The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Conrad Delacroix

Sue really enjoyed The Lensky Connection, a thriller set primarily in Russia. She had quite a few questions for author Conrad Delacroix when he popped into Bookbag Towers.

• Bookbag: When you close your eyes and imagine your readers, who do you see?

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Conrad Delacroix

Summary: Sue really enjoyed The Lensky Connection, a thriller set primarily in Russia. She had quite a few questions for author Conrad Delacroix when he popped into Bookbag Towers.

Date: February 2023

Interviewer: Sue Magee

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Conrad Delacroix: I've long held the view that books are a treat best enjoyed while travelling or on holiday. I remember cycling through the Alps with a hardback copy of Gerald Seymour's Holding The Zero. After a hard day on the road, my treat was reading a chapter before bed. I'd be channelling my inner sniper on the climbs, knowing that another chapter awaited. I see my readers on trains, planes, beaches, and tucked up for the night after a day's cycling (mountains optional).

• BB: What inspired you to write The Lensky Connection?

CD: A long time ago I came across an interview with Shelby Foote (author of The Civil War: A Narrative) who said about writing: You may never be able to do it. That's the gamble. You not only may not be able to make a living, you may not be able to do it at all. But that's what you put on the line.

Growing up, I was a huge fan of characters like Gregory Sallust (by Dennis Wheatley). If you're going to throw your own hat into the ring and aspire to write a thriller, I think you owe it to yourself and to those who have gone before you to do something a little bit different. I picked Russia in the mid-1990s because there was no shortage of crime and scandals, and post-communist Russia was going through significant turmoil. It seemed a good setting where the characters would be struggling with their post-Soviet lives. As a debut author my big fear was running out of things to write about and fortunately that didn't happen.

There was probably some deep-seated childhood need for me to emulate The Flashing Blade and I like to think my story is one of those all that matters is a few… stood alone… against many tales.

• BB: You describe The Lensky Connection perfectly with that phrase. I've read a lot of thrillers which feature Russia as a location. It's been 'the obvious enemy' for most of my life, but in The Lensky Connection the story is set almost completely within Russia, which is unusual and the country comes to life, almost as a character itself. How did you come to know it so well? Do you 'like' the country and do you speak the language?

The main story moves between St Petersburg and Moscow. I've been fortunate to visit Moscow on work, though that has been the limit of my travel to the country. I used to work with a couple of Russians whose families had emigrated to New York and they kindly gave me their insights into both cities and the country.

Having worked with the Russians in the Moscow office I used to visit, I found them friendly and hard-working. They don't live in as democratic a society as we do, but they were very proud of their country and had hopes, aspirations and worries as we all do. I find Russia a fascinating country though I wouldn't claim to be an expert and I don't speak the language.

I once listened to Robert Harris explain why the weather was important to his characters. I feel the same way about places: If you lived in St Petersburg and your grandfather died defending it, certain landmarks would hold a significance for you. As my protagonist, Major Valeri Grozky, lives and works in St Petersburg, he has a good knowledge of the city, and that familiarity comes from me travelling his routes via Google maps. Russian society was still undergoing major upheavals in 1996 and everyone was struggling to survive through the chaos. We can all relate to that.

• BB: Nothing so meticulously plotted could have been completed quickly. How did you find the time?

CD: That is a very good question. For many years I was what would probably be best described as a 'burst writer': I had a demanding day job in Financial Services and the only time I could really focus on the story was when I took long weekends or my annual holiday. I could play around with bits and pieces on my commute, but to get proper work done I had to get back into the mindset and I find that can take at least a day.

When I got made redundant from General Electric Capital (GEC) I set myself up as an independent management consultant which gave me the flexibility I needed to focus on writing. In the following year, I wrote three further drafts and, from the editorial feedback I received, my own assessment was my story went from C+ to A-. My book turned the corner and the story I hoped I could tell took shape.

• BB: The Lensky Connection is set in the mid-nineties when the oligarchs were coming to prominence. Boris Yeltsin was in office but there was a feeling of vulnerability about his position. At one point, our hero, Major Valeri Grozky, yearned for a temporary reprieve from the madness of salvaging Yeltsin from his own chaos. That was almost thirty years ago: what are the most important changes since then?

CD: The breakup of the USSR and the communist regime was, at the time, seen as a huge foreign policy success by the USA. After the attempted coup to depose Gorbachev in August 1991, the dissolution of the KGB in December 1991 did initially break up the Soviet security apparatus which had enforced state control. However, Russia has only partially transitioned to a capitalist system the West expected.

