The monsters of our childhood do not fade away, neither are they ever wholly monstrous. But neither, in my experience, do we ever reach a plane of detachment regarding our parents, however wise and old we may become. To pretend otherwise is to cheat.

Every writer knows he is spurious; every fiction writer would rather be credible than authentic.

The world of spying is my genre. My struggle is to demystify, to de-romanticise the spook world, but at the same time harness it as a good story.

When you're my age and you see a story, you better go for it pretty quickly. I'd just like to get a few more novels under my belt.

Multi-billion-dollar multinational corporations view the exploitation of the world's sick and dying as a sacred duty to their shareholders.

I am still making order out of chaos by reinvention.

All men are born free: just not for long.