The ritual was exactly the same. Always. He would rest his cheek on the wide barrel of the gun until he felt it perfectly fit on his shoulder. Like the whole weapon of the Samurai, the barrel was specially made of titanium and aluminum and could be adjusted with screws to interlock with the cavity of his shoulder. The weapon itself was a work of art. For the experts, it was the ultimate long range Sniper Rifle, the best ever made ‒ the Accuracy International 338 Lapua Magnum, with a Schmidt & Bender 25x20x56 sight, a specially modified barrel from titanium, aluminum and American steel, and a Turbo Suppressor silencer that had been specially processed to move the bullet in the bore inside the barrel in a way that helped maintain the force of its launch. The ammunition was an exclusive order: bullets from the American ammunition company Sierra, specially processed with the addition of aluminum shavings, which were fired after the bullet had touched the target. So, whatever the point of contact was, the damage to the victim would be irreversible.
Today we talk about The Samurai, a book by Giannis Giannakakis, published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Giannis Giannakakis, to get to know him better, what was the moment that led him to the writing of his book The Samurai, as well as what are the crucial themes of his book.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Is there a particular moment in your life that led you to the writing of your book? What was it?
Yes. A good friend of mine lost his wife and child during a terrorist attack a few years ago in Marseilles when a suicide bomber drove a truck full of explosives directly into a crowd queuing to enter a stadium where a rock concert would be taking place. This tragedy influenced me gravely and I started to research more about terrorism and jihadism.
- What are the crucial themes of your book?
Revenge as a driving force, discipline and honor as the drivers to live one’s life, the fact that you need to find a purpose to fulfil your destiny. These are all concepts that play a crucial role in my story. The hero is hit by a series of tragedies that bring him to his psychological and sentimental limits. However instead of giving up, he rises up, becomes a warrior and a fighter leveraging his unique skillset to achieve his life goal: revenge his enemy in order to find peace of mind.
- What would you like to hear from your readers?
I would love to hear their emotions elicited by reading the book. If they felt a sense of identification with the hero his quest and his fight around the globe, if they felt the shock caused by the loss of thousands of innocent lives by the fanatism that is integral to the jihad beliefs and if the dignity, passion and strength, physical and mental, of the hero created a role model for them. Last but not least if they could stop reading the book once started.
- Is there a book you are particularly attached to and that has taught you something?
One book I read that influenced me greatly is the Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. The two heroes the Saracin and the Pilgrim, are both incredible personas and their fight is simply mind-blowing. One thing that his book taught me is that it takes only one determined person to actually change the world for good of for bad.
- Are you planning to write more books?
Absolutely. I have written already two other novels “The dog that danced the blues” and “The Alien” both published in Greek language by KAPA Publishing House and plan to translate them and attempt to publish them with your House as well. Currently I am working on my new book describing the lifechanging journey of the most gifted hacker the words have ever known, a journey bound to change the world as we know it. The title of the book will be “Diary of an ethical hacker”
Europe Books thanks the author Giannis Giannakakis once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside him on the editorial path that led to the publication of his book The Samurai. We wish him the best of luck for his book and for his future works.
To you, my dear reader, I wish that this book will capture your curiosity and excite you as you read it, but at the same time allow you to understand how important it is to fight against those “fanatics” who cause so much pain and loss of life, just as the hero of this book fought against them.
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy this very interesting and emotional reading!
Your editor!