Flight of the Fox by Gray Basnight

An innocent math professor runs for his life as teams of hitmen try to prevent publication of their government’s dark history.

College professor Sam Teagarden stumbles upon a decades-old government cover-up when an encoded document mysteriously lands in his in-box, followed by a cluster of mini-drones programmed to kill him.

That begins a terrifying flight from upstate New York, to Washington, to Key West as Teagarden must outfox teams of hitmen equipped with highly sophisticated technology. While a fugitive, he races to decode the journal, only to realize the dreadful truth—it’s the reason he’s being hunted because it details criminal secrets committed by the U.S. in the 20th Century.

If he survives and publishes the decoded diary, he’ll be a heroic whistle blower. But there is no guarantee. He may also end up dead.

Gray Basnight, author of the political thriller FLIGHT OF THE FOX, was kind enough to speak with The Big Thrill and offer some additional insight into his novel:

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

There are unanswered questions in the American past that, if answered honestly, may alter history as we know it.

How does this book make a contribution to the genre?

FLIGHT OF THE FOX stakes out new space within the run-for-your-life genre because the central protagonist, Sam Teagarden, does not carry a gun or have a blackbelt in martial arts. He is a math professor whose principal weapon is tenacity and intelligence.

Was there anything new you discovered, or that surprised you, as you wrote this book?

Predicting the future, even if the very near future–is fun.

No spoilers, but what can you tell us about your book that we won’t find in the jacket copy or the PR material?

Besides being a political thriller, it’s also a bit of a romance with a dash of science fiction.

What authors or books have influenced your career as a writer, and why?

So very many: Daniel Defoe, Conan Doyle, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Aldous Huxley, Somerset Maugham, Graham Green, Erich Maria Remarque, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Isabel Allende, Robert Ludlum, Dennis Lehane, James Lee Burke, Donald E. Westlake, Elmore Leonard, Margaret Atwood, Ray Bradbury, Joyce Carol Oates.

Why? Because these are all good writers with something enjoyable and significant for the reader, which is the purpose of fiction.

*****

Gray Basnight worked for almost three decades in New York City as a radio and television news producer, writer, editor, reporter, and newscaster. He lives in New York with his wife and a golden retriever, where he is now dedicated to writing fiction.

To learn more about Gray, please visit his website.