Peter Kirsanow practices and teaches law and is an official of a federal agency. He is a former member of the National Labor Relations Board and has testified before Congress on a variety of matters, including the confirmations of five Supreme Court Justices. He contributes regularly to National Review, and his op-eds have appeared in newspapers ranging from The Wall Street Journal to The Washington Times. The author of Target Omega, he lives in Cleveland, Ohio.
Q: What inspired the idea for this story?
Peter: I wrote two so far. The first one came out last year. I’ve always been into WWII history. I have read history books about the historical characters of this period. The characters are larger than life with events that were the most cataclysmic in history. There is a lot of material. In writing about WWII, there is an abundance of information even for fiction.
Q: Were there any guidelines you had to follow when writing this book?
Peter: I was able to write my own stuff and not necessarily in the style of Griffin. But I had to keep the characters consistent with the ones he created. I tried to maintain the personalities the way he had written them, including their manner of speaking.
Q: Is it true that Russia may have attempted an assassination hoax to kill western leaders during the war?
Peter: Historically, people think that might be true. If Stalin thought it could prompt the western powers to move up the day for D-DAY, he might have considered it. He needed a Western flank to open to relieve pressure on the Eastern front.
Q: How would you describe some of the antagonists in the story?
Peter: There are a couple of antagonists, all of whom I made formidable. Major Taras Gromev is one of them. He is a despicable character who can do just about anything. He is strong, determined, and guileful. He is pure evil and ambitious. He has no second thoughts about killing friend or foe to achieve his objectives. The character I found most fascinating is a historical one, Otto Skorzeny, a German commando. He’s like a James Bond on steroids. He was an Olympic athlete, very smart, and a roguish character. After the war, he even worked for Mossad. I wrote in the book about how he rescued Mussolini from a prison on top of a mountain, heavily guarded by Allied troops. He’s efficient, resourceful, and disciplined.
Q: The way Skorzeny rescued Mussolini reminded me of what Hamas did on October 7th. Do you see similarities?
Peter: Both are evil bad guys, and yes, the Germans and Hamas both used gliders. I wrote this before October 7th.
Q: How would you describe the protagonists?
Peter: They are talented, innovative, aggressive, diligent, daring, and resourceful. Major Richard Canidy and Lt. Eric Fulmer were quintessential Americans, all-Americans. They were not evil or cunning. They would win by being on the up and up.
Q: What role does Dr. Sebastian Kapsky play in the story?
Peter: He was a carryover from the previous novel. In the first book, The Devil’s Weapons, Canidy and Fulmer rescued him. He had encrypted the notebook, so anyone who had it would need him to decipher it. I wanted the reader to think there was something in the notebook that could change the direction of the war and possibly give the advantage to whoever possessed that information.
Q: Can you tell us about your next books?
Peter: It will not be a W.E.B. Griffin book, but one of my own, titled The Black Russian. It is about a defector from Russia, Putin’s most reliable assassin. He comes to the US and offers his services to the CIA. The President wants to use him, but no one trusts him. A former Navy SEAL is assigned to be his watchdog. The plot is based on the idea that if the protagonists do not prevail, the world will come to an end. They are trying to prevent a nuclear Armageddon. The next Griffin book is a question mark as to whether I will write it.
W.E.B Griffin Zero Option by Peter Kirsnow bring to life the characters within an exciting thriller. This story has Major Dick Canidy of the US Army racing to stop an assassin from disrupting a vital conference that will shape the course of World War II. Stalin is pressing the Allies to open a second front in Europe to ease the pressure on the bloody grinding war in the East. Roosevelt and Churchill agree to meet the Soviet premier in Tehran. Wild Bill Donovan, the charismatic leader of the OSS, has intelligence that someone is planning to assassinate either or both of the Western leaders at the conference. He sends his best agent, Dick Canidy, to thwart the plan. Unfortunately, there are others also trying to thwart the success of the conference. There is also the danger that an important weapon is being developed and it must be kept out of both the German and Russian hands. Readers will not want to put the book down.
