Murder, corruption and the murky criminal underworld of Las Vegas form the backdrop of the latest book written by an island-based best-selling novelist.

The internationally-recognised thriller and crime writer Douglas Stewart released his latest novel, ’Deadline Vegas’, last week.

The book is set between London and Las Vegas, and tells of the attempts of Dex to find out the truth of his sister’s death after she said she was cheated out of her winnings playing roulette.

His investigations take him to the glitzy Space City resort, where a London-based casino is trying to get established, and he soon finds himself embroiled in a world of gambling, corruption, violent criminals and dirty money.

Initial reviews of ’Deadline Vegas’ have praised the book, saying that it is ’thrilling and tense’, ’creaking with suspense’ and the plot ’keeps you gripped from the beginning to the very end’.

The story has been inspired by Stewart’s own experience of working as a lawyer in Las Vegas during the turn of the century.

’I looked after the interests of some casinos in America,’ said Douglas.

’During that time I started to think about what would happen if a casino is crooked and needed bailing out by becoming thoroughly dishonest.

’That stemmed this story about a British casino expanding into Las Vegas and running into trouble. That’s the basis of the story.’

Douglas has turned to his experiences working in the gambling industry before, with his novels ’Dead Fix’ and ’Late Bet’, both of which are based around the world of corrupt sports betting.

’Late Bet’ was originally re-written as a Hollywood movie project, which failed to materialise. However, Douglas kept the idea on the back-burner which eventually became his latest book.

’Deadline Vegas’ is Douglas’ 14th book, released over a 38-year career as a writer which has won him many fans across the world, a member of the UK’s Crime Writers Association and a place as a guest author in many international literary festivals, including the New York International Thriller Writers festival.

’I have lived a double life in the past as a professional author,’ said Douglas.

’I’m not prolific, but I like to spend a lot of time on my books. My other works cover subjects like wine fraud, modern-day piracy and so on, and I also have two books that feature a London police man, Detective Inspector Todd "Ratso" Holtom, who is involved with investigating international crime.

’As a lawyer I have done a lot of work in many fields, including gambling and sports over the years.

’One of the few advantages of getting older is that you pick up a lot of different experiences over the years and professionally I have met many contacts who help to give you information that I can turn into a story.’

Since moving to the island in 2010, Douglas has also worked for companies connected with the island’s online gambling industry, although he said he has no plans as yet to base a novel over here.

by Mike Wade

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