Woodrow uses the December weather as an example of the dark differences between Papua New Guinea and England. His characters are ordinary people who have to overcome extraordinary circumstances to survive.
Mark Bridges is an avid birdwatcher.

"Mark is unassuming and introverted but he is a born survivor and, as the villains discover, you mess with him at your own peril," Woodrow said.

Even though there is a lot of physical action in First Contact, Woodrow is able to appeal to a female audience by introducing Carmen Beckwith, a half-English, half-Chilean, and struggling journalist. Melanie Bridges, Mark's sister, is as irritating as possible, but too confrontational to roll over and give up. These characteristics help make the women tough, appealing and believable.

"One of the challenges of writing First Contact was how to make a distant and exotic location like Papua New Guinea accessible to a northern hemisphere audience. Part of that solution was to make Mark and Melanie as ordinary as possible so the reader experiences the country through the eyes and ears of the boy and girl next door," Woodrow said of his characters. "Of course, their exploits ultimately prove that there's nothing ordinary about either of them."

Woodrow's first thriller, Double Cross, had reviewers comparing him to Clive Cussler, Dan Brown, and Michael Crichton.

"I share the same agency as Lee Child and editor as John Grisham and I want to prove myself worthy of being part of such a fantastic team," Woodrow said.

Patrick Woodrow has nothing to fear for with First Contact he has more than proven himself a worthy team member. 

Michael Haskins is the writer of the Mick Murphy Key West Mystery series. CHASIN' THE WIND the first in the series, was published in March 2008 and the second book, FREE RANGE INSTITUTION, will be available in February 2011. He has finished the third book in the series, CAR WASH BLUES. He lives with his wife, family, and sailboat in Key West, Florida.