a crap ta me.”  In Boston, I shared a spot on a talk show with General Patton’s daughter, the marvellously-named Ruth Ellen Patton Totten, who had no time whatsoever for me or my conspiracy theory. “If there were ladies around, my father always Latinized the swear words,” she said. “If he was here now he’d call it ‘taurine excreta.’”

And then home for the British “premiere” of Brass Target on March 22, 1979 (nothing to do with MGM, who just let  it open without fanfare) at the Plaza, Haymarket (now--sic transit gloria mundi--a Tesco supermarket). My premiere was a family-and-friends champagne party for thirty at the Café Royal and a block of seats in the balcony. And all around it, another hectic seven day round of press, radio and TV interviews—they’d flown Woody over and we did our “yes-it-was-no-it-wasn't” act again—to promote it. But even with competition as poor as the movies you can see in the picture above, Brass Target quietly curled up and died. So we did what we always do, and got on with life. By mid-April I was 140,000 words into a vast, complex novel—my Gone with the Wind— contracted for by Hutchinson/Arrow in the UK and Macmillan in the US. Set in the years leading up to and during the Russian revolution, and tentatively titled Like Water, Like Fire (one of the main characters was Vladimir, scion of the Smirnoff family, vodka-makers to the Tsar of all the Russias—in fact Smirnoff flew me to the south of France to meet his widow, Tatiana) it eventually became White Nights, Red Dawn. That summer there was, I recall, a standing ovation for a talk I gave at the Writers’ Summer School, I wrote the scripts for and appeared in a Tyne-TV series called “A Better Read” on “Westerns” with J. T. Edson and John Harvey, and “Spies” with Brian Freemantle and Ted Allbeury. Then at the end of 1980 I hit the jackpot with a contract with Bantam Books in New York (which they later reneged on) and Arrow Books in London, for a five-book series A Call to Arms, about an American family living through the War of Independence, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War and World Wars One and Two.

I was having a marvellous time—plenty of work, plenty of fun, plenty of boxes ticked. But it’s in the nature of the writing business that there will be some disappointments, and sure enough there were, one of the biggest of which was a project that came my way in February, ’84 when I was picked to ghostwrite a book with Elvis Presley’s stepbrothers, Rick and Dave Stanley, for which I came up with the title How Fast Does T his Thing Go? (one of the stories the boys told me about Elvis was that every time he bought a car--and he did that pretty often--his first question would always be "How fast does this thing go?"). I spent a week interviewing them in a motel in Waco, Texas, and when we were done I went back to New York and put together a proposal for what looked like it was going to be a sure-fire, big-time bestseller..Then, just as Artie Pine began showing it to publishers, Rick and Dave confessed they had previously signed a contract with another agent. We had no option but to watch helplessly as he took it over and put a price tag of no-less-than-$2 million on it, whereupon (this was hard on the heels of the "Get outta here!" reaction agents experienced with high-advance projects immediately in the wake of Bantam’s “insane” advance for Judith Krantz’s novel Princess Daisy) the project dropped stone dead. Rick and Dave went back to Texas and became Baptist preachers, and I never heard from them again.

Richard "Rick" and Dave Stanley, Waco, TX. February 1984

And then there was Nazi Gold.

During the excitement surrounding the publication of The Mittenwald Syndicate I’d been contacted by a young fellow named Ian Sayer, who owned a trucking company and seemed to be very wealthy (he had a Ferrari, as I recall) who, with a friend, Harry Seaman, had been industriously and with some success investigating the Reichsbank robbery, in the course of which he amassed a transatlantic phone bill the size of the national debt. He was interested in what I’d found out, and I likewise in his research. He had documents, photographs, names and numbers and we all agreed there was a marvellous book in there, and that I would write it.  On the heels of my novel it was a natural, which Sphere Books signed for a substantial advance. It was an enormously complex story and I did what I thought was a masterly job of making it concise and yet pacy, comprehensive but not bean-counting. Sphere were delighted and the book was announced for November, 1980 publication—in fact, here’s the cover they were going to use.

Then, mysteriously, everything started to go pear-shaped. Phone calls were not returned, people could not be reached. Then all at once there was talk of lawyers and libel; publication was postponed and then postponed again, and I couldn’t find out what was going on. Never really did get the full truth, but after six months, to cut a very long, sad story short, Sphere paid me off, Ian Sayer bought back the rights, and the book was cancelled. Later, having also cut Seaman adrift, Sayer teamed up with the Sunday Times "Insight" team and another writer, Douglas Botting, and a book of the same title (my great title) was handsomely published in 1984 by Granada (now part of Harper-Collins) but made hardly any noise at all. At least I got a mention in the acknowledgements.

