FALL OUT
By M.N. Grenside
‘The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed'. HONORÉ DE BALZAC
A Brief Synopsis
An LA screenwriter is killed shortly after completing his latest script, Fall Out - a thriller destined to be a blockbuster but written with a secret double purpose.
Echoing events from the past the screenplay is sent to a very specific group of people and will change their lives forever. All are connected to a movie that had abruptly stopped shooting in the jungles of the Philippines years before. Fall Out exposes the truth about a conspiracy and murder that led to a half-a-billion-dollar fortune for a select few.
Follow the story of Producer Marcus Riley, who sets out on an increasingly dangerous quest to get Fall Out
made. From a powerful Agent's office in Hollywood, hidden treasures in Belgravia and a remote chalet in the Swiss Alps to murder at the Cannes Film Festival, Marcus teams up with designer Melinda (Mako) de Turris as they and the other recipients of the screenplay are pursued by an assassin from the past.
With clues cleverly concealed in the screenplay, Marcus and Mako unravel a lethal puzzle that for some will bring death, others the truth and ends in a cave with a shocking secret...
How I become an author…
“I guess you could say I am an insider, lifting the veil about making movies wrapped up in an awe-inspiring true crime.
I began working as a broker in the outer fringes of Lloyds of London in Kidnap Ransom and Extortion Insurance. There I learned much about the darker side of human nature.
The suit and tie didn’t really work for me and via happenstance and persistence I started working for Jim Henson and the Muppets… that’s another story itself!
Henson's was my launching pad to becoming an Independent Producer making movies, series and miniseries for just about every TV network in the world.That led onto becoming a channel owner, The Hallmark Channel, which was then sold on to NBC Universal.
My last mini-series was TREASURE ISLAND for SKY/NBC Networks with Eddie Izzard, Donald Sutherland, Elijah Wood, Philip Glenister and Rupert Penry Jones.
In late 2015 I took a break from Producing and concentrated on someinvestments in the digital world. In addition, I started my blog www.andanotherthing.com (observations on the devious, the obvious and the ridiculous) which is read in over 40 countries. I and two friends then founded Dragonfly Biosciences, Europe’s largest seed to shelf CBD company and we are now in Harrods, Boots, Tesco, Sainsbury and countless pharmaciesinEurope.”
The 5 W’s
‘How to make a killing in the film business one betrayal at a time.’
When?
Fall Out takes place in present day although there are flashbacks to 1945, 1977 and 1995
As for actually writing the book, a story had been germinating in my head for a number of years. My wife then decided it was time to live in the sun and we moved from London to Malta in 2016 where I completed and edited Fall Out.
Why?
In fact, there are two parts to this answer. The first is I had uncovered a terrific nugget of history on my travels that I wanted to fold into a thriller based in the movie industry.
The film world is one that interests so many. Just go to a dinner party and when people ask what everyone does; lawyer, doctor, dentist, broker, banker, designer, hairdresser, whatever, if I say producer I get peppered with questions! Based on my history it seemed a logical place to set a franchise of thrillers. As Dick Francis did with horseracing and John Grisham has done for law. I’m creating a thriller franchise in a world I knew very well as the backdrop. In addition, I saw an opportunity to create an environment that references so much reality that the reader is never quite sure if what he is reading is fact or fiction.
Secondly, film making is by its very nature a collaborative effort. Much as I enjoyed my time doing it, for once I wanted to create something when I only had to answer to myself!
‘Write about what you know’ is a cliché for good reason. Wherever possible I have written about things that I have first-hand knowledge of; financing and making movies, agents, lawyers, talent & tantrums, locations, classic cars and boats, food, art, history, events, even forms of fighting such as the butterfly knife or balisong. My wife has drawn a veil of silence over the sex scenes!
Where?
I have visited over 115 countries for both work and pleasure, and I enthusiastically gained first-hand knowledge of people of every patina, creed and background.
The real story behind the writer’s death is buried in the Philippines, a country I know well and have visited many times. It was a mixture of research, legend and many clandestine meetingsthat locked me into the true story behind Fall Out.
A key story point takes place at the Cannes Film Festival; an event along with TV and Music festivals I have attended 50 times. The Penthouse in the story is actually the one my company rented for many years during the festival. The pool really does have a glass wall that you can see into from the drawing room below the terrace.
Other locations sprinkled through the book are also based on first-hand experience and includeLilly Langtree’s former homein Belgravia opposite The Barclay Hotel. This belonged to multi Emmy Award winning Producer Robert Halmi Snr, a friend and collaborator. The Villa D’Este in Lake Como was where I got married!
Who?
‘Character is action’, a famous Hollywood script guru one said. Thrillers only work if an audience or reader can identify and understand the protagonists and why they act the way they do. LA was my home for many years, so it was easy to accurately portray the people, deals and characters of Hollywood. In addition, I have kept true to my demands as a producer for razor sharp dialogue and chapters that always move the story forward.
Just don’t ask me on whom some of the characters in the book are based, or I’ll be tied up in lawsuits for the next century!
What?
Is obviously the synopsis above and greed. The ultimate cause of Fall Out but. ...
As the hero and heroine uncover the clues hidden in the screenplay the real plot unfolds, all I can say is that the facts behind it are true.
I have sought expert advice on weaponry, poisons, ‘symbology’, Nu-Shu handwriting, and the mysterious codes on the true to life documents Fall Out uncovers. I studied everything from biographies on Marcos, the second world war in Asia Pacific, arcane movie terminology, Asian Art, the slang, habits and customs of the Philippines to Eleanor Coppola’s Notes on Making Apocalypse Now. I have worked hard at introducing unexpected twists and turns as well as including cryptic clues and novel action scenes to make the book different.
I hope you find the story fast paced, fun, with true facts delivered as part of the journey … with a twist at the end to leave you breathless...
A bright thriller to take us away from the grim and dark reality of our daily lives right now.
Enjoy!
May 21, 2020 | £8.99 | Paperback Original | Urbane Publications Limited
PRE-ORDER AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM/.CO.UK
www.urbanepublications.com