Since Putin came to power in 2000, the security services have enjoyed a significant renaissance. The KGB was subjugated to rule of the Communist Party, whereas Putin has appointed a network of siloviki ('men of power') to key government and company roles creating what has been referred to as a neo-KGB state. Whereas the KGB was known as 'the state within a state', the structure that Putin has established has this neo-KGB state. While the oligarchs prospered under Yeltsin, their influence has been reined in under Putin; the classic example being Mikhail Khodorkovsky, owner of the Yukos oil company, who was categorised as an 'economic predator', convicted for tax evasion and fraud, and spent 10 years in prison. Russia has moved from communism to a form of autocratic capitalism.

• BB: At one point a character comments that he was trying to fight the Chechen war, but no one saw fit to establish a combined joint headquarters to coordinate the campaign. Do you think that there are similar problems with the invasion of Ukraine?

CD: I think it is generally acknowledged by historians inside and outside Russia that the First Chechen war was poorly coordinated by the Kremlin and not helped by the downsizing/reorganisation of the army post-1992. During the Second Chechen War the coordination was significantly improved by the appointment of General Viktor Kazantsev (commander of the North Caucasian Military District) in charge of the United Group of Federal Forces.

The situation in Ukraine seems to be both that the Kremlin underestimated what it would take to win such a war (even though it is still referred to as a 'special operation') and basic logistical issues which have beset the Russian army. Russian troops were poorly briefed before the invasion and have found the Kremlin's narrative of 'Russian brotherhood' with Ukraine doesn't reflect their reality of the conflict on the ground. Russia's military was designed to fight short, high-intensity wars but because Russia is not officially at war it initially only used its regular army and 'partial mobilisation' of conscripts did not take place until September 2022 (6 months after the invasion). As Europe and the US have become more involved, this has now morphed into a 'proxy war': Putin intended to gain a quick victory and geographically restore Ukraine to the Russian Federation, but is now fighting against Ukrainians equipped with European and American ordinance.

• BB: When you sent me the book, you included a note which told me that the story could never have happened in the town where I live. Do you think that it could have happened in Russia?

CD: Aside from my characters being fictitious, the historical events after the dissolution of the USSR are accurate (and well-documented); the breakup of the KGB, economic instability, poor handling of the First Chechen war, the rise of the gangs, and the opportunity to exploit the privatisation process. I think something very similar could easily have happened.

When historians refer to the 'Wild East' (as a parallel to the American Wild West) it reinforces the frontier town mentality associated with the rise of 'gangster capitalism' which Russians were confronted with.

• BB: I was going to read The Lensky Connection over a week or so but I finished it in a couple of days. Your writing is compelling: how did you acquire the skill?

CD: That's very kind of you to say so. I think two things have ultimately influenced my writing:

Aside from the classic phrase, 'the only good writing is rewriting', I read that an author should always listen to what they have written. I initially discounted this advice as over the top until I tried it (courtesy of the narrator feature in MS-Word). Even if I've read a page several times, sometimes when I listen to a sentence it isn't quite as I had imagined it and I revise it.

One of my editors gave me some advice which I took to heart, be more ruthless with excision. Even if she felt the writing was good, it could be honed further. As I listened to each chapter (and tuned the sentences), it also meant alongside altering phrases, I sometimes found a more suitable place for them. It is editing, though it's equally a distillation process which improved the 'shape' of the story.

• BB: I'd love to hear more about Valeri Grozky. Are we likely to find out what he does next, or will he opt for a quieter life?

CD: If he was hoping for a quieter life, he'll have to wait a while as he's been pulled into a sequel, The Shadow Empire. That's going to keep him (and me) busy for the next 12-18 months.

• BB: What's next for Conrad Delacroix?

CD: I've been pleased by the reception to my debut novel. It is the story I hoped I could tell, although it took too long to get it over the line. Now that I'm working on the sequel, I'm heading off to Aix en Provence for a month to sit at the back of Bar Van Loo at the table the owner refers to as le table de complot (the conspiracy table) and immerse myself into a darker world (again!)

• BB: Now that is something for us to look forward to, Conrad. I'm looking forward to reading The Shadow Empire. Thanks for taking the time to chat to us.

You can read more about Conrad Delacroix here.

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