The 14th Colony features a showdown on P.E.I.

A former KGB agent begins his plot of revenge on the U.S. right here in Prince Edward Island National Park in the latest bestselling political thriller by Steve Berry.

The 14th Colony, which debuted at number five on the New York Times bestseller list in April, also features a character named after Charlottetown veterinarian Jamie Kelly.

"Jamie wanted to be a character in the book and he wanted to be a really bad guy, so I said OK," Berry told CBC Radio's Island Morning.

Island intrigue

Berry met Kelly and his wife on a fan cruise, and was intrigued by their descriptions of P.E.I. He visited the Island last summer to do research for his book, which he already knew would have a Canadian element.

The national park stretched 40 kilometers along the north shore. Not a light burned in sight.

"The national park there on the northern part of the Island, it worked perfectly," said Berry.

"The whole scene just fit right in."

P.E.I.'s part in the book begins in the national park, with ex-KGB agent Aleksandr Zorin making a dangerous parachute drop on to the North Shore, before crossing the Islandto Stratford.

There he meets with Jamie Kelly, a semi-retired sleeper agent whose work for the Soviet Union dates back to the Cold War.

A sleeper agent could really be here

Kelly's character is based on real KGB sleeper agents who established themselves in North America, and are still living here.

Jamie Kelly lived in Stratford, an adjacent town just past the Hillsborough River.

"They're out there. There are retired agents out there still," said Berry.

"But mine is still kind of active. My antagonist finds him and they head off to D.C. to do some really bad stuff."

Berry said he likes to incorporate the names of people he knows in his books, but stressed the characters do not in any way resemble the people they are named for.

Still, Kelly said if The 14th Colony is made into a movie he would like Daniel Craig to play the character who shares his name.

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