Main Characters in 'Lokomotive'
When I started writing 'Lokomotive', I began with the villain of the piece - Oberführer Gottschalk. It would have been easy to make him a typical SS pantomime villain and I'll admit I've gone for quite a few cliches with his mannerisms and despotic behaviour, but even some cursory research reveals he's not far from the dreadful reality of his kind.
Next came the first of the heroes - German naval officer Korvettenkapitan Leon Fieseler, forced to work with Gottschalk against his wishes. After him came the second protagonist of the story, naval engineer and newest recruit of 30 Commando, Lieutenant Archie Shepherd.
Throw in several members of the French Resistance, agents from the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and some architects and builders from the Nazi's Organisation Todt, and that's pretty much it.
While I've tried to make it a rattling good yarn in the style of Len Deighton and Alistair Maclean, like them I have put in a considerable amount of painstaking research into the story. What's more, if you like beautifully streamlined art deco trains, this novel is definitely for you.