Savarin, Julian Jay

PERSONAL:

Born in Commonwealth of Dominica. Education: Degree in history.

ADDRESSES:

Home—England.

CAREER:

Writer and musician. Recordings with band Julian's Treatment include Waiters on the Dance, 1969, and A Time before This, 1970. Military service: Served in British Royal Air Force.

WRITINGS:

Arena, R. Hale (London, England), 1979.

Waterhole, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1982.

Lynx, Walker & Company (New York, NY), 1984.

Gunship, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1985.

Windshear, Harper (New York, NY), 1985.

Naja, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1986.

Hammerhead, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1987.

Red Gunship, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1988.

Trophy, Century, 1989.

Villiger, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1991.

Target Down!, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1991.

Wolf Run ("Gordon Gallagher" series; thriller novel), Walker & Company (New York, NY), 1991.

The Quairang List, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1993.

The Queensland File ("Gordon Gallagher" series; thriller novel), HarperPaperbacks (New York, NY), 1994.

Pale Flyer, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1994.

MacAllister's Run ("MacAllister" series; military thriller novel), HarperPaperbacks (New York, NY), 1995.

Horsemen in the Shadows, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1996.

Typhoon Strike, Severn House (Sutton, Surrey, England), 1996.

MacAllister's Task ("MacAllister" series; military thriller novel), HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1997.

Strike Eagle, Severn House (Sutton, Surrey, England), 1997.

Norwegian Fire, Severn House (Sutton, Surrey, England), 1998.

Starfire, Severn House (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2000.

"LEMMUS" SCIENCE-FICTION TRILOGY

Waiters on the Dance, Arlington Books (London, England), 1972.

Beyond the Outer Mirr, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1980.

The Archives of Haven, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1980.

"MULLER AND PAPPENHEIM" SERIES; CRIME NOVELS

A Cold Rain in Berlin, Severn House (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2002.

Romeo Summer, Severn House (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2003.

Winter and the General, Severn House (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2003.

A Hot Day in May, Severn House (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2004.

Hunter's Rain, Severn House (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2004.

Summer of the Eagle, Severn House (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2005.

Seasons of Change, Severn House (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2005.

The Other Side of Eden, Severn House (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2006.

Sunset and the Major, Severn House (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Prolific novelist and progressive musician Julian Jay Savarin is the author of more than thirty novels, most in the thriller, crime, and mystery genres. In Starfire, a top Russian general works to perfect the ultimate secret weapon: genetically engineered plants capable of seeing enemy troops, vehicles, and aircraft. When the threat is discovered, NATO trains an inexperienced young female pilot to fly the world's most advanced fighter plane to destroy the menace while avoiding an international incident. The book "offers a clever plot and characters able to compete with all the weaponry for the reader's interest," noted Booklist reviewer John Rowen.

When ex-British Secret Service agent Gordon Gallagher's fiancée Lauren is killed in Wolf Run, he is prevented by his former boss from seeking revenge. Gallagher's need for justice becomes a near-obsession as he searches for the one he thinks is responsible: Inge Schonbronn, the leader of a group of hijackers who dumped Gordon and Lauren in a brutal Australian prison after hijacking their plane several years earlier. A Publishers Weekly critic remarked that Savarin is "authoritative on the espionage game" and that his characters' dialogue is "taut." While on a photographic expedition in Amsterdam, Gallagher is contacted by an old friend who seeks high-tech weaponry to fight South African oppression in Villiger. Former secret agent Piet Villiger tells Gallagher that he is trying to acquire a jet fighter for his cause, but that he believes his beautiful aide is working against him. When Villiger disappears, the worst is expected. On a yacht off Crete, the true motives of the vicious arms dealer with whom Villiger had been negotiating come to light. Savarin "creates some interesting characters and his conclusion is fittingly violent and exciting," wrote a contributor to Publishers Weekly.

Savarin's recurring series characters, German police detectives Muller and Pappenheim, debut in A Cold Rain in Berlin. Jens Muller, an aristocrat and man of independent means who chooses to work in law enforcement, and burly loyal sidekick and police sergeant Pappenheim, investigate a case of what appears to be racial violence: four white skinheads who attacked a black man are instead killed by their intended victim. Muller, "a suave, intelligent, noble lawman," embarks on the case behind the wheel of a customized Porsche outfitted with gadgets and gimmicks reminiscent of James Bond, commented a Publishers Weekly reviewer. As Muller and Pappenheim work the case, accompanied by beautiful reporter Carey Bloomfield, Muller's superior officer Kaltendorf hopes that Muller will be humiliated by a bungled investigation. "An entertaining war of wits keeps the plot rolling along," the Publishers Weekly contributor stated. Jenny McLarin, writing in Booklist, called the novel "a complex, dark tale that is as satisfying as a thick slice of Black Forest cake," concluding that A Cold Rain in Berlin is "compelling reading."

