Matthew Reilly

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Matthew Reilly (born July 2, 1974 in Sydney ) is an Australian writer who mainly writes thrillers .

Life

Matthew Reilly was interested in film and theater when he was a child and went to theater performances in which his parents starred.

He studied law and art at the University of New South Wales and wrote his first novel contest at the age of 19 . Since he could not find a publisher, he decided in late 1996 to publish the book himself under the name Karanadon Entertainment . He printed 1,000 copies and sold them for 8 Australian dollars each. He took over the distribution of these books himself by distributing them to all bookstores in downtown Sydney.

In early 1997 he received an offer for two books from the Australian publisher Pan Macmillan . In late 1998, Ice Station was released and sold 170,000 times, making it a bestseller . Two reprints of the action-packed novel were printed in the first two years. The book has been sold in over 12 countries including the US , UK , South Africa , Japan , PR China , Germany , Holland , Bulgaria and the Czech Republic . In 2002 an option to the film rights to Ice Station was sold to Paramount Pictures (now expired).

This was followed by work on his next novel Temple , which was also a success after its publication in 1999 and was sold to numerous overseas publishers.

Reilly took trips to the locations of his next work Area 7 . In the meantime, Pan Macmillan successfully re-published a revised version of Contest . After the successors to Ice Station had also appeared successfully with Area 7 and Scarecrow , Reilly turned to a new medium by publishing the eight-part online novel Hover Car Racer on the Internet, which later appeared as a book.

In 2005, Seven Ancient Wonders appeared , which leads the reader to the seven wonders of the ancient world and continued in October 2007 The Six Sacred Stones . In October 2009 Reilly published his next book The Five Greatest Warriors as a sequel to The Six Sacred Stones .

After his wife's death in 2011, Reilly canceled the rest of the tours and announced a pause in his online activities.

Private

Matthew Reilly is a cricket fan and has played games with stars like INXS . His brother Steven is also a writer. Reilly's wife Natalie passed away in 2011.

style

Reilly's writing style focuses on Hollywood- style action scenes and treats drama and character development as a second priority. His books are action packed with detailed descriptions of weapons and technology . Usually maps or sketches of the most important places are also included in the book. The action is mostly at the end of the 20th or the beginning of the 21st century with frequent reviews of history.

He gets inspiration from non-fiction books , the daily newspaper , various science magazines and from documentaries .

One of his main influences comes from his favorite author Michael Crichton , who created the pace, technology and enthusiasm for a rollercoaster ride within a thriller. He was also heavily influenced by Tom Clancy regarding geopolitical entanglements .

He was also inspired by Hollywood directors such as Steven Spielberg , George Lucas , John McTiernan , Jan de Bont and Rob Cohen . He is also interested in directing comments from Ridley Scott and Michael Bay .

In his book Ice Station an already took chase with hovercraft place before such action scene in Die Another Day was seen in the cinema. In Ice Station, Temple , Scarecrow and The Power of the Six Stones there is a tribute to Raiders of the Lost Ark . As Harrison Ford climbs under a truck in this film, in all four books the main character disappears under a vehicle.

Works

Novels

Showdown (1996, contest )

Showdown is about a trauma surgeon who gets his daughter into a competition at the New York Public Library . He learns that this is the presidian , a competition that takes place every 1000 years and in which the Roman emperor Domitian had already fought. In this competition, seven beings from different parts of the galaxy compete against each other and try to kill each other in gladiator style . In order to prevent the fighters from leaving the library, it was protected with a force field. To make the fight more difficult, a voracious monster, the Karanadon , was also teleported into the library. The presidian ends when only one competitor is still alive and this competitor can also defend himself against the karanadon .

Ice Station (1998)

Ice Station takes place in the area around the Antarctic research station Wilkes Station , which is surrounded by the McMurdo , Dumont-d'Urville and Casey stations . James Renshaw discovers a huge metal object drilling a hole in the ice, for which a wild military battle between Elite units of the United States Marine Corps , led by protagonist Lt. Shane "Scarecrow" Schofield , the 1st Airborne Marine Regiment of the French Armed Forces and the British Special Air Service, is on fire. In addition, killer whales are in the water below the station and the US government wants to have the incident covered up by a second unit.

The Temple (1999, Temple )

In a temple in the Andes there is an Inca statue that is to be found on behalf of DARPA . The way to the statue, which is carved out of a meteorite , is explained in a manuscript , for the translation of which the language professor William Race of the US Army is hired. Chapters repeatedly follow in which he reads the manuscript written in 1535 by Alberto Santiago, a priest and contemporary of Francisco Pizarro . It turns out that the temple is guarded by giant black big cats and caimans , and the idol is capable of destroying the world. Race soon finds himself in a battle between rival sections of the American armed forces and various extremist organizations .

