Bio

'Writing thrillers is right up my street,' says C J Carver. 'Not just because of my love of adventure but also because I've been scared witless a few times and know exactly how it feels. I've been lost in the desert, survived sand-storms and cyclones, driven through storm-swollen rivers, and each time I think I might not make it, but I do. I'm still here. Amazing!'

She blames her love of adventure - which has taken her, among other things, on three long-distance car rallies - on her parents. Her mother set the land-speed record in Australia in the 1950's, and her New Zealand father was a jet-fighter pilot who fought in Korea. With such a background, it is perhaps no surprise that she has made her fictional heroine, Jay McCaulay, equally adventurous.

'Jay came from a composite of people I met during my research. I was lucky enough to have some fantastic contacts, from naval admirals to marine corporals, which gave me a real insight into life in the military. It's an incredibly tough world for women, challenging and demanding, but if you're the right person the rewards are incredibly fulfilling. I have to admit there's a part of me that wondered if I had my life again whether I wouldn't join up!'

In Gone Without Trace, CJ takes on the harrowing theme of human trafficking, where young Eastern European girls are promised waitressing work in England and end up as sex slaves. 'I write about what interests me or what frightens me, and the Albanian Mafia scare the heck out of me. They're known for their use of extreme violence, and now they've hooked up with other criminal groups like the Bulgarians and Italians, their tentacles stretch right across Europe and into the UK. I get the most out of writing about issues that concern me, and the rapid growth of organised crime and modern-day slavery on my doorstep concerns me big time.'

When she was twenty-two, Carver went to Australia for a holiday and ended up staying away for ten years. She back-packed her way round the continent and went on to Southeast Asia, doing a variety of jobs along the way. The chance to enter the 1992 London-to-Saigon Motoring Challenge brought her back to the UK, where she put together a female team and entered the race. Afterwards, Autocar magazine asked her to write an article about the rally - which resulted in the beginning of her career as a travel writer.

CJ's writing has always revealed the issues she is passionate about, from illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean to the effects of global warming in Alaska, and Gone Without Trace deals with all the emotional cruelty that human beings inflict on each other. 'Human trafficking is an increasing problem throughout the world. It's going to take a lot of international co-operation and hard work to fight it successfully, but if the punters at home could think twice about the women in the brothel they're using, and perhaps alert the local cops if they think they've been trafficked, it would be a start.'

'Kay Chernush for the U.S. State Department.

Street kids, runaways or children in poverty are vulnerable to traffickers who force them into begging rings. They are also defenceless against sexual abuse. This Roma (gypsy) girl from Bosnia is particularly vulnerable to human trafficking due to poverty, discrimination and social customs.