Muller and Pappenheim's second outing, Romeo Summer, finds the pair investigating the systematic deaths of a number of respected family men with a secret past. Previously, each of the men was a "Romeo," an East German agent trained to seduce and compromise female government workers and other women with access to sensitive information. Muller and Pappenheim work to find the serial killer and the reasons behind the slayings, but while they do, they also try to find the link between the murdered men and attempts to destroy the recently destabilized, post-Berlin Wall German government. "This is an extremely entertaining novel," commented David Pitt in Booklist, with main characters who are "a joy to watch" and "an original setting" that makes the story fresh. A Publishers Weekly reviewer called the book "slick, engaging, and allusive."

In Winter and the General the detectives are called in to investigate after an old man who may have been a notorious Nazi general is found in a remote island mansion with his throat slit. A writer for Publishers Weekly called the book "another solid, unabashedly old-fashioned spy thriller" with several layers of secrets and a victim who deserved his grisly fate.

Muller and Pappenheim are assigned to guard a peace activist from the Middle East in A Hot Day in May, just as Muller becomes obsessed with finding out the truth about his parents' death in an air crash twenty-two years earlier. As it turns out, the activist is really an assassin involved in a conspiracy that could take down German security. Rex E. Klett, writing in Library Journal, hailed the novel as a thriller that "has it all."

While investigating the kidnapping of a U.S. Army officer's family in Hunter's Rain, Muller gets closer to catching the people who murdered his parents. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly enjoyed the novel's James Bond-ish trappings and fresh twist on the thriller genre. Muller and Pappenheim's next case, in Summer of the Eagle, involves the nefarious Semper organization, which is not only responsible for killing Muller's parents but is also developing a type of mutant DNA that could be used for genocidal purposes. Associating the book with the "grand old tradition" of thrillers, a Publishers Weekly contributor called the novel "predictable but tasty."

Muller and Pappenheim continue their pursuit of Semper in Seasons of Change and The Other Side of Eden, with the action shifting from Germany to Australia. While one Publishers Weekly writer observed that Savarin "ticks away as smoothly and professionally as ever [in the former title], with nary a missed beat or a letdown," The Other Side of Eden prompted another reviewer for Publishers Weekly to observe that Savarin "may be settling into a disturbing rut." With Sunset and the Major, however, the series returns to Berlin and the stakes are raised in Semper's sinister bioterrorist game. Emily Melton, writing in Booklist, praised the suspense, plot twists, and engaging characters that Savarin offers in a series that "mixes the police procedural with a little 007 and a touch of Mission Impossible."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 2000, John Rowen, review of Starfire, p. 327; November 15, 2002, Jenny McLarin, review of A Cold Rain in Berlin, p. 581; July, 2003, David Pitt, review of Romeo Summer, p. 1871; May 1, 2005, Emily Melton, review of Summer of the Eagle, p. 1535; November 15, 2005, Emily Melton, review of Seasons of Change, p. 30; May 1, 2006, Emily Melton, review of The Other Side of Eden, p. 39; December 1, 2006, Emily Melton, review of Sunset and the Major, p. 29.

Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2004, review of A Hot Day in May, p. 656.

Kliatt, July, 2004, Janet Julian, review of A Cold Rain in Berlin, p. 50.

Library Journal, August, 2004, Rex E. Klett, review of A Hot Day in May, p. 59.

Publishers Weekly, December 14, 1990, Sybil Steinberg, review of Villiger, p. 55; June 7, 1991, review of Wolf Run, p. 54; November 11, 2002, review of A Cold Rain in Berlin, p. 44; July 7, 2003, review of Romeo Summer, p. 54; November 17, 2003, review of Winter and the General, p. 45; December 13, 2004, review of Hunter's Rain, p. 46; April 18, 2005, review of Summer of the Eagle, p. 41; December 5, 2005, review of Seasons of Change, p. 31; May 8, 2006, review of The Other Side of Eden, p. 47.