Sharp, Zoë

PERSONAL: Born in Nottinghamshire, England; married; husband's name Andy (a writer).

ADDRESSES: Home—Cumbria, England. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Thomas Dunne Books, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010. E-mail—authorzoesharp@aol.com.

CAREER: Writer and photojournalist. Has worked as a yacht delivery crewman, van driver, horse riding instructor, pensions and mortgage advisor, and advertising salesperson for a newspaper. Freelance photojournalist, 1988–.

WRITINGS:

Killer Instinct, Piatkus Books (London, England), 2001.

Riot Act, Piatkus Books (London, England), 2002.

Hard Knocks, Piatkus Books (London, England), 2003.

First Drop, Piatkus Books (London, England), 2004, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Road Kill, Piatkus Books (London, England), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Zoë Sharp has been a freelance photojournalist since the late 1980s and has written for numerous British periodicals. "The desire to write fiction had always been lurking around in the background and the spur I needed came from a regular column I was asked to write in one of the mags," the author noted on her home page. "Whenever my picture appeared with the column, somebody sent me death threats. Serious ones with the words made up out of cut-out-of-newspaper letters. They told me I was filth, that they knew where I lived and that my days were numbered." Sharp went on to comment, "Dealing with that brought me full circle to wanting to write fiction again. And, in particular, wanting to write crime thrillers."

The author has gone on to write several thrillers featuring female crime-solver Charlie Fox. In First Drop, Fox is introduced. A former Special Forces trainee who was raped by her fellow soldiers and discharged, Charlie is now working as a female private security guard in a protection business run by her sometimes boyfriend Sean Meyers. A new assignment takes her to Fort Lauderdale to protect Trey Pelzner, the teenage son of a computer specialist who has been getting death threats. Charlie and her charge survive an attempted assassination, leave town, and return to find both Sean and Trey's father missing. The geeky fifteen-year-old Trey knows something but refuses to talk. Meanwhile, Charlie fights off assassins and tries to solve the mysterious disappearances. "Sharp's aim is dead on in her stunning U.S. debut," wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Judith Cutler, writing on the Shots Online Web site, commented: "Charlie Fox is an attractive and sparky protagonist, whose back story Sharp skillfully conveys without slowing the zest of her current narrative." A Kirkus Reviews contributor called the novel "slick, hard-boiled fare."