by Thomas Locke and Jyoti Guptara

Bestselling author Thomas Locke reflects on how his new mystery, set in Florida, may or may not have eerily predicted sentiment around recent events – and how he started co-authoring books with a young man of a different generation, nationality, and race.

I owe you an apology.

When we started writing a pharmaceutical thriller, we had no idea the pandemic was going to hit.

Let’s look at the description of our new book, Roulette:

“Experimental science meets heart-pounding suspense in a thriller about a dangerous new drug that threatens to rewrite the human genome. A former special agent uncovers a sinister conspiracy involving a powerful pharmaceutical company and teams up with two local women to expose the shocking truth…”

Sound just a bit opportunistic?

In fact, Roulette was seven years in the making . . .

GENEVA, 2016

My wife Isabella’s work with the United Nations took us to Switzerland, where I looked forward to seeing a young writer I’d met at Oxford, where I taught. Jyoti Guptara just so happened to be in the same city serving as writer-in-residence at the GCSP (Geneva Centre for Security Policy).

We caught up over lunch in the canteen, where students and ambassadors rubbed shoulders, before heading into the glass and steel complex that is the Maison de la Paix (House of Peace). Shaped like a series of giant petals, the Maison de la Paix is one stop from the Palais des Nations and home to an alphabet soup of NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisation).

A business storytelling expert, Jyoti had just been teaching creative diplomacy at an executive education course and showed me the seminar facility. Which just happened to be outfitted with the largest whiteboard I’d ever seen. My fingers started to itch . . .

I sketched the first scene of a new idea that had been forming on the flight from London.

What if an ER nurse was treating a patient that appeared to be suffering symptoms from multiple drugs – but none are detectable?

As Jyoti and I talked, one scene led to another. When we parted ways, a few hours and several cups of coffee later, we knew we wanted to write a book together.

The resulting thriller, Roulette, was the first we ever co-wrote. Then the pandemic happened, and for various reasons, we held back on publication. So, the second book Jyoti and I co-wrote was the first to be published. The first published Locke-Guptara collaboration, Fortune’s Favor, followed an equally outlandish concept and was named a “best truly independent book of 2022.”

Now, it’s with complicated feelings and much gratitude that we share our new mystery with the world.

“Roulette sets a new bar for intrigue. I could not set this book down.”
— TG Wolff, author and co-creator of Mysteries to Die For

The Power of Prescience in Fiction

It’s a curious phenomenon when the world of fiction inadvertently foreshadows real-life events (or, in our case, people’s fears about them.)

A well-known example is 1984. Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece, published in 1949, predicted numerous facets of future societies, such as the invasive surveillance state and technologies akin to facial recognition software.

Bradbury’s 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 not only critiqued censorship but also predicted the rise of reality TV and the societal obsession with screen-based entertainment.

No doubt you have your own examples of prescient fiction (The Simpsons).

What about Roulette, in which a more or less innocent segment of the population inadvertently facilitates the human trials of a dangerous new drug with the potential to alter the human genome?

Our story was purely a product of imagination. I know it sells, but I hate being controversial.

Especially when all of us were personally affected in one way or another. I wouldn’t even mention the pandemic if the theme didn’t appear to be purposefully related.

With that caveat out of the way, some readers are asking what we’re writing next . . .

We don’t advise using fiction as prophecy, but at least it can be cathartic. Perhaps, in these trying times, accompanying characters as they overcome their own personal and global challenges can fortify us for our own struggles.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Also listen to our new mystery podcast where mystery short stories and first chapters are read by actors! They are also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify. A new episode went up this week.

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Thomas Locke is an award-winning novelist whose works have sold over eight million copies in 26 languages. Locke divides his time between Florida and the U.K., where he is Writer-In-Residence at Oxford University.
Jyoti Guptara dropped out of school at age 15 to write his first bestseller. An executive coach and business storytelling strategist, Jyoti has helped leaders on five continents experience more success with less stress.
Together, they are the international, intergenerational, interracial writing duo. Their new mystery, Roulette, is out now. You can learn more on their website.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.