Interviewing Gavin G Smith
Helloo!
This week I was delighted to read Spec Ops Z by Gavin G Smith a horror/action thriller set in WW3 during the 1980’s and throws in zombies on top. Hard to put down, great characters and action set pieces made this a really enjoyable read. I was lucky enough to have the chance to ask Gav some questions on the book. Gavin G Smith is also the writer of the Veteran and Bastard Legion series so not at all unfamiliar with what it takes to tell a great story.
So how do you like to book-tempt the Spec Ops Z?
I mean does it even need tempting? I'm sure 80s Russian special forces zombies, fighting in World War III sells itself, right? It's not even remotely niche. It's actually a good question because it does sound a bit strange when you say it out loud (though it makes perfect sense to me). I think if you like any element of the above then give it a go. I think there's something there for anyone who likes war stories (which is just about every fantasy fan as far as I can tell), zombie stories, survival horror, or that whole 80s retro thing. The funny thing I'm finding is that a lot of people are saying things in reviews like: "I wouldn't normally read something like this but..." At the end of the day it's about the bonds formed/relationships between people who find themselves in extreme circumstances but then so is Lord of the Rings... (In all honesty it's probably more on the grimmer and darker part of the spectrum.) There's also some great action in it.
What led to the choice of setting for this tale as we go back to the 80s?
So I grew up during the 80s and it seemed, to me anyway, that the whole decade (and presumably those before it) was permeated with the threat of nuclear war. I don't want to say I was obsessed with it but I was certainly very aware of it and of the Cold War, which spawned much of the media I consumed during the period. So there's an element of nostalgia for me but I think also a time when a global nuclear war seemed more likely than now. (Er... just. I mean we've had a pretty turbulent few years with lunatics in charge of significant nuclear stockpiles.) Also, rightly or wrongly, I connect zombies with both the 80s and World War III.
Who were the Spetsnaz?
Who are the Spetsnaz? They are, after all, still a going concern and you've probably seen them on TV. They were Putin's "little green men" who spearheaded the Russian invasion of the Ukraine in 2014. It's actually an umbrella term that means special purposes (which was the original name of the book) and refers to Russian special forces as a whole. Spec Ops Z specifically deals with the GRU Spetsnaz, the special forces unit attached to the foreign military intelligence agency of the Red Army (during the time period in the book). As secretive as any clandestine military force, even less was known about them during the Cold War. Much of what little was known came from the book Spetsnaz: The Inside Story of the Soviet Special Forces by the Soviet defector Viktor Suvurov, himself a ex-member of the GRU. The veracity of what he has written has been called into question. That said some of the myths about the Spetsnaz made it into Spec Ops Z, because at the end of the day it's a work of fiction. Research was a lot of fun, however, for someone with my interests anyway.
What is the attraction of a zombie tale? What did you enjoy playing with?
So the idea was to write a kind of Legion of the Damned-style story. I had thought about having them all dying of radiation poisoning but somehow that seemed grimmer than a preter/supernatural element, and also I'd sort of done something similar with my first novel, Veteran. I think the zombie element came out of a conversation over a pint at a con with my editor Dave. Again I think the 80's-ness of it lent itself to zombies but the thing I like most about zombies, and the reason they're my favourite classic-horror creature, is that in the really good zombie stories, they're not the monsters we are. Admittedly I may have taken that too far...
What I enjoyed playing with most is that a lot of the WW3/post apocalyptic pulp I consumed during the 80s (and there was a lot...) had the continuation of the war in the aftermath of a nuclear exchange. I mean at some point you've got to think "Should we keep fighting?" perhaps when you're standing in the smoking radioactive ruins of your home breathing in the ash that used to be your loved ones. The zombieness of it somehow gave me the license to go: we've got nothing to live for, instead of picking on some poor sucker because they have a different ideology, we're going to find the fuckers responsible and deal with them.
You answer the important question who wins in Nazis versus Zombies? What inspired the finale?
The finale came from two places. The first was a Panorama (I think) documentary about neo-Nazis infiltrating WW2 historical re-enactment societies and the second was the book Green-Eyed Boys by Christian Jennings and Adrian Weale about the Battle for Mt. Longdon during the Falklands War and some of the controversies that came out of that particularly bloody fight. We don't really talk about the Falklands War very much. I don't think the veterans of that conflict were treated terribly well. The one statistic that sticks in my mind about it is that more British servicemen who fought in that war committed suicide than actually died in the fighting. There was a great deal of PTSD, which military culture (then) and an uncaring government, meant went undiagnosed. The antagonist is someone who came out of this kind of toxic set up and it twisted him, causing him blame all the wrong people and turning him into the monster.
You balance the action with time to get to know the crew is it important to balance these in a thriller?
Yes, very. All the action in the world is meaningless unless we care about the characters and the action itself is only of interest in terms of what it means to/how it effects the characters.
What else can we look forward from you? Where can we find out more?
So I currently have a fantasy novel 'doing the rounds', which I can't talk too much about. I have just finished a draft of what I think is a crime novel. So I will be polishing that for the next little while. I think my next project is, broadly speaking, a cyberpunk alien/invasion novel. I apologise if all this sounds frustratingly vague but it's early doors for most of these projects, so if nothing else you're hearing about it here first. Also if Spec Ops Z does well enough I'll be returning to Vadim and the squad. I have ideas for another two books and desperately want to write in that world again, as it's a lot of fun.
In terms of finding out more:
I have a much neglected website here:
I have a less neglected Facebook author page here:
@GavinGSmith7
But I can mostly be found hanging out on Twitter as:
@gavingsmith
While in lockdown did any books really tempt you?
Gosh, I have been reading voraciously in lockdown. Something that really caught my eye last year (despite it's somewhat hyperbolic title) was Democracy in Chains by Nancy MacLean. It's about the attack on democracy by the more predatory, ideologically-driven forms of capitalism. A fascinating read if more than a little scary. I'd also recommend A Secular Age by the philosopher Charles Taylor, which I read for my PhD. It charts the movement from a society where belief in god (and to an extent, the supernatural) was considered the norm to our current more sceptical society and asks if we've lost anything along the way.
In terms of fiction I'm finding nostalgia a useful defence mechanism in these trying times (something I'm a little suspicious of, there's so much good writing around at the moment but hey-ho). As a result I've been on a bit of William Gibson kick and reread Virtual Light and Idoru, which was an odd experience in these somewhat crazed times.
It's a secret, so you know, don't tell anyone ((of course not - Womble) but I'm currently reading The Wood Bee Queen by Ed Cox and I'm loving it. I'm very much looking forward to Purgatory Mount by Adam Roberts, which is next on my list but the read from last year that sticks out is the excellent Making Wolf by Tade Thompson, even though no wolves are actually made in the book (spoiler?)
Thanks for having me Womble!
