Brian Freemantle
Brian Harry Freemantle was an English thriller and non-fiction writer, known for his 1977 spy novel Charlie Muffin.
Life and career
Freemantle was born in Southampton. He also published using the pseudonyms John Maxwell, Jonathan Evans, Jack Winchester and Richard Gant. He was a Freeman of the City of London.Until 1975, when he became a full-time writer, he was a foreign correspondent and editor for various newspapers, including the Daily Mail and the Daily Sketch. In April that year, he organised the sole British-led airlift rescue of South Vietnamese civilians during the Fall of Saigon, assisting in the evacuation of 100 orphans, of whom Viktoria Cowley was one, aged approximately 18 months.
In 1989, Brian appeared in the television documentary Borders, alongside Michio Kaku, Steve Buscemi, Margaret Randall, and Robert Anton Wilson. In his interview, he discusses transnational crime, border security, narcotics smuggling, and his experiences being banned from the former Czechoslovakia and Soviet Union.
Brian and Viktoria, now a grown adult, have been featured in a few documentaries together, the first being BBC One – The Airmail Orphan. He later made a promotional film for his own books, Open Road Media, in which Viktoria appeared. In another documentary from BBC One Northern Ireland, Viktoria introduces another Vietnamese adoptee from the flight to Brian. On 28 March 2018, they both appeared on BBC's The One Show talking about the airlift, adoption and Vietnam.
Viktoria's son is named Harry, Brian's middle name, in recognition of Operation Babylift on 6 April 1975. Viktoria and Brian were in regular contact after they first met in 2010; she is the first Vietnamese adoptee Brian has met and the only adoptee he remained in contact with. She told him, "You saved my life and those of every other child. On their behalf, and my own, I thank you."
Freemantle died from Parkinson's disease on 23 December 2024, at the age of 88.
Standalone novels
Goodbye to an Old Friend Face Me When You Walk Away The Man Who Wanted Tomorrow The November Man The Vietnam Legacy The Lost American Rules of Engagement Deaken's War The Kremlin Kiss Dirty White The Choice of Eddie Franks The Bearpit Betrayals The Factory O'Farrell's Law Little Grey Mice Kremlin Conspiracy At Any Price Gold The Iron Cage Washington White Target Hell's Paradise Ice Age Two Women Dead End To Save a Son Time to Kill The Namedropper- ''The Cloud Collector: A Thriller''
Charlie M/Muffin novels
Charlie Muffin, English spy, contends with the Russians and his superiors during the Cold War and moving to modern times. The disheveled, slow-moving anti-hero has the wits to win, sometimes.Charlie Muffin a.k.a. Charlie M. Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie a.k.a. Here Comes Charlie MThe Inscrutable Charlie Muffin Charlie Muffin's Uncle Sam a.k.a. Charlie Muffin U.S.A.Madrigal for Charlie Muffin Charlie Muffin and Russian Rose a.k.a. The Blind RunCharlie Muffin San a.k.a. See Charlie RunThe Run Around Comrade Charlie Charlie's Apprentice Charlie's Chance a.k.a. Bomb GradeCharlie's Choice: The First Charlie Muffin Omnibus Dead Men Living Kings of Many Castles Red Star Rising Red Star Burning- ''Red Star Falling''
Cowley and Danilov Series
U.S. FBI agent teams with Russian policeman solving cases from murder to terrorism, always with international implications. More procedural than who-done-it.The Button Man, reissued 2011 as In the Name of a KillerNo Time for Heroes The Watchmen- ''Triple Cross''
Non-fiction
KGB: Inside the World's Largest Intelligence Network CIA: The 'Honourable' Company The Fix: Inside the World Drug Trade The Steal: Counterfeiting and Industrial Espionage- ''The Octopus: Europe in the Grip of Organized Crime''
As Harry Asher
- ''The Predators''
As Richard Gant
Ian Fleming: Man with the Golden Pen a.k.a. Ian Fleming: The Fantastic 007 ManSean Connery, Gilt-Edged Bond- ''The Touchables''
As Andrea Hart
A Mind to Kill- ''The Return''
As John Maxwell
H.M.S. Bounty a.k.a. Hell's Fire- ''The Mary Celeste''
As Jack Winchester
- ''Deaken's War''