Frankly, Scarlett, I was too busy to give much of a damn--I was writing what I wanted to write, travelling wherever I wanted to go, realising ambitions I'd waited all my life to fulfil. With the backing of the Society of Authors, I spearheaded and masterminded the first-ever survey of the promptitude (or otherwise) of publishers’ royalty payments in a landmark article ("The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly")  which appeared  in The Author and was then reprinted in The Bookseller and Publishing News.  My friends Bill Barrow, Dennis Moore and I produced LPs of Rodgers & Hart's first musical Dearest Enemy and a "lost" score from the movie Hollywood Party (both now available on CD) and teetered on the verge of doing (but never actually did) a third, an album of "unsung" R&H to be performed by Denis Lawson and Sian Phillips, then starring in a London revival of Pal Joey. We enjoyed a fabulous launch party for White Nights, Red Dawn thrown by Hutchinson (well, the Smirnoff vodka people, actually) at the Travellers’ Club in Pall Mall (with lots of champagne and real caviar and several genuine Russian princesses in attendance). I wrote and fronted three more Tyne-Tees "Better Read" scripts, translated eight of the French-language Goscinny-Morris  “Lucky Luke” books for Hodders, and a novelisation of a German TV hospital soap on Channel 4 for Sphere, wrote six or eight short books for children, served four years on the Society of Authors’ Management Committee, put together the first-ever “Crime Writers Road Show” featuring Harry Keating, Anthony Price, Simon Brett, Anne Morice and Lady Antonia Fraser, was writer in residence at the Wooburn Festival, helped set up the All-Bucks Literary Festival, held a weekend seminar “So You Want To Be A Writer?” at my home, wrote a weekly column in The Bookseller that ran for almost three years ... and, oh, yes, I nearly forgot, a dozen books. Here they are …

 

CARVER'S KINGDOM

(London: Macmillan, 1980; New York: Warner, 1980)

"Fortunes are seldom made by men who care overmuch about keeping both hands and consciences spotless, and the go-getting Carver brothers, Theo and Ezra encountered plenty of skulduggery when they joined the gold rush of ’49. Love was regarded as a weakness by such men, and one which could lay them open to blackmail, but the lonely woman whose fate crossed theirs was by nature more of a victim than an executioner. Wild adventures befall the Carvers, but in spite of murder, rape and lynching the tone of this novel remains immensely respectable – a meaty read." - London Daily Telegraph.

 "It is a lusty, colorful yarn about the first American railroads in the middle of the 19^th century, the carving of a fortune by a man made to succeed despite all opposition, and a woman destined to become a great actress. I think it will be bought by thousands." - Eric Hiscock, The Bookseller.

 “A rich, sprawling story of an America going places during the middle of the last century, it proves Frederick Nolan has lost none of the literary skill which served him so well in novels like The Mittenwald Syndicate. The book takes in most of the memorable features of life in the States during that period and represents excellent value.” - Bolton Evening News.

 “Business ethics in the United Stataes in the middle of last century left a lot to be desired, and Frederick Nolan paints a pretty grim picture of the methods employed then to secure personal advancement. In his story no holds are barred and little mercy is shown for those who stand in the way. It is a gripping story and deserves the sequel now in preparation.” - Aberdeen Press & Journal.

 “An absorbing novel of 19^th century America when every bright young man was out to make a fortune. The action ranges from Wall Street to the splendour of Southern plantations, but the author excels in his descriptions of the West: the goldfields where men died in the mud, and Dodge City, a cluster of tents and crumbling adobe shacks with a ‘smell of no sanitation, of rotting meat, of filth.’” - Bristol Western Daily Press.

 “A fast moving novel of American life in the middle of the 19^th century. It is the story of one woman, Sarah Hutchinson, who became one of the greatest actresses of her day, and of the men whose lives werte changed by knowing her. The settings of this long and powerful novel range from the California gold rush to the Wall Street of the Robber Barons, from the glittering Broadway stage to the Kansas frontier.” - Scunthorpe Star.

