HAGBERG, David J(ames) 1942-

(Sean Flannery, David James, Robert Pell, Eric Ramsey)

PERSONAL: Born October 9, 1942, in Duluth, MN; son of Conrad D. (a meatcutter) and Katherine (Doucette) Hagberg; married Stephanie Bullock (a legal secretary), April, 1960 (divorced, 1960); married Janet Zimmer, September, 1962 (divorced, April, 1967); married Laurie Morgan (a writer and librarian), May, 1968; children: (second marriage) Travis Peyton; (third marriage) Tammy Kraus, Kevin, Justin, Gina. Education: Attended University of Maryland, 1962-65, and University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1965-66. Politics: Republican. Religion: Agnostic. Hobbies and other interests: Sailing, flying, scuba diving.

ADDRESSES: Home—Cambridge, WI. Agent—Peekner Literary Agency, 3210 South 7th St., Milwaukee, WI 53215.

CAREER: Duluth Herald and News-Tribune, Duluth, MN, reporter, 1968-70; Associated Press, New York, NY, news desk editor in Sioux Falls, SD, 1970-72; worked as janitor, bricklayer, factory worker, and tree trimmer, 1972-74; freelance writer. Founder of Editorial Services Enterprises in Wisconsin, 1972-73. Municipal court judge in Oakland Township, WI, 1981-82. Military service: U.S. Air Force, 1960-67; in electronics.

MEMBER: Mystery Writers of America, Raconteurs.

AWARDS, HONORS: Bronze Porgy from West Coast Review of Books, 1978, for The Kummersdorf Connection; nomination for American Book Award and for Edgar Allan Poe Award, Mystery Writers of America, both 1979, both for The Kremlin Conspiracy.

WRITINGS:

Twister, Dell (New York, NY), 1975.

The Capsule, Dell (New York, NY), 1976.

Last Come the Children, TOR Books (New York, NY), 1982.

Heartland, Pinnacle Books (New York, NY), 1983.

Desert Fire, TOR Books (New York, NY), 1993.

Eden's Gate, TOR Books (New York, NY), 2001.

By Dawn's Early Light, TOR Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Terminator 3 (novelization of movie by the same title), TOR Books (New York, NY), 2003.

"nick carter" series

The Sign of the Prayer Shawl, Award Books, 1976.

Race of Death, Charter Books, 1978.

The Ouster Conspiracy, Charter Books, 1981.

The Strontium Code, Charter Books, 1981.

The Puppet Master, Charter Books, 1982.

The Damocles Threat, Charter Books, 1982.

The Hunter, Charter Books, 1982.

Operation: McMurdo Sound, Charter Books, 1982.

Appointment in Haiphong, Charter Books, 1982.

Retreat for Death, Charter Books, 1982.

"kirk mcgarvey" series

Heroes, TOR Books (New York, NY), 1985.

Without Honor, TOR Books (New York, NY), 1989.

Countdown, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1990.

Crossfire, TOR Books (New York, NY), 1991.

Critical Mass, TOR Books (New York, NY), 1992.

High Flight, Forge (New York, NY), 1995.

Assassin, Forge (New York, NY), 1997.

White House, Forge (New York, NY), 1999.

Joshua's Hammer, Forge (New York, NY), 2000.

The Kill Zone, Forge (New York, NY), 2002.

"flash gordon" series

Massacre in the 22nd Century, Tempo Books (New York, NY), 1980.

War of the Citadels, Tempo Books (New York, NY), 1980.

Crises on Citadel II, Tempo Books (New York, NY), 1980.

Forces from the Federation, Tempo Books (New York, NY), 1981.

Citadels under Attack, Tempo Books (New York, NY), 1981.

Citadels on Earth, Tempo Books (New York, NY), 1981.

under pseudonym sean flannery

The Kremlin Conspiracy, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1979.

Eagles Fly, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1980.

The Trinity Factor, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1981.

The Hollow Men, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1982.

False Prophets, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1983.

Broken Idols, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1985.

Gulag, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1985.

Moscow Crossing, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 1988.

The Zebra Network, Morrow (New York, NY), 1989.

Crossed Swords, Jove (New York, NY), 1989.

Counterstrike, Morrow (New York, NY), 1990.

Moving Targets, TOR Books (New York, NY), 1992.

Winner Take All, TOR Books (New York, NY), 1994.

