Interview with Freddie P Peters, author of Breaking Point

What can you tell us about your new release, Breaking Point?

Breaking Point is Book 2 in the Henry Crowne: Paying the Price series but a book that can also be read independently.

Situated in the City of London, this psychological thriller combines different worlds that unexpectedly collide.  Whereas COLLAPSE (Book 1) was written against the backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis, BREAKING POINT takes on a $350 trillion financial scandal and its cover-up. It also explores how high-finance, terrorism and …art interact with one another, fuelling the intrigue and the development of the characters caught in it.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I love art, visual arts, music, cinema, theatre and of course reading. I always wanted to be an artist… I love to tell stories, as a kid just to make my family laugh or now to see the effect it has on my audience. I dreamt of new plots all the time and I almost lost the plot during my time in Investment Banking in London! I am glad I eventually found it again.

What’s on your top 5 list for the best books you’ve ever read?

The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Say you’re the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?

Haruki Murakami

How does he write about and build worlds that are so surreal and yet so completely credible?

He has been criticized by the Japanese literary establishment for being influenced too much by Western writers. What would he say to that?

What’s your favorite thing about writing?

Hearing the characters finding their voices as I developed them. Giving them more depth and authenticity and finally seeing them act, react, think and feel to become totally alive.

What is a typical day like for you?

I try to be organized and split my time every day between writing and what I call “anything else” when I am in writing mode. As I write longhand my first draft, I allow myself several hours of writing time daily interspersed with other activities. It can be something as mundane as admin work or it could be walking which I really enjoy in particular if I need to sort out a difficult passage in the plot line.

What scene in Breaking Point was your favorite to write?

It would be a big spoiler if I fully disclosed that but… I can perhaps say that I enjoyed creating a tense denouement at the end of the book.

Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?

Philosophy, where do I start… perhaps three words help capture it: respect, kindness, honesty.

Freddie P Peters is the author of the new book Breaking Point

Connect with Freddie