Malta’s underground tunnels, buried secrets and Hollywood intrigue collide in a new thriller by Malta-based author Mark Grenside.Grenside has released two new novels, The Bastion and Sunset Circus, continuing his Marcus Riley thriller series alongside a newly revised edition of his debut novel, Fall Out.Published by Sharpe Books, the releases form part of a six-book deal, with another three novels set to follow.And one of the new stories has a particularly strong Maltese connection.Around a third of The Bastion is set in Malta, with protagonists Marcus Riley and Mako de Turris racing through underground tunnels as they attempt to prevent a stolen fortune from falling into the wrong hands.The thriller begins with a Lloyd’s of London kidnap and ransom negotiator using a stolen list of some of the world’s most heavily insured people to launch an international conspiracy.Its story travels from the Aleutian Islands and Los Angeles to Calabria and Malta, incorporating the history and legends surrounding Valletta’s underground spaces.Grenside said he received assistance from Marc Zimmerman and Daniel Cilia while researching underground Valletta, as well as from several people in Malta while exploring the islands’ history and mythology.His second new novel, Sunset Circus, heads in a different direction, combining a Nevada crime family with smuggled Romanov treasure, Cold War betrayal and a mysterious murder.Grenside draws heavily on his own career for the series. Before settling in Malta, he worked as a Lloyd’s of London kidnap, ransom and product extortion insurance broker and later joined Jim Henson and The Muppets, going on to work across film and television.“Marcus Riley is a film producer, and every plot plays out inside the industry I actually worked in,” he said.The author said his approach involves starting with a piece of real history before constructing a fictional conspiracy around it.Share this with someone who would be interested!•