The Author Stories Podcast Episode 613 | A. C. Frieden Interview


Today’s author interview guest is A. C. Frieden, author of The Pyongyang Option and the Jonathan Brooks Series.

New Orleans attorney Jonathan Brooks is desperate to rebuild his law firm after Hurricane Katrina. Short on clients, he takes the only work he can find: a murky business deal in Ukraine. But after he lands in Kyiv, his client’s executive vanishes. Suspecting foul play, Jonathan enlists the help of a U.S. diplomat. But the next day they are brutally ambushed. Injured and racing against the clock, Jonathan embarks on a frantic search for clues through the back alleys of Kyiv to an abandoned town near Chernobyl. Meanwhile, Jonathan’s ex-wife Linda, a journalist, lands in North Korea to report on historic nuclear disarmament talks. She begins probing local officials, not realizing that she and Jonathan are both on a collision course with a deadly web of hackers, spies and assassins. To uncover the truth and save them both, Jonathan may have only one option: to go to Pyongyang with as much leverage as possible and try to make it out alive.

A.C. Frieden is an international author of mysteries and thrillers, including the acclaimed Jonathan Brooks series (Down & Out Books / Avendia Publishing). Frieden is also an attorney, private pilot, PADI scuba instructor, martial artist, equestrian and former army sniper. He was born in Senegal and raised in India, Brazil, Switzerland and England before moving to the United States in his teens. Today, you’ll often find him in a far-flung hotspot researching future books, like his recent investigative travels to North Korea, Russia, Cuba, China, Qatar, and India. He has faced the chaos of a Central American coup, piloted small planes over the Andes and the Panama Canal, explored remote underwater sites in the Indian Ocean, surveyed the damaged Chernobyl nuclear power plant, followed the Che Guevara trail in Bolivia, tracked down drug traffickers in Paraguay, explored former Soviet missile bases, and much more across nearly 80 countries. Frieden is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and the Military Writers Society of America and regularly participates in literary events in the U.S. and Europe. He speaks French, English, Portuguese, Spanish and some Russian, and carries several passports.

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