Guest Post by Chris Angus

                Most people know something about the city of London, even if they have never been there. It has figured greatly in much of world history and everyone has read about or studied that history from grade school on.  So when I sat down to write London Underground, my new historical thriller just released by Iguana Books, I was searching for some of that history that was less well known. That led me to the secrets beneath the city.

                Under London there is a rich tapestry of history, encompassing a dozen subterranean rivers, ancient Roman ruins, burial grounds from prisons and pauper’s cemeteries, the cabinet war rooms of Winston Churchill’s London and much, much more. If you’re an Anglophile like me, you never tire of reading about this stuff and among the best recent sources are Peter Ackroyd’s fascinating books about the history of London and the Thames River. He’s also written about subterranean London, though that book came out after London Underground was written.

                I like to craft stories that move around in history. What better place to set my thriller than London, which has had so many rich historical periods to draw from? The book opens in the 1500s during the reign of King Henry VIII. A mysterious disease called the English Sweat has descended upon the city and its helpless inhabitants. One of Anne Boleyn’s ladies in waiting is struck down with the sickness. Boleyn and the King flee for the countryside in terror.

How people dealt with disease in eras when medical knowledge was virtually nonexistent is fraught with uncertain and often insane remedies. Everything from wearing garlic around the neck to blood-letting was used. At least the garlic did no harm (except possibly to one’s personal relationships). Many remedies, like blood-letting, made things worse. The Sweat, a real disease that struck Britain and Europe in the 1500s, disappeared after a few score years, never to return. What thriller writer could resist such an opening? I bring the Sweat back to London, but in a manner you might not expect: via a biological weapon crafted by the Nazis during World War II.

                Following a secret meeting in Churchill’s cabinet war rooms between the Prime Minister and Gunnar Hansen, a Norwegian pilot who fled occupied Norway to offer his services to the RAF, Hansen is sent back to his homeland by Churchill to investigate the Nazi V-2 rocket program. There has been intelligence suggesting that the Nazis intend to deliver a biological weapon to London. The book follows Hansen’s attempts to thwart this program, along with his efforts to kill Vidkun Quisling, the traitor and puppet ruler of Norway during the war.

                Meanwhile, in present-day London, a mysterious infestation of rats beneath the city send Carmen Kingsley, Head of London projects for the British Museum and Scotland Yard Inspector Sherwood Peets into the dark caverns beneath the city, where they find not only a terrible disease from the past but also another infestation from the war that will make your blood run cold. It is a secret that reaches back to actions by Churchill himself in the depths of the war and which threatens to bring down the modern government of England.

                Pulling the elements from different historical periods together in an exciting, fast-paced plot that ends with a twist and surprise is how I like to craft my historical thrillers. A treasure from the time of Henry VIII, a Nazi plot that involves the research of a real scientist who actually won the Nobel Prize decades earlier, a horrible disease out of the past and the criminal actions of current day politicians all come together to make for a fascinating romp through English history and a story that will leave you with a cold film of your own sweat.

                

Author Bio:

"Chris Angus specializes in writing suspense thrillers/mysteries within a historical context, with subject matter ranging from mysteries surrounding the Titanic, World War II, new DNA discoveries, the threat of mutating pandemics and the debate between the world views of creationism and basic science.       

Chris is also the award-winning author of several works of non-fiction, including Oswegatchie: A North Country River(North Country Books--2006), The Extraordinary Adirondack Journey of Clarence Petty: Wilderness Guide, Pilot and Conservationist (Syracuse University Press—2002), Images of America: St. Lawrence County (Arcadia Press—2001), and Reflections From Canoe Country (Syracuse University Press—1997).

While London Underground is a work of fiction, much of Chris’ precise writing style he showcases with his nonfiction comes through. Chris released earlier this year his first fiction novel, The Last Titanic Story, also available from Iguana Books, followed by his second thriller Flypaper, from Cool Well Press. London Underground is Chris’ third novel for 2012.

London Underground and The Last Titanic Story are available from Iguana Books.com, Amazon and Barnes and Noble on-line book stores. Flypaper is available from Cool Well Press."

Chris' author site is: https://www.facebook.com/chrisangusauthor?ref=hl

London Underground can be purchased through all major on-line book stores as well as with Iguana Books.com as an ePub, Kindle or Print edition at: http://iguanabooks.com/books/london-underground-print-edition/

The Last Titanic Story can be purchased through all major on-line book stores as well as with Iguana Books.com as an ePub, Kindle or Print edition at: http://iguanabooks.com/books/the-last-titanic-story-print-edition/. 

Chris Angus can be found on Goodreads, and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chris-Angus/192604867503300