 “A drama on the majestic scale set in the America of a century ago, a time when fortunes were made and lost overnight. Money, power, love – all the makings of a best seller are here.” - South Devon Journal.

 “One of those deep, delightful family histories, this time in America a century ago with the principals being two brothers with quite different characters but with one beautiful actress able to hold both their reins.” - Manchester Evening News.

 "A major achievement, a significant historical novel which confirms Nolan's reputation in the genre." - Geoffrey Sadler, 20th Century Romance & Historical Writers.

          Also published in Dutch, and in British and American paperback editions.

**

(New York: Macmillan, 1980; London: Hutchinson, 1981)

 "A powerful, sweeping saga of the lives and loves of real and fictional characters who shared this tragic era."

 - Kansas City Star.

"There is plenty of colour and drama and romance in the telling of the tale." - Irish Times.

"Perhaps the most unusual of  Nolan's creations; it is also one of the most satisfying." - Geoffrey Sadler.

Also published in Swedish, Danish, Spanish, Dutch, German, Portuguese, and in British and American paperback editions.

 
***

‘ A Call To Arms.’

              A PROMISE OF GLORY    

                             (London: Arrow,1983- New York: Bantam, 1984)                 
    

              BLIND DUTY

                             (London: Arrow, 1983- New York: Bantam, 1985)                      

FIELD OF HONOUR

(London: Hamlyn, 1985)

***

WOLF TRAP

(London: Piatkus, 1983; New York: St Martins Press, 1984)

 "Compelling and authentic - a genuine spellbinder by a wonderful writer." - Robert B. Parker.

"Splendid, detailed research, bow-string tension and immaculate plot. A really splendid read." - John Gardner.

 ""What gives this thrill-a-minute novel its special resonance is the genuine research that infuses its every twist and turn." - Publishers Weekly.

Also published in Dutch, and in British and American paperback editions.

 ***

RED CENTER

(London: Grafton, 1987; New York: St. Martins Press, 1987)

 "State of the art spycraft and crackling dialogue ... as fine a storyteller as anyone writing espionage fiction today." - Nelson de Mille.

"Fast, furious and intricate. It's a terrific blend of worlds - designer drugs and espionage - and it's done with authenticity." - Campbell Armstrong.

"A fast-moving and expertly plotted spy thriller ... Highly readable." - Washington Times.

"This careening thriller is what you get by crossing the international deviltry of a Len Deighton spy novel with the white-hot action and drug culture savagery of a "Miami Vice" TV episode ... an exciting and stylish slam-bang tale, teeming with triple crosses." - Buffalo News.

 "A riveting, witty, even stylish treat." - Publishers Weekly.

           Also published in Japanese, and in British and American paperback editions.

 ***

 The Garrett Dossier:

SWEET SISTER DEATH

(London: Century, 1989)

(as ‘Donald Severn’  in the USA)

A TIME TO DIE

(New York: Lynx, 1989)

 "The first of a planned six-parter in the Frederick Forsyth manner that is clearly not going to suffer from lack of global ambition or research, featuring the commander of PACT (Punitive Action Counter Terrorism) and his cosmic convergence with beautiful, mad terrorist Leila." - Christopher Wordsworth, The London Observer.

           Also published in German, and in British and American paperback editions.

ALERT STATE BLACK

(New York: Lynx, 1989; London: Century, 1990)

 "Frederick Nolan's new nail-biter is ... a fast paced and cleverly plotted tale. Nolan displays considerable technical expertise ... his novel is the male equivalent of an S&F blockbuster." - Christopher Hirst, London Evening Standard.

Also published in a British paperback edition.

DESIGNATED ASSASSIN

(London: Century, 1990)

 "For those who remember the bitter battle between intelligence agent Charles Garrett and IRA hit-man Sean Hennessy, this completes the duel ... A ruthless, breath-taking thriller." - Liverpool Daily Post.

Also published in a British paperback edition.

RAT RUN

(London: Century, 1991)

"Bizarre suicides of scientific researchers lead to a top terrorist, Carlos variety, who bribed and killed to gain possession of a new British anti-submarine mine ... Especially good dialogue."
 - Martha Gellhorn, London Daily Telegraph.

 ***

And one that I acted as editor/ghostwriter on (it only took sixteen-months) …

REMEMBER THIS DREAM

(Bantam, 1988)

Plus some (but by no means all) of the childrens’ books I wrote ~

     

 

                                                                                                                                  … elsewhere.