Kilo Option, Forge (New York, NY), 1996.

Achilles Heel, Forge (New York, NY), 1998.

under pseudonym david james

Blizzard, Belmont-Tower (New York, NY), 1975.

Forest Fire, Tower (New York, NY), 1975.

Croc', Tower (New York, NY), 1976.

under pseudonym robert pell

That Winslow Woman, Playboy Press (Chicago, IL), 1977.

under pseudonym eric ramsey

The Kummersdorf Connection, Playboy Press (Chicago, IL), 1978.

ADAPTATIONS: Without Honor has been recorded as an audiobook called Without Honor: When All Men Are without Honor Which Man Do You Trust, Sunset Productions, 1997.

SIDELIGHTS: David J. Hagberg's fiction is based on high adventure and political intrigue, often using reallife political figures such as Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Many of his books feature Kirk McGarvey, an assassin affiliated with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In Countdown, McGarvey counters rogue KGB agents who want to destroy nuclear facilities in Israel and cause Mikhail Gorbachev to fall from power in the Soviet Union. Reviewing the book for Publishers Weekly, Sybil Steinberg noted the influence of Ian Fleming, John le Carre, and Tom Clancy on Hagberg's work. She found that while Countdown offered "few surprises," it was nevertheless "a well-crafted secret-agent thriller that will not disappoint." Critical Mass finds McGarvey attempting to foil a plot to detonate nuclear devices in Los Angeles. This terrorist scheme was hatched by Isowa Makkamura, a survivor of the 1945 U.S. atomicbomb attack on Japan. When Makkamura's henchmen use a Stinger missile to bring down a plane and in so doing kill McGarvey's lover, his mission becomes personal. A Publishers Weekly writer felt that "tension never lags in this certified page-turner."

Assassin has McGarvey pitted against a Russian evildoer named Tarankov. He hopes to bring down the Russian government and revive the Soviet Union with a brutal dictatorship. When his men succeed in assassinating Boris Yeltsin, moderate forces in Russian hire McGarvey to come out of his retirement in Paris. His mission is to assassinate Tarankov. Library Journal reviewer Elsa Pendleton called Assassin "a cut above the competition," thanks to Hagberg's "gift for description, the rapid-fire plot, and the complex nature of his hero."

In Joshua's Hammer, McGarvey has become the CIA's deputy director of operations. In this capacity, he learns that the CIA chief in Saudi Arabia has had an audience with Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden has stated that he has a portable nuclear bomb and demands to speak with someone higher up in the CIA. McGarvey is soon en route to the caves of Afghanistan, with a homing device implanted in his side. A U.S. missile strike on one of bin Laden's hideouts takes the life of the terrorist's daughter, and he vows to exact revenge by killing the daughters of McGarvey and the U.S. president. "For those who like high-action thrillers on a global scale, this one delivers the goods," praised Budd Arthur in Booklist.

McGarvey's repeated attempts to retire from the spy game are again frustrated in The Kill Zone. In this thriller, the 50-year-old protagonist is reunited with his wife and expecting a grandchild, but he is asked to take over as interim director of the CIA. His appointment to that post activates a long-buried plot to assassinate several key figures in the U.S. government. McGarvey is also subjected to a confirmation hearing that uncovers sordid details about his past. A Publishers Weekly writer remarked, "In reliably meaty prose, Hagberg once again delivers compelling characters, animated political intrigue and a plot that speeds along at a steady clip."

David Hagberg once told CA: "Elegance in writing is not so dependent upon the fine turn of phrase or accomplished use of the language as beginning writers often suspect. Instead, elegance (which is what most of us are after) depends in a large measure on the elegance of the idea. Anne Frank's poetic diary and Ernest Hemingway's old fisherman in dire battle with the sea are perfect examples. But when that rare artist comes along who can combine elegant ideas with a supreme mastery of the craft, well then, that writer is a definite winner.

"I guess from the beginning I've struggled to do nothing more than write the very best I could. I've worked for the truest sentences, the most nearly real characters and the most believable situations, so that my readers could have the vicarious experience of living my story.

"It's not easy. It's never been easy. John Steinbeck said that a writer is like a donkey with the carrot dangling in front of his nose. We know what we want to do. We know that somewhere out there is the perfect sentence, the perfect paragraph. And every now and then, we hit one. The goal, of course, is to write a complete novel containing nothing but perfection. In the end, however, that is impossible. So, like the donkey with the carrot, we may be getting somewhere, but we are bound to fail. (It's why many writers have problems with booze. After beating our brains out at the typewriter, we often seek solace in oblivion.)

"When I started writing, I often dreamed of the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize and all the accolades that are commonly associated with success in this business. In fact I dreamed so hard and so often about these things that my writing suffered. One day, however, I woke up to the fact that here I was, an honest-to-God novelist. I was making my living doing what I loved most: writing books—good books—to the best of my abilities at that moment. What else is there?

"I woke up to another fact about that same time. For years I had been paying lip service to the phrase: Write for your readers. Finally I understood what it was to be a novelist. I was an entertainer. After all, we're doing nothing more than taking our readers away from their daily cares for a few hours at a time. If, slipped between lines, there is a message or an education, then so be it. But primarily we are entertainers who take life as we see it, pass it through our own particular set of experiences, and spit it out the other side.

"If all that seems complicated, or perhaps artificial, it is. A writer (contrary to what many instructors of writing may say) does nothing more or less than sit down and write about what moves him or her most. Simple. I've been trying to do nothing more than that.

"Speaking strictly for myself, I cannot work in a vacuum. My life must provide the impetus for my novels. I write adventure novels, so I must adventure. When I was a newspaper reporter in Minnesota, I interviewed a medical doctor who had gone on an expedition to the North Pole, and who had spent a lifetime of adventure. 'Do it,' he told me, as I listened wide-eyed. 'Do it now if it's in your blood, because if you don't, you'll wake up one day to the fact that your life has passed, and now it's too late.'

"My wife and I have learned to sail. It's our goal to circumnavigate the globe aboard a thirty-three foot cutter-rigged sailboat. Just the two of us. Free. Going wherever the wind may blow. Settling in for a week or a month or a year in each port, however the mood strikes, being cold or hot and frightened and worried, but most of all being alive! Isn't that what life is all about? Novelists, I think, should not play it safe. We should live at the edge. Those who survive write about it.

"I was asked, at a recent mystery fan convention, where I came up with my ideas. I gave some flip answer, I think, but in truth the answer is: It beats the hell out of me. Imagination is nothing more than a muscle. Not used, it atrophies. Exercised, however, it grows strong. J. R. R. Tolkien spent a life of imagination. So did, I think, William Shakespeare, who had the gratification of seeing his musings up on a stage in front of a live audience."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Booklist, May 15, 1992, Elliott Swanson, review of Critical Mass, p. 1665; July, 1993, Emily Melton, review of Desert Fire, p. 1947; September 1, 1995, Gilbert Taylor, review of High Flight, p. 45; May 1, 1997, George Cohen, review of Assassin, p. 1478; August, 1999, Budd Arthur, review of White House, p. 2033; August, 2000, Budd Arthur, review of Joshua's Hammer, p. 2119; May 15, 2001, David Pitt, review of Eden's Gate, p. 1736; November 15, 2002, George Cohen, review of The Kill Zone, p. 580.

Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2003, review of By Dawn's Early Light, p. 993.

Library Journal, June 1, 1990, Jo Ann Vicarel, review of Countdown, p. 178; September 15, 1992, Roxanna Herrick, review of Critical Mass, p. 108; June 19, 1995, review of High Flight, p. 48; May 1, 1996, Cliff Glaviano, review of Critical Mass, p. 149; May 1, 1997, Elsa Pendleton, review of Assassin, p. 139.

New York Times Book Review, July 22, 1990, Newgate Callendar, review of Countdown, p. 22; July 25, 1993, Newgate Callendar, review of Desert Fire, p. 19; September 24, 1995, Newgate Callendar, review of High Flight, p. 27.

Publishers Weekly, January 20, 1989, Penny Kaganoff, review of Without Honor, p. 143; April 20, 1990, Sybil Steinberg, review of Countdown, p. 59; May 4, 1992, review of Critical Mass, p. 42; June 14, 1993, review of Desert Fire, p. 62; May 12, 1997, review of Assassin, p. 59; July 19, 1999, review of White House, p. 184; August 21, 2000, review of Joshua's Hammer, p. 50; June 4, 2001, review of Eden's Gate, p. 56; November 4, 2002, review of The Kill Zone, p. 60; July 14, 2003, review of By Dawn's Early Light, p. 56.*