PEDRO AVERY
AUTHOR. GEOPOLITICAL THRILLERS
My Debut Thriller
After thirty-five years in advertising, I never imagined I'd be writing novels. But sometimes life takes unexpected turns and sometimes those turns happen on a sun lounger in Spain when you're supposed to be relaxing.
What It's About
The Gibraltar Protocol is a contemporary cyber-thriller that explores what happens when our increasingly digital world becomes a weapon. At its heart, it's the story of Daniel Warren, a junior Foreign Office operative who gets thrown into a deadly international conspiracy involving a revolutionary digital currency called Veritian.
Hidden within Veritian's code is a "Spider's egg", a digital time bomb planted by the world's most notorious hacker. When triggered, it won't just steal money; it will destroy global trust in government and plunge society into economic chaos.
Daniel's hunt for this elusive cyber-criminal takes him from the corridors of Whitehall to the dangerous streets of Mexico and Venezuela, and finally to Gibraltar—a journey that forces him to question everything he believes about loyalty, justice, and the price of revenge.
Why I Wrote It
The inspiration came from witnessing real-life events: the collapse of major cryptocurrencies, working with Ukrainian gaming companies during wartime, and observing the desperate journeys of migrants crossing the Strait of Gibraltar. I wanted to explore how our digital dependencies make us vulnerable and how personal trauma can drive someone to seek revenge on a global scale.
As someone who's dyslexic and struggled with English throughout school, proving that compelling fiction was possible felt like its own kind of victory.
What Readers Are Saying
"A brilliant debut that feels unnervingly realistic"
"Page-turner that combines cyber-thriller with international espionage"
"Scarily plausible plot with authentic international settings"
The book draws on my business experience in tech and finance, extensive travel between Gibraltar, Spain, and Latin America, and a newfound appreciation for just how fragile our interconnected world really is.
About
After thirty-five years in advertising, working at agencies including J. Walter Thompson and Havas, Pedro is now Executive Chair of Bicycle London. Born in Spain to a Spanish mother and raised in South East London, he regularly travels between Gibraltar, Bilbao, and Estepona, locations that feature prominently in his debut thriller.
My inspiration for writing came from an unlikely source: boredom on a sun lounger in Torreguadiaro, combined with deep reflection on the hardships faced by those attempting to cross the Strait of Gibraltar. I witnessed a major European cryptocurrency collapse first-hand and worked with Ukrainian gaming companies. I drew on these experiences to craft the digital conspiracy at the heart of his novel.
A trustee of Demelza Hospice and member of the London Writers' Forum, Pedro is passionate about proving that dyslexics who struggled with English can write compelling fiction. I credit Paul Theroux with inspiring my love of reading during my late teens, while travelling on the train to Charing Cross, which eventually led to his own storytelling. Recently, I rode my own “Patagonia Express” to Argentina and Chile.
When not writing or running the agency, I enjoy travelling and photography. I attended London Business School at forty-five to reignite my creativity, proving it's never too late to learn something new - including, apparently, novel writing.
This is my first novel.
