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Could it be? Maybe.

Greensboro thriller writer John Hart will leave Monday for London, get ready to go on English television and spend four days with a bunch of publishing big-wigs -- many of them "talking royal'' as Hart's daughters like to say. All to see if he'll get one of England's biggest literary awards.

It's the Dagger Award from the Crime Writers Association. Or really, it's the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award. And yes, the award is named after the well-known writer of James Bond. Fleming judged all thrillers by one rule:  "If a reader turns the page, it's a thriller.''

Hart got nominated for his latest book, "The Last Child,'' which came out in May. It's about Johnny Merrimon, a modern-day Huck Finn from small-town North Carolina who's trying to find his sister who has mysteriously disappeared.

Hart wrote "The Last Child'' on his laptop at his third-floor office that overlooks South Elm. He spent 15 months, there, writing anywhere from 600 to 1,000 words a day as he dove into the world of a soda-loving teenage boy trying to survive in the tragic South.

It's a sweet read.

If he wins, Hart will pocket $3,000. At least that's what we at Page Turners remember. He's up against some stiff competition, writers like Michael Connolly ("The Brass Verdict"), GIllian Flynn ("Dark Places")  and Daniel Silva ("Moscow Rules").

But does he have a chance? Who knows? Still, Hart is going to London. And it's a sort of homecoming for him.

Two decades ago, in his early 20s,. Hart worked a series of dead-end jobs in London. He tended bar and  worked behind a scent counter -- as in perfume, for all you inquiring readers. He also became an actor, talking to magazine writers and pretending to be Giorgio of Giorgio of Beverly Hills fame for a public relations firm.

And yes, as Giorgio, he had a tan. With his sports jacket, teal T-shirt and boat shoes. Very Don Johnson.

But every time he got on the London subway to go somewhere, he'd always see these posters of books. And every time, he kept telling himself, "That would be a great way to make a living.''

And now, he is. When Hart turned 40, he quit his stockbroker's job in Greensboro and started to write full-time.

Since 2006, his first book, "King of Lies'' has been translated into 26 languages and published in more than 30 countries. His second book, "Down River'' has, too. Last year, “Down River’’ won the Oscar of mystery writers: The Edgar, named for writer Edgar Allan Poe.

Today, Hart pockets seven-figure advances from his publisher. He also keeps on his office desk off South Elm the award for The Edgar, a bust of Poe. But will he get to put a dagger there, too?

We'll find out next week.