Battles, Brett 1962(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1962, in CA. Education: College graduate. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, movies, music, travel.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Los Angeles, CA. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer. Has worked in the entertainment industry.

MEMBER:

International Thriller Writers, Killer Year (founding member).

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

The Cleaner, Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 2007.

The Deceived (sequel to The Cleaner), Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 2008.

Contributor to anthology Killer Year, edited by Lee Child, St. Martin's/Minotaur (New York, NY), 2008. Also author of the Brett Battles blog.

SIDELIGHTS:

Brett Battles's debut novel, The Cleaner, is about Jonathan Quinn, whose job it is to clean up death scenes, getting rid of the bodies and erasing any evidence. His duties sometimes include investigating the circumstances of the death. He works for a secretive U.S. government agency called the Office, so his jobs usually involve assassinations and spy missions. He makes a comfortable living, and his work is generally not dangerous because he arrives at scenes after the violence is over. That changes after he goes to the site of a supposedly accidental fire that killed a scientist. Quinn concludes that the fire was deliberately set to hide the fact that the man was murdered, but his bosses try to discourage him from raising questions. After an attempt is made on Quinn's life he is determined to get at the truth. His efforts take him on a hazardous international journey. Assisting him are his young apprentice, Nate, and an old love named Orlando; together they uncover a complicated conspiracy.

Some reviewers found Battles a welcome new voice in spy fiction. He has "an enviable gift for pacing and action," observed a Publishers Weekly critic, who dubbed The Cleaner "a page-turner." Joe Hartlaub, writing for Bookreporter.com, praised the author's "promising, unique style" and thought the novel had a "satisfying conclusion." Some commentators had reservations, however. A Kirkus Reviews contributor deemed the book "a formulaic thriller that serves up the action but is peopled by stock characters." Thomas Gaughan, critiquing the story for Booklist, thought some aspects of the novel "a bit over the top," but predicted that "fans of derring-do will happily suspend disbelief and enjoy a wild ride." Battles's plan for a series featuring Quinn pleased some critics, including the Publishers Weekly reviewer, who said it would be "worth following."

In an interview with Hartlaub for Bookreporter.com, Battles said he developed the idea for The Cleaner because "I've always been interested in the aftermath of a story or an event." He continued: "When I envisioned Quinn as a cleaner, it seemed to me that one of the reasons he would choose this profession would be because he'd seldom have to get involved in overly dangerous situations…. Then I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if suddenly the job he was working on threw him into a situation where he would face more danger than he ever thought possible." On his Web site, Battles added that he considers his characters the key to his tale: "Hopefully people will be attracted not only to the adventure and suspense of the story, but also to the characters that live in the world I've created."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 15, 2007, Thomas Gaughan, review of The Cleaner, p. 23.

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2007, review of The Cleaner.

Publishers Weekly, May 28, 2007, review of The Cleaner, p. 36.

ONLINE

Bookreporter.com,http://www.bookreporter.com/ (June 29, 2007), Joe Hartlaub, interview with Brett Battles; (January 13, 2008), Joe Hartlaub, review of The Cleaner.

Brett Battles Home Page,http://www.brettbattles.com (January 13, 2008).

Brett Battles MySpace Profile,http://www.myspace.com/brettbattles (January 13, 2008).

Killer Year Web site,http://www.killeryear.com/ (January 13, 2008), brief biography of Brett Battles.

Revish,http://www.revish.com/ (January 13, 2008), review of The Cleaner.

Shalla De Guzman,http://shalladeguzman.com/ (January 13, 2008), Shalla De Guzman, interview with Brett Battles.

Zinester Ezine Directory,http://archives.zinester.com/ (January 13, 2008), interview with Brett Battles.