CRUDE

With tensions rising across global headlines, CRUDE by Mike Bond drops straight into a nuclear alert that sparks political fallout and a crisis with worldwide reach.

A nuclear-attack warning blasts across the country, pushing the U.S. and Russia toward open conflict. As panic rises, energy CEO Ross Bullock attempts to warn major news outlets that the administration’s actions are pushing the world toward catastrophe — but the message is twisted into political ammunition. When a Rawhide Energy platform in the South China Sea is blown apart, killing hundreds, the crisis accelerates into a dangerous collision of media narratives, intelligence pressure, and global power plays.

Mike Bond is the bestselling author of nearly a dozen thrillers shaped by his life as a war and human-rights journalist, ecologist, and international energy expert. He has reported from conflict zones, military dictatorships, and endangered wilderness areas in more than thirty countries. His books are known for their fast pace, international scope, and deep engagement with political, environmental, and human-rights issues.

Details at https://mikebondbooks.com.

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Amazon: https://bit.ly/4ocGtKG

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214299686-crude

Writing Process & Creativity

How did you research your book? 

I don’t research my books, but write from my own memory of events.

What’s the hardest scene or character you wrote—and why?

The killings of Jack and Bobby Kennedy (whom I knew and loved) by the CIA.

Where do you get your ideas?

From my own past experiences, or from issues that concern me, like the danger of nuclear war. Or wars I have been in and I wish to expose how they happened, and who is responsible for all the deaths, sorrow, and destruction.

What helps you overcome writer’s block?

Never had it. Too many things to write about.

What’s your favorite compliment you’ve received as a writer?

Among many other critical praises, when BBC called me “The master of the existentialist thriller.”

Your Writing Life

Do you write every day? What’s your schedule?

I write when I want to.

Behind the Book

Why did you choose this setting/topic?

Because nuclear war will end all life on earth, which is a far more important issue than anything else.

Which author(s) most inspired you?

Hemingway – the greatest American writer of the 20^th century. And Tolstoy, Gogol, Zola, Aristotle, Cicero, and many others.

Fun & Lighthearted Qs

What’s your go-to comfort food?

For writing -- Gin or vodka.

If you could time-travel, where would you go?

Somewhere in our Paleolithic past, or among the Cheyenne or Sioux before the coming of Europeans.

What 3 books would you bring to a desert island?

If I were on a desert island I would be happy there and wouldn’t bother with books.