Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

abitha: We’re delighted to have Will Gibson here (not William!) to talk about his science fiction novel The Unravelling.  Will, want to start with an introduction to your book?

Will: In the year 2038, a disillusioned English boy’s audacious plan to save his beloved Asian pop star collides with a weary New York cop’s pursuit of an unfathomable global conspiracy, as humanity balances on the razor’s edge between AI-governed order and lawless urban chaos. As unprecedented system failures plunge the world into turmoil, Joe Jones races against time to unravel the deceit behind apocalyptic threats and protect those he loves, revealing the delicate intersection of human vulnerability and technological dominance.

Sabitha: What inspired you to write this book?

Will: Boredom! Haha. But seriously, I get a lot of down time in my work in the telecom industry. I regularly travel over 200,000 air miles, so that’s a lot of time in airports and on planes. Only so many moves you can watch! So I started writing this in 2018 on my iPhone, got half of it done, then COVID hit and sent the world in a spin, and that prompted me to pick it back up again in 2022 and really make a dash to get it finished. I’m delighted with the end result and hope to be an inspiration to my two little children.

Sabitha: Do you have a playlist for your book? 

Will: Oh absolutely! Firmly Radiohead and especially their 1997 album OK Computer. Even though its now 26 years old it still feels futuristic, and could easily be set in the year 2038! I listen to that and other Radiohead stuff while I’m working and writing/editing, as well as Morrissey, The Cure and The Arctic Monkeys. Music is a huge part of my life.

Sabitha: If you could meet your characters, what would you say to them?

Will: Well, for starters I’d tell Monica not to be so uptight, I’d tell Joe to believe in himself and I’d tell Suki to run a mile from Kelly hahahaha.

Sabitha: Do you have a “fan-cast” — do you have actors you’d cast as your main characters?

Will: Of course! My protagonist is Joe, just an ordinary New York cop, and he’d for sure be Pedro Pascal! A man of few words and quite reserved, he’d be perfect! His wife Monica would be played by Alexandra Daddario, a raven-haired beauty for sure. Suki is hard to cast as she’s a figment of my imagination, but she could easily be Shioli Kutsuna who was amazing in Invasion on Apple TV recently. Dylan is hard to cast as he’s so young, so would probably be an up-and-coming young Brit.

Sabitha: What book do you tell all your friends to read? 

Will: I’m big into science fiction, sports biographies and espionage thrillers. I’ve read every single one of Andy McNab’s Nick Stone series and always find them really good reads. My favourite of all-time is my namesake William Gibson, of Neuromancer fame, and I’ve read everything he’s ever done.

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Will: They can find me on my website, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, or X. My book is on Amazon USA and Amazon UK.