24 GOES PROSE
Jack Bauer has been lots of places, but this fall he travels where no CTU agent has gone before: Into the pages of his very own novel. The new series of 24 fiction novels will launch this October from HarperCollins. The 24 books will have an opportunity for the audience to get into the heads of our characters,â?? says Joel Surnow, 24 exec producer, who has been acting as a consultant on the books. So much of 24 the TV show is Jack and the others rushing through the day, and we often don't get to really know what is going on inside their minds. Also, the format is so challenging in general that we look forward to seeing how other artists approach it from other medium.
We'll have more on release dates and specifics in upcoming issues. To whet your appetite for info on this exciting new development for 24, editor Hope Innelli made some time to give 24 Fan Club members an exclusive look inside the upcoming novels.
Can you tell me a bit about how the novels will work? How will they translate the unique format of the TV show into prose form?
As a rabid fan of the show I was looking for a way to extend the experience for viewers like myself between seasons. I came to them with an idea and found that they were thinking the same thing--we didn't want to reiterate plots as you can pretty much revisit the show on DVD. Instead we wanted to create something that gave us further insight into the complex mind and motivations of Jack Bauer. We thought a series that brought us back to the early days of CTU, prior to 9/11, when there wasn't as much interagency cooperation--a time when agents were just devising the field strategy for combating terrorism and pretty much left to their own devices--would be riveting.
As die-hard fans will recall, we had published a trade paperback book between the first and second seasons which did this to some degree. The book was fashioned to "reveal details of testimony given during a closed House Special Senate Committee hearing investigating the wrongdoings at CTU during the whole Drazen family case, as leaked from an unidentified informant to journalist Marc Cerasini."
This conceit allowed us to provide a bit of a prequel of sorts to the first season, a sequel of sorts to the first season, and a further exploration of the events of the first season, all in one book. Readers got the answers to some of their most pressing questions about the first season and quite a lot more. And the experience of working with the show's writers was amazing.
But with this new series we wanted to cover all new material. We also wanted the books to be really fast-paced like the show. We wanted to provide a book so compelling readers would devour it in just 24 hours, so we're launching these in a mass market size. They'll be really affordable this way too so you can read all of them.
Is there currently a series of novels planned, or just a stand-alone novel?
We have six signed up right now and hope to continue the series well beyond that.
How will the action in the novels mirror the action on the series? Will the stories take place within established 24 continuity, or will they tell stories before or after the timeline of the series?
The way we see it is that Jack has always operated under pressure. He couldn't deal with the magnitude of the challenges he faces right now if he didn't get his training under comparably intense circumstances, so you can indeed expect to read about him in the same kind of 24-hour time pressured scenarios.
What characters can fans expect to see translated from the small screen to the novels?
Expect some your favorite CTU employees--the ones who support Jack and the ones who don't, as well as lots of new faces as well. Remember, since this series predates the show you will get glimpses of how some of these friends and foes evolved into the people they are now. But I won't name names here. Just as in the world of counter-terrorism, a certain degree of discretion is involved in our field too.
What writers have you been working with on the 24 novels, and what can you tell us about them and their work?
We have two stellar writers with us. Both are extremely knowledgeable about military and counter-terrorism practices and bring a real authenticity to the books.
Marc Cerasini's numerous writing credits include The Complete Idiot's Guide to the U.S. Special Ops Forces and Heroes: U.S. Marine Corps Medal of Honor Winners, a jacketed hardcover that recounts the history of the Marine corps through the story of its nearly 300 medal of honor winners. Marc has also written for Tom Clancy in a number of capacities, creating the bible for the Clancy Power Play series (set in Russia), writing YA action/adventure thriller The Ultimate Escape for Clancy's Net Force series and writing one of the major essays on Clancy's contribution to the genre of techno thriller for the Berkley trade bestseller, The Tom Clancy Companion. Of course Marc also was the author of our previous 24 book entitled 24: The House special Subcommittee Investigation of CTU with co-author Alice Alfonsi.
John Whitman is also the author of numerous books, including the Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear series, Zorro and Witch's Curse, and most recently the trading cards for 24 Day 3. In addition he is a 4th degree black belt and defense tactics instructor at Krav Maga, the official hand-to-hand combat system of the Israeli military. He has trained in protective services and defensive tactics in the United States and Israel, and he has served as an instructor for US law enforcement agencies and military anti-terrorist units. .
How did this deal come about?
We approached Fox just as the last season was kicking off--it was before all the buzz about it being the best season ever--and as it turns out Fox was also thinking about a publishing program, clearly aware it was airing a season that would wow everyone. Our timing was right and we were all on the same page about the type of active books we wanted so it all came together quite quickly.
Have you already seen chapters? How has the writing been going?
I have, and my colleague Josh Behar, who is also editing titles in the series, has too. We both agree that this is going to be a real kick-ass treat for true 24 fans.
As the editor of this series, what is most exciting for you about bringing 24 into prose?
As I said earlier, the very idea that we can be extending the experience for fans so they can get their 24 fix between episodes and/or seasons really makes me happy. As the series grows in number of titles, I suppose it's being able to provide 24 to fans whenever they want it, 24/7.
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