Bryan Quinn on THE PACKAGE

Dear Readers,

Today, I welcome Bryan Quinn, author of 

THE PACKAGE

an international thriller of conspiracy, murder, and betrayal



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And now, welcome Bryan!

 Tell us about your newest book.
THE PACKAGE is the story of Marco Arrigoni, a jaded priest who unearths beneath the archives of his medieval church a long-forgotten tomb containing incontrovertible evidence of an explosive conspiracy stretching back millennia. 

THE PACKAGE blends fact and fiction to explore and dissect the notion of biblical truth and how it has been manipulated and falsified down through history. 


Thematically speaking, THE PACKAGE is a blend of George Orwell’s 1984 and Umberto Eco’s THE NAME OF THE ROSE, two of my favorite novels. 

Tell us a little about your background. 
I grew up with a brother and three sisters. For most of my life I have lived in Montreal. I did a long stretch (three years) in Victoria, B.C. and a much shorter one (ten months) in Toronto, Ontario. I have travelled the world: North America, the Far East, the Middle East and the Caribbean. Education-wise, I possess a degree in American history from McGill University and a diploma in computer electronics from Herzing College. I am happily married to a wonderful woman. We have no children. 
  1. How long have you been writing and what got you started? 
I started writing in mid-July, 2014, on a lark. One evening, my wife, her nephew and I were drinking mint tea in our living room, discussing the topic of writing. I told them I knew how to write. So off I went to my laptop and pumped out two paragraphs. An hour later, my mint tea now cold, I showed my fictional composition to them and they told me I possessed talent. Those two paragraphs became the genesis of THE PACKAGE. Mind you, only a word or two of the those paragraphs remain in my novel. 
  1. What books influenced you the most and did they impact your own writing? 
Wilbur Smith’s THE EYE OF THE TIGER for descriptive language and eloquent syntax. John Grisham’s earlier works such as THE SUMMONS, THE TESTAMENT and THE STREET LAWYER for their wit and humor. I like dark humor, so you will find THE PACKAGE peppered with it. 
  1. What inspired your book? 
I wanted to write a biblical mystery/conspiracy, so I googled “bible mysteries” and chose to write a novel about the mysterious beloved disciple mentioned in the Book of John. 
  1. Tell us about your background in the world in which THE PACKAGE is set. 
THE PACKAGE flips between the age of Jesus and the present. I majored in history in university and I took two courses dealing with the text and theology of the New Testament. I performed years of PhD-level research while writing this story. I learned a lot during the course of my research, but I could only impart a fraction of what I had learned in THE PACKAGE. 
  1. Who is your favorite character in your book? How much of yourself is in that character? 
Good question. I have a soft spot for Marco Arrigoni. He chose the priesthood—a career he has grown to loathe—in a moment of crisis, a decision which hounds him his whole adult life. I share his irreverent and ironic sense of humor. 

  1. They say write what you know. How much of your life, your experiences, your career or hobbies, come out in your writing? 
All of the above. THE PACKAGE is set in Istanbul, a city which I visited twice before composing this story. For a good part of two decades, I worked as a technical writer in the computer software industry, so I possessed some prior writing ability before embarking on a fiction-writing career. It’s difficult to gauge how much my former career prepared me for the world of fiction writing. I have an abiding interest in history and theology, which suited me well in crafting THE PACKAGE. 

  1. We can’t write only what we know. What research have you done and how do you research? 
I studied history in university, so I am well versed in the techniques of historical research. Parallel to my historical research, I also researched archeology, theology, Arabic, Aramaic and koine Greek. I purchased several books on crafting dialog and on avoiding common blunders in fiction writing, the most important of which is: show, don’t tell. 

What are you working on now or what is next for you? 
Last year (February 2018) I completed a crime mystery (STONY RIVER) set in a fictional Massachusetts town a decade after the U.S. Civil War. I queried it, but no offers. Presently, I’m one scene away from completing a noir crime thriller set in contemporary New York City. I’m hoping this will be my breakout novel, God willing. 
  1. Who or what has inspired you most in life and why? 
What will people think? I pose this question in THE PACKAGE. So many people step back from making necessary changes in their lives because of what will people think? What matters most to me before I make a decision is: What will God think? 
  1. What do you think is the most important thing, in order to live life well? 
Believe in God and worship only Him. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Desire for others what you desire for yourself. Respect your parents, especially your mother, and respect your spouse. 

Learn more about Bryan at:

Author Bryan:
Bryan Quinn is a published novelist and an award-winning short-story writer. He possesses a BA in American History & Politics from McGill University. He won an Honorable Mention Award in the 85th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Story Competition (2016). 

THE PACKAGE 

All hell breaks loose when Marco Arrigoni, a jaded priest, unearths beneath the archives of his medieval church a long-forgotten tomb containing incontrovertible evidence of an explosive conspiracy stretching back millennia. To authenticate his find, he joins forces with his friend and secret love, Aysel Bigili, an archeologist. Before long, they find themselves on a collision course with a ruthless enemy in the Vatican, an enemy who will stop at nothing to prevent his discovery from ever seeing the light of day. Wrenched into a world of violence unprepared, Marco and Aysel are forced to battle wits with a fanatical adversary in the cause of truth, a truth so shocking that, if revealed, will demolish the very foundations of his faith and alter the destiny of humanity forever. 


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