The Coil

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Gayle began her writing career as a reporter for The Arizona Republic,where her investigative reporting made such an impact that it led to changes in state legislation. Later she was an editor with rare Top Secret security clearance at a government think tank, where assorted shadowy figures passed through. She was intrigued and inspired.

Soon she began writing literary short stories, which were published in literary journals, and at the same time in what some considered to be surely schizophrenic, she also wrote male pulp adventure novels set around the world in the Nick Carter and Mack Bolan series.

Her first Gayle Lynds novel, Masquerade, was a New York Times bestseller and a People magazine “Page-Turner of the Week.” The Last Spymaster won Best Novel from both the American Authors Association and the Military Writers Society of America. The Coil won Best Contemporary Novel from Affaire de Coeur. Mosaic was RT Thriller of the Year. Mesmerized was a Daphne du Maurier Award best novel finalist. The Assassins won the Founder’s Award for Best Novel from MWSA.  About her work, reviewers have written: “superb,” Chicago Tribune; “immensely satisfying,” Wall Street Journal; “a potent storyteller,” Denver Post; “teeth-grinding suspense,” Publishers Weekly;“roller-coaster thrills,” Los Angeles Times; “terrific,” Cosmopolitan magazine; and “authentic,” Chicago Sun-Times.

With Robert Ludlum, she created the Covert-One Series and wrote three of the novels. Besides The Hades Factor becoming a CBS miniseries, The Paris Option, was a People magazine “Beach Read of the Week.”

A member of the Association for Former Intelligence Officers, she cofounded International Thriller Writers with David Morrell and was copresident for several years. ITW’s annual convention is ThrillerFest, which is held in New York City. She lives in Maine with her husband, retired judge John C. Sheldon, three computers, and one old, opinionated cat.