Q&A: The Two Lost Mountains by Matthew Reilly

AN INCREDIBLE VICTORY BUT AT A TERRIBLE PRICE... Against all the odds, Jack West Jr found the Three Secret Cities but at a heartbreaking cost. His beloved daughter Lily, it appeared, was slaughtered by Sphinx in a cruel ancient ritual.

TO THE MOUNTAINS AND THE FALL! With his rivals far ahead of him, Jack must now get to one of the five iron mountains - two of which have never been found - and perform a mysterious feat known only as 'The Fall'. Although what is this object on the moon that is connected to it?

A NEW PLAYER ARRIVES... Amid all this, Jack will discover that a new player has entered the race, a general so feared by the four legendary kingdoms they had him locked away in their deepest dungeon. Only now this general has escaped and he has a horrifying plan of his own...

With the penultimate entry in the ‘Jack West Jr’ series thrilling readers, we sat down with author MATTHEW REILLY to find out more about the thrills of The Two Lost Mountains, and what we can expect from the series finale.     

 What’s changed for Jack and the gang since we last saw them in The Three Secret Cities?

Since this book starts almost immediately after The Three Secret Cities, I can honestly say, not much! They are distraught because it appears that Lily was sacrificed at the Rock of Gibraltar and Sphinx is now way ahead in the race to save/rule the world! But if the previous books are anything to go by, they’re a plucky group who will never say die. 

The Two Lost Mountains is the second-last book in the Jack West Jr series – have you faced any pressure in working up to a satisfying conclusion?

It’s all I think about. More than anything, I want readers to be satisfied with the whole series, especially its conclusion. One thing I have focused on is escalation. Since The Four Legendary Kingdoms, things have been escalating and escalating, building to the simply colossal finish that will be The One Something Something. And The Two Lost Mountains is a big part of this: it sees the stakes rise to almost unbearable levels. 

Jack’s latest adventure takes him to many locations around the globe, a feature of your novel’s fans have come to expect (and love). What research do you do to incorporate so many exotic locations?

Well, before the pandemic, I would travel to many of the places I included in the Jack West books. And I love doing that! I consider it one of the best perks of my job! That said, I read many non-fiction books about the locations and especially their histories, to make sure they really come alive for readers. I also assume that, these days, readers will Google certain places while they read my books, so I really make sure the facts about my locations are accurate.

In The Two Lost Mountains, there are major scenes in Moscow and at Mont Sant-Michel. Now, I visited Mont Sant-Michel and just loved it. It’s an astonishing place that everyone should visit if they are in France. I roamed it for hours with an audio guide in my ear. As for Moscow, I couldn’t get there, so I relied on my research (and my editor, Alex Lloyd, had travelled there recently, which helped!). That said, if you liked the secret underground railway in Moscow, get this: it’s real!!!!!

In The Two Lost Mountains, Jack, Sphinx and a new villain have to perform a mysterious ritual known only as ‘The Fall’ in a race against time. What is ‘The Fall’, and what inspired it?

The Fall is, quite simply, a test of nerve. One literally can’t rule the world unless they perform it. I firmly believe that, these days, audiences expect villains to be made of sterner stuff. Gone are the days of villains who just have money and lairs inside hollowed-out volcanos.

Given how tough things always are for Jack, I figured that for a villain like Sphinx (or the new nasty gentleman named Rastor) to be worthy, he had to risk his life for his goal. That’s what the Fall is about: it’s such a hair-raising challenge that it makes both hero and villain worthy.

When it comes to books with action-filled, globe-trotting adventures, which are your favourites?

I like to think that I’m kind of unique when it comes to globetrotting action! I mean, my stuff is, even to me, just wild. Wild and fast and bouncing around the world at a mile a minute! Which is what I love to read. I hold myself to a high standard of pace and fun and interesting places, so I’m actually a tough judge of others.

My favourites for that kind of thing include the old-school James Bond and Tom Clancy novels (if you’ve never read it, try Casino Royale, it’s awesome!) and the Indiana Jones movies (South America, Nepal, Egypt). Nelson DeMille is great for cool places in the US—I enjoyed Plum Island a lot. 

We have to ask; any hints on what we can expect in One Something Something (aka the final book in the Jack West Jr series)?

It’s the biggest and fastest of them all. The whole book is basically one great big furious climax, resolving everything from the six previous books! Nice characters will die horrible deaths and there will be stunning surprises. I know this because I’ve just finished the first draft and am revising it as we speak. So much that is in The Three Secret Cities and The Two Lost Mountains comes back in The One Something Something—in fact, I’m still revealing some twists that were laid down in The Six Sacred Stones back in 2007! 

Most of all, though, I am determined to reward those readers who have come along with me on this ride over seven books in fifteen years. I am pushing myself hard to make sure that, for them, the series ends with the mightiest bang possible. In short, it’s got everything. I’m leaving everything on the field with this one, to the point that I am physically exhausted!

The Two Lost Mountains by Matthew Reilly is published by Pan Macmillan, rrp $39.99