Tom Crowley
Veteran / Author / Speaker
Featured Interview
Serious Reading - Interview with Tom Crowley, Author of Bangkok Gamble, the third of the Matt Chance adventure series.
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Your most recent book is titled Bangkok Gamble. What is the nature of the book?
Bangkok Gamble is the third in my series of Matt Chance action/adventure books. I had a detour in my writing after the second in the series, Murder in the Slaughterhouse, to write a military memoir and military history writing. Writing history is taxing work. Fiction is much more fun so I'm glad to be back to the basic action/adventure genre. Can you tell me why you took the title topic for the book? I lived in Bangkok for 22 years. One of the things I noted is how pervasive gambling is in Thai society. It exists on every block and every income level. Kidnapping to force gamblers to pay debts, which is a continueing front page topic, is a great backdrop for the added elements of the booming sex slavery trade in Asia. I also introduce the use of the dark web and cyber crime as part of the story. Does the new book provide expanded character development ? I always try to add new characters tied to my heros past life. In Bangkok Gamble I take his military background and relationship with a former special forces soldier as a start and introduce a 'kickass woman' who is also a former soldier. The two strong characters, bouncing off of each other add a lot to the depth of the book. Who is your favorite author? I have many favorites but the one I try to model myself on is Elmore Leonard. Keep things simple and hard hitting. |
I blame it on my librarian when I was a kid. She was a pusher and I got hooked. I didn't know reading led to writing. Honestly. I'm innocent.” |
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"The books I write have their roots in Asia as this has been where I have lived and worked most of my life since being assigned to serve as a rifle platoon leader in Vietnam over fifty years ago. I was wounded in combat during my tour and spent some weeks in an army hospital in Japan recovering from my wounds. It was that early exposure to Japan, a country I have always found fascinating, beautiful and enjoyable, that made me determined to complete my education and return to Asia to live and work. After spending nearly thirty years working in a number of Asian countries, I have spent the last fifteen years in a retirement position working for a charity in Bangkok that assists street kids."
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Recognition
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Featured in World War II Quarterly / 2017
Merrill's Marauders in the China-Burma-India Theatre (1944) has been included in the fall issue of World War II Quarterly, which will be released in late October Bronze Medal Award / 2015
Received the Bronze Medal award for "Murder in the Slaughterhouse" from the Military Writers Society of America Goodreads / 2014-2015
Murder in the Slaughterhouse receives 4.3/5 stars on Goodreads.com |
