David Crossland: Reuters taught me to ask the right questions

It’s not unusual for Reuters people to draw on their experiences with the agency when they write books, be they autobiographies, memoirs or novels.

David Crossland (photo), a reporter in Frankfurt and Berlin from 1994 to 2004, does so again in his latest thriller, Teutonia, which is set in modern Germany and plays on fears of German domination of Europe. The villain of the piece brings back the euro crisis in order to oust Chancellor Angelika Müller and ally Germany with Russia.

It contains references to the peculiarities of reporting from Germany, such as sources demanding to check their interview quotes before "releasing" them for publication, and also deals with the benefits and drawbacks of working as a freelancer.

Crossland thought Germany’s growing domination of Europe in the euro crisis, and the concern and resentment it has caused in other countries, would make a good backdrop for a thriller.

“As with my first book, I drew on the experience I gained at Reuters in financial and political reporting, and on my freelance work since 2004,” he said.

“Reuters taught me to turn out a decent story quickly and to ask the right questions. Freelance reporting has taught me how to write 800 words about the Munich Oktoberfest without mentioning the word “beer” - I had to do that once for a newspaper based in a Muslim country.

“I have fond memories of Reuters and have peppered the book with references to it. It’s ahead of the curve in reporting the fictional crisis triggered by my villains in Teutonia. That’s not unrealistic given that Reuters owned coverage of the real euro crisis.”

Crossland was born in 1967 in Bonn, then the capital of West Germany and where his father was a foreign correspondent.

His first book, The Jewish Candidate published in 2013, was a political thriller about a neo-Nazi plot to kill Germany’s fictional first Jewish politician to run for chancellor.

He freelances for The Times and Handelsblatt among other outlets, and is preparing to write a third thriller. His wife Madeline Chambers works for Reuters in Berlin. ■