It's a writer's dream to write one, well, maybe two really, really good books and then be asked by a publisher to continue a prominent author's series, an author whose books had sold more than 290 million copies.
The dream became reality this year for Chicago thriller writer Jamie Freveletti.
Writing in the manner of Robert Ludlum
Robert Ludlum shuffled out of this world in 2001, at the age of 73, having written 23 novels, 11 of them spy novels—international thrillers.
But Ludlum books didn't cease with his death.
His estate and publisher have recruited other writers to carry on two of his series.
Eric Van Lustbader has written seven Bourne novels, and four other writers—Gayle Lynds, Philip Shelby, Patrick Larkin, and James Cobb—have written eight Covert-One novels.
Chicago thriller writer Jamie Freveletti now is the fifth writer to continue forward with the Covert-One books.
How it happened
Freveletti, a lawyer, ultra-marathon runner, and holder of a black belt in aikido, broke in as a published writer two years ago with her book, Running from the Devil, out from HarperCollins. It won the International Thriller Writers' award for best first novel and a number of honors from others in the book industry.
Last year, she followed with a sequel, Running Dark.
It, too, was a super read.
The two books got the attention of the Ludlum Estate.
"I can only tell you what I know," Freveletti says. "Thirty authors were in the mix to write the next Covert-One book, and then it was down to ten.
"I only heard about it when it was down to three. I had just won the best first novel award for Running from the Devil.
"A couple months later, I got the call from my agent saying the estate of Robert Ludlum would like to talk to you."
That meeting led to a one-book contract.
The writing of the new book has proved to be easy, Freveletti says, but her contract prohibits her from revealing the story line or even the title at this time.
"My mother was a huge Ludlum fan," she says. "She would bring the early Ludlum books home, and I read them. I loved The Matarese Circle, and I loved The Bourne Identity.
"As a writer, you don't expect to be handed characters, but Ludlum's characters (a team of political and technical experts who work for Covert-One, a secret U.S. agency) are great because he knew, as a writer, what he was doing. So writing this book has been a breeze for me."
It comes out in the fall of 2012 from Bantam, in hardcover—the first in the Covert-One series to be in hardcover. All previous books were paperback originals.
Freveletti, now a full-time writer, will continue to write her own series. It features Emma Caldridge, a chemist for a cosmetics company, who, like Freveletti, is a long-distance runner.
Book 3, The Ninth Day, comes out on September 27, and book 4, not yet titled, in the fall of 2012 . . . at about the same time as the Ludlum book.
Want to know more about Freveletti and her books? Pop over to her website: jamiefreveletti.com
© Jerry Peterson.