The Offensive (2001, Area 7 )

The main character of this book is again Shane Schofield, who has since been promoted to captain and is currently accompanying the President of the USA on a visit to the secret military base Area 7 (see Area 51) of the US Air Force , where a vaccine for a deadly virus is being developed becomes. An unscrupulous Air Force general takes over the base and wants to kill the president, who has been implanted with a transmitter that would destroy North America if the president dies, and wants to televise the hunt for him. There are also other splinter groups within this corrupt elite unit, each pursuing their own goals. Schofield and his unit try to survive this hostile environment and protect the president. In addition to Schofield, some of the members of his unit from Ice Station appear again in this book. Among them is the son of a lovable character who loses his life in Ice Station. The reason for his appearance was that Reilly's death was resented by many people.

  • ISBN 3-548-25881-6 , Ullstein Verlag, Spiegel bestseller list paperback fiction: 36th place (August 30, 2004)
Operation Elite (2003, Scarecrow )

As the original title suggests, this book is again about Shane Schofield . A mysterious group of twelve billionaires, most of whom work in the defense industry, resolve the deaths of 15 targeted individuals, who will face a $ 18.6 million bounty. The men on the death list belong to the highest military associations: members of the CIA, the Israeli secret service Mossad , top terrorists and Shane Schofield. He gets wind of the plan and searches around the globe, in Siberia, Afghanistan, in London and on the American coast for the perpetrators of this plot. But time is of the essence as the world's best bounty hunters are after him.

By twelve o'clock US Standard Time, the light of his life should go out because he is one of the few people who can deactivate a new type of weapon system. However, the group wants to use this system to start a new Cold War and get rich in the process.

Schofield manages to avert the threat, but he has to endure the death of his future fiancée Elizabeth (Libby) "Fox" Gant.

On a crash course (2004 to 2008, Hover Car Racer )

An eight-part online novel that has a younger audience than his previous works. It has now also appeared as a book.

The Oracle of Tartarus (2005, Seven Ancient Wonders )

His book, published in 2005, is about the main character Captain West and a group of eight other people looking for the ominous keystone that once stood on the Great Pyramid , and thus embarking on the trail of the seven wonders of the world. On this hunt, however, they get caught between the fronts of the USA and the Europeans, who also go on a search to get the ultimate power, the keystone.

The Power of the Six Stones (2008, The Six Sacred Stones )

His most recent book is about the fact that a deadly sun is approaching the earth and the apocalypse is looming. The catastrophe can only be prevented if a protective shield that is thousands of years old is activated. Ex-soldier Jack West faces his greatest challenge.

The Fifth Warrior (February 2010, The Five Greatest Warriors )

The sequel to 'The Power of the Six Stones'. Captain Jack West and his team are feverishly trying to avert the catastrophe: in a few days a destructive sun will destroy all human life. Only the activation of an ancient protective mechanism brings salvation. International secret services have started the hunt: Because the protective shield promises unrestricted rule. An old inscription gives West the decisive clue. It tells of the greatest warriors in history. Four are quickly deciphered, but who is the fifth? He who judges the fate of the world on the day of judgment.

Arctic Fire (2013, Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves )

Actually, the CIA wanted to get rid of Captain Shane Schofield, known as Scarecrow. Too often he has made enemies with his unconventional working methods. But now the entire northern hemisphere is threatened with destruction by a super weapon with a core made of red uranium - much worse and more dangerous than an atomic bomb. Only Scarecrow can prevent disaster. He has five hours to track down and defeat the terrorists in the icy cold of the Arctic.

The Tournament (2013, The Tournament )

The novel describes a (fictional) chess tournament to which Sultan Suleyman I invited the best chess players of all nations to Constantinople in 1546 . The Englishman Roger Ascham travels there with his pupil, who later becomes Queen Elizabeth I , and has to solve several murders during the tournament.

The Secret Runners of New York (2019, The Secret Runners of New York )

The novel describes an apocalypse triggered by a gamma cloud . The so-called Secret Runners can travel 22 years into the future through a portal.

Short stories

  • The Mine (4 parts), published in The Sydney Morning Herald in 2000
  • The Fate Of Flight 700 , published in 2001 in the stalactite magazine The Tropfest
  • A Bad Day at Fort Bragg , published in 2001 in The Bulletin
  • Altitude Rush , published in 2001 in Girl's Night In 2: Gentlemen by Invitation , Penguin
  • The Rock Princess and the Thriller Writer , published in The Bulletin in 2002
  • Hell Island , short story with Shane Schofield, 2009, Ullstein paperback ( ISBN 3548269508 )

Web links

Individual evidence


personal data
SURNAME Reilly, Matthew
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian writer
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd July 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH Sydney , Australia