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About the Author
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Born in Glasgow, Scotland but brought up in southern England, Douglas is a member of the Crime Writers Association and International Thriller Writers, Inc. Before retiring early to devote more time to writing, he had worked as a British solicitor ending up as senior partner of his own law firm, Stewarts, which still flourishes in London’s Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Alongside this career in law, Douglas had his first novel published twenty-five years ago and has been writing ever since. In addition to writing under his own name, Douglas Stewart, he has also written under the pen names of Cameron Ross & Brett Morton. In 2001, Douglas moved to the USA where he developed both his legal and writing interests. His sixth acclaimed novel Undercurrent was about maritime crime and was set in the International Maritime Bureau, a non-Government agency fighting today’s piracy, brutal murders and fraud on the high seas. During research for Undercurrent, Douglas was captivated by the audacity of organised crime and the failure of Governments to tackle a billion dollar industry. Now, post 9-11, a new and terrifying dimension has been added – the use of the sea by terrorists to attack America and other western nations with a marine version of that outrage. The Brutal Seas investigates the shocking truth of all the dangers whether on the seas or in American ports. Long friendships developed between the author and the founder of the Bureau, Eric Ellen and his successor Captain Mukundan. Firstly, Eric Ellen invited Douglas to chair a gathering of international experts on maritime crime and Douglas then became a contributor to the resulting book Shipping at Risk. Since his retirement, Eric agreed to speak freely to Douglas to assist in the creation of The Brutal Seas. This was first published in Germany under the title Piraten. Given the inside story on so many spectacular crimes, it is not surprising that Eric has called this book “the benchmark on crime at sea”. Douglas’ next book, a novel called Late Bet about international casino crime is scheduled for publication later in 2007.
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