Ghost Order, the third in the Frank Bowen series was released today on eBook format across the main retailers and Paperback version is available on Amazon. We will be working to get the paperback version for the wider book market along with the audiobook out later this year.
Here are the details:
Frank Bowen attempts to piece together a fractured life at home but finds himself pulled back into the dark state once again.
Only, this time, he’s playing both sides.
Hired by John Rhodes, founding father of the Liberatus movement, his mission is to escort a valuable asset to South America. Then the spectre of Carl Paterson emerges and Frank finds he has to work once again with his old agency, Ghost 13.
Later, in the depths of the Colombian Darien Gap jungle – swarming with narcos, paramilitary groups and bandits – Frank finds death and evil wait around every corner in the most inhospitable place on earth.
This is the third fast-paced thriller in the Frank Bowen series by Jay Tinsiano.
eBook available at all major stores
I didn’t travel to Colombia in early 2017 to write Ghost Order. The story didn’t yet exist in my mind but the way it came about dovetailed nicely with my own journey at that time.
In December 2016 I had given away or sold most of my possessions, given notice on my day job and with a vague plan to be a travelling nomadic writer for as long as possible headed to the embarkation point of the Nomad Cruise in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.
My writing cabin for two weeks on Nomad Cruise (Las Palmas to Santa Domingo)
This would be a two-week kick-off party to a plan that was vaguely centred around finding a sun-kissed utopia to write books and possibly freelance on the side. The cruise itself was organised for Digital Nomads, a creative mix of mostly younger smart Europeans who made it their business to travel the world and work online. That cruise opened my eyes to the possibilities of the new nomadic lifestyle – one of moving from country to country, enjoying the fruits of each one whilst edging away from any Winter nastiness.
The cruise was also where I met Derek Murphy, an authorpreneur who would play an important role in Ghost Order coming to life – more later.
The cruise arrived in the Dominican Republic just before Christmas and I have to admit not having a great time there. An accident at a lagoon cut open my foot and I had my precious iPhone stolen days later. I was glad to leave.
My trip, followed in Frank’s footsteps, as yet unwritten. To the Caribbean by boat, with stops at Antigua, Barbