What happens when your enormously successful television show goes off the air? Howard Gordon, former executive producer of the enormously successful show “24,” just moved the show’s famous nonstop action and suspenseful, ticking-clock plot to the printed page.
His new thriller, “Gideon’s War,” out today, follows protagonist Gideon Davis, who, like “24”’s Jack Bauer, has to face many obstacles — whether he is scaling mountains, taking out multitudes of men without a gun or deep-sea diving in the midst of a typhoon. “I had help,” says Gordon of the research that went into the plot. “I also had nine years’ worth of research from ‘24’ — surplus research that I hadn’t used.”
Gordon started crafting the novel during the writer’s strike in 2006. “I’d been approached about the possibility of writing something through an agent. But I didn’t have the time. During the strike, it was the perfect storm of no more excuses and plenty of opportunity.”
As Gordon notes, the difference between writing for film and television and writing a novel was obvious. “I was humbled by the process. There’s a lot more words,” he laughs. “But one of the greatest pleasures was this very simple, pared-down process of book writing, especially compared to television, where you have so many people participating in it. Here, it is a much more direct process between you and the audience — and that is very satisfying.” So satisfying, he confesses, that he’s already writing a sequel. Something soon-to-be Gideon Davis fans will be happy to hear.
