William G. Byrnes
 

Unfinished Business is my first book. Prior to writing it I was an investment banker at Alex. Brown & Sons for 17 years. After that I went on to found three companies, the most successful being BuzzMetrics, the most recent being MUTUALdecision (the jury's still out on that one). I've been a full-time and adjunct professor at Georgetown University and served on the Georgetown University Board of Regents. I've been on the board of directors of a number public and private companies, currently CapitalSource (NYSE:CSE) and LoopNet (NASDAQ: LOOP). I hold degrees from Georgetown and the University of Michigan.

My interests include history, wine collecting and Porsches, all of which you'll find in Unfinished Business. My wife and our two poodles divide our time between Washington, DC and Palm Beach.

http://www.williamgbyrnes.com

 

 

 

PageOneLit.com: Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?

William G. Byrnes: I grew up in Schenectady, NY, the home of General Electric.  In high school, James Bond was the rage and I read all the Ian Fleming novels.  My first attempt at writing, which ended in a few pages, was a James Bond story.  Fleming had nothing to fear.  There wasn't much time for pleasure reading in college but the first book I remember reading when I was working was Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot. I bought it on Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend and didn't put it down until I was finished.  Robert Ludlum’s The Scarlatti Inheritance turned me on to thrillers.  His concept of a person being unknowingly thrust into a dangerous and complex situation is a theme I carried into Unfinished Business.

 

PageOneLit.com: Why do you write?

William G. Byrnes: Writing is deeply satisfying.  I find it relaxing, although occasionally frustrating.  I write the kind of story I like to read and I hope others will enjoy reading what I write.  I'd like to sell a lot of books, not for the money, but because it would mean that I'm bringing a good story and enjoyment to many people.

 

PageoneLit.com: Briefly discuss your book Unfinished Business, A novel.

William G. Byrnes: Unfinished Business is set in present day Germany. It’s the story about ex-lovers who become entangled in a web of investment banking and international intrigue. The story begins with a high speed chase on the Autobahn, a decapitation and the suspicious death of the head of German intelligence.  The hero has an exciting new job – his last chance because of an incident at his former employer – and is leading the largest equity offering in European history.  He thinks his only problem is a difficult client with an overleveraged company.  Then his former fiancée – a beautiful and unpredictable CIA agent – reappears.  She manipulates him into spying on his client, gets him fired, and puts his life in jeopardy.   The antagonist, the Chancellor of Germany, is haunted by the firebombing of Dresden and Russian domination after WWII.  He employs a 21st century strategy – using the courts, the media, and businessmen – in his bid to restore Germany’s greatness and reclaim its lost territory.

 

 

 

PageOneLit.com: Explain the title Unfinished Business, A novel as it relates to the book.

William G. Byrnes: I wanted “business” in the title to signal the reader there was a commercial/economic aspect to the book but primarily unfinished business was meant to reflect the unsatisfying resolution, from the German perspective, of its eastern border, the German’s who lived in the disputed territory, and its coming to terms with the actions of Nazi Germany.

 

 

PageOneLit.com: Who is  Peter Armstrong?

William G. Byrnes: Peter Armstrong is a thoughtful young man with a quiet kind of charm.  He got where he is, a senior investment banker, through hard work and overcoming adversity.  In his teens he was beaten, robbed and left locked in a closet.  This lead to claustrophobia, a weakened left leg and psychiatric counseling, all of which figure into the story.  He’s guilty of bad judgment in love which cost him his last job but he has a good heart and wants to do the right thing regardless of the personal consequences. 

 

Who is Henrick Denker?

William G. Byrnes: Henrick Denker, denker is the German word for thinker, embodies Germany from World War II to present.  His parents were killed in the firebombing of Dresden, he struggled for survival after the war and he preached the perils of Communism while Germany was divided.  Henrick is a staunch conservative, but not a Nazi, who believes that Germany is entitled to the territory stripped from it after World War II, restitution for the Germans expelled from those lands and that Germany must reassert itself as a world power.

 

 

 

PageOneLit.com:   Unfinished Business  is based on actual events. Explain.

William G. Byrnes: Unfinished Business is based on fact wherever possible.  The peace treaty ending World War II was signed in 1990 as part of German reunification.  Most people don't know that.  A strip of land approximately 150 miles wide running the length of east Germany was placed under temporary administration of Poland immediately after World War II.  Stalin de facto made these lands permanently part of Poland and expelled the Germans living there.  The return of this land -- the disputed territory -- was a major source of contention and politics in Germany until the 1990’s.  The underground manufacturing tunnels still exist and the Garching high flux nuclear reactor, outside of Munich, runs on highly enriched uranium which has been a source of contention between the United States and Germany. I made two trips to Germany researching Unfinished Business.

 

 

PageOneLit.com:    Unfinished Business would make a great film - if Hollywood called tomorrow and asked you to cast the film who would you cast and why?

William G. Byrnes: Matt Damon is my candidate to play Peter.  Matt does a good job with the clean cut and earnest young man roll.  Playing Peter would be similar to his Bourne role but without the spy skills.  As in the Bourne movies, Matt would be caught up in a mystery he has to solve and his life is in jeopardy as he does so.  I like Hayley Atwell’s character in The Pillars of the Earth.  Hayley plays a strong, confident and resourceful woman, who won't hesitate to make the tough choice to get what she wants.  Just like Dayna Caymus.

 

 

 

PageOneLit.com: I absolutely love the cover design for Unfinished Business, A novel. W ho did this work - and what was the concept?

William G. Byrnes: I'm glad to hear you like the cover, I designed it myself!  It reflects the basic elements of the story. The rather foreboding Reichstag suggests Germany, politics and German history.  The launched missile suggests war and, when combined with Germany, has an ominous feeling.  The ticker tape suggests that there’s a business aspect of the story. 

 

 

PageOneLit.com: What do you hope to achieve with Unfinished Business, A novel?

William G. Byrnes: Unfinished Business was written to be good airplane reading.  It’s the kind of book I'd take on a plane for a few hours of enjoyment and relaxation.  When I started work on Unfinished Business I assumed that all the physical traces of Nazi Germany had been destroyed during, or right after, the war but reminders of this chapter of German history are still very much in existence.  I don't think most Americans are aware of this just as they might not be aware of how Germany’s eastern border was decided after World War II and the continued desire of Germany to regain its lost territory.

 

 

PageOneLit.com: What was the last book you read?

William G. Byrnes: I just finished reading Daniel Silva’s The Rembrandt Affair.  Silva tells a believable story and does a great job of weaving in real world events.  Having an art restorer as a spy is very refreshing and, unlike for some heroes, things don't always go right for Gabriel Allon 

 

 

PageOneLit.com: What's next?

William G. Byrnes: Next depends upon how well Unfinished Business is received.  The book sets up a sequel that would take place in Mexico.  I like my characters and would like to continue exploring, and resolve, Peter’s relationships with Dayna and Erin.  I think Unfinished Business would make a great movie but, of course, I'm biased!

 

 

PageOneLit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they enhance your writing?

William G. Byrnes: You'll find my hobbies work their way into Unfinished Business.  I love cars and own a Porsche like the one that crashes in the first chapter.  Thankfully, it was not my head that was severed.  My interest in cars also was the reason why the business in the book is an automobile company.  I collect wine and wine pops up a few places in the story.   My avocation for twentieth century history is central to the story.  My hobbies help me follow the adage “write what you know.”