Gary Born

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Based in London, Gary isn’t just a lawyer—he’s a leading voice in international disputes, widely regarded as the world’s preeminent authority on international commercial arbitration and litigation. But beyond courtrooms and conference tables, Gary’s talents extend into the world of fiction, where he’s the author of the gripping spy thriller The File.

 

“As a lawyer, I spend my days in hearings and meetings, and my evenings strategizing with my team and researching technical issues of international law. My battlefields are court rooms and airports”, Gary explains. “My clients are multinational corporations and governments. It’s a world far removed from the events in The File, which begins in Central Africa. The story kicks off when Sara West, a young researcher, discovers the wreckage of a World War II Nazi bomber in the jungle. Among the ruins, she finds an old file containing directions to secret Nazi bank deposits in Switzerland. This discovery upends her life as two ruthless men—Ivan Petronov, a former KGB agent obsessed with the Nazi accounts, and Franklin Kerrington III, the CIA’s deputy director whose family’s dark Nazi ties would be exposed—launch a relentless pursuit across continents.”

 

Writing such a novel while managing an international legal practice required discipline. “I wrote during flights, early mornings, and weekends,” Gary shares. “Having a clear storyline and structure before starting the draft helped me dive in whenever time allowed.” With a smile, he adds, “A fun fact about The File—I wrote the entire first draft by hand. My incredible assistant, Katrin Frach, typed up each chapter as I went along. By the end, Katrin was so invested in the story and characters, she begged me to change the ending. Spoiler: I didn’t.”

 

So what’s next? Gary’s vision for The File is a big-screen adaptation worthy of its gripping narrative. Meanwhile, this extraordinary lawyer-artist is already penning his next masterpiece: “I won’t spill the plot just yet”, he teases, “but let’s just say that my new thriller will take readers on a globe-trotting adventure they won’t forget.”

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