Geoffrey Archer (born 1944) is a British writer of fiction from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He specialises in military adventures and spy thrillers and created the character Sam Packer.

Career

Geoffrey Archer was born and grew up in north London and had an interest in fiction and drama from an early age. He attended

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is a co-educational, fee-charging, private day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate Pre-Preparato ...

. After several false starts in his choice of career, Geoffrey Archer moved into journalism. He started with a local television station in Southampton as a trainee researcher, then moved first to Anglia TV in Norwich and then to Tyne-Tees TV in Newcastle as an on-screen journalist. He started as a reporter with

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...

in 1969. He covered the

troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed ...

in Northern Ireland in the 1970s and the civil war in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

in 1976, was allowed to travel with a

Polaris Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris (Latinisation of names, Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an ...

nuclear

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

, and eventually became Defence Correspondent for ITN. These experiences prompted him to begin writing stories with military and spy themes. In 1995 Archer left ITN to concentrate on writing full-time. In 1998 his novel ''Fire Hawk'' was short-listed for the Crime Writers' Gold Dagger Award.

Personal life

Geoffrey Archer lives on

Kew Green Kew Green is a large open space in Kew in west London. Owned by the Crown Estate, it is leased to the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames. It is roughly triangular in shape, and its open grassland, framed with broadleaf trees, extends to abo ...

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

, London. He and his wife Eva have two children.

Books

* 1988 – ''Sky Dancer'' * 1989 – ''Shadow Hunter'' * 1993 – '' Eagle Trap'' * 1995 – ''Scorpion Trail'' * 1997 – ''Java Spider'' * 1998 – ''Fire Hawk'' * 2001 – ''The Lucifer Network'' * 2002 – ''The Burma Legacy'' * 2004 – ''Dark Angel''

References

External links

* * Brockes, Emma (23 July 2001)
"Archer: the interview"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' . Living people English thriller writers English spy fiction writers Writers from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames People educated at Highgate School ITN newsreaders and journalists 1944 births People from Kew, London {{england-writer-stub