Blog Tour ~ Spare Me The Truth by C J Carver

Jaffareadstoo is excited to be part of the 

Spare Me The Truth 

Blog Tour

Zaffre
7th April 2016

I am delighted that the author is sharing the five novels which have inspired her 

Five novels that have inspired me:
by
CJ Carver

1) When the Lion Feeds by Wilbur Smith

When I was a kid, I read all my Dad’s books and since he was addicted to thrillers and adventure stories, I guess it was inevitable I would be too. Eric Ambler, John le Carré, Ken Follet, I gobbled them up, but when I fell on Wilbur Smith I thought all my dreams had come true. I didn’t think I’d ever read such an action-packed story. Rampaging through the jungles of East Africa, vanquishing lion and crocodile, falling in love and out was the Courtney family and I loved them all. This trilogy didn’t just get me to Africa, it had a major effect on what I write today. I love writing big action scenes and exploring family conflicts.

2) Odds Against, Dick Francis

Galloping adventure stuff I thoroughly enjoyed as a teen and an adult (you can see a theme developing here) but what I found magical was that Francis’s books were written from the viewpoint of an “ordinary” person thrown into extraordinary circumstances, which is exactly what happens to my character Dan Forrester in Spare Me The Truth.

A lot of people think Francis is lightweight, but his fast plots and authentic backgrounds in my view were outstanding. His books weren’t long, and they introduced me to punchy, no holds-barred storytelling. Now that, I remember thinking, is what I want to write: page turners.

3) I Robot by Isaas Asimov

The fact I enjoy sci-fi movies so much stems from this book. It was like peering into a looking-glass and seeing what the future might hold. I was fascinated by the three laws of robotics, and how a robot could struggle to fulfil each without hurting a human. On hindsight, I see most of my books have a science element in them, something futuristic, and in Spare Me the Truth it’s a memory-erasing drug that isn’t sci-fi but will, one day, become all too real.

4) Gorky Park, Martin Cruz Smith

This has to be one of the classic thrillers of all time, the quintessence of the genre. Cruz Smith has outstanding style and a unique voice that transported me into a previously unknown world of ice and snow and murder. Amid the pitiless character of the Soviet regime and the grinding poverty is a series of fascinating characters. Nearly everyone we meet dreams of going to the West but not our hero Arkady, who is proudly Russian. I’d always thought of the Russian’s as bad guys, and to empathise with Arkady was a bit of an eye opener at the time.

5. A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

This was a turning point for me, reading a detective novel written from the viewpoint of a smart, kick-ass woman. A believable, heartwarming, independent and tough woman. Ye Gods, what a revelation! I’d been reading male authors writing about male heroes for so long I hadn’t considered that of course there were women detectives out there. Women army officers, women fighter pilots, women SIS operatives. Grafton’s character Kinsey Milhone has to be the archetypal woman detective and she showed me what could be done.

© CJ Carver 2016



About the Author

C J Carver is the best selling author of seven crime fiction novels including Blood Junction. She has won the CWA debut dagger and the Barry Award for Best British Crime Fiction.

Find out more on C J Carver's website

Follow on Twitter @C_J_Carver

My thanks to the author for sharing with us the five novels which have inspired her...

Thanks also to Emily Burns at Zaffre for her kind invitation to be pat of this blog tour.

Blog tour runs 4th - 11th April

Do visit the other blog tour hosts for more exciting Blog Tour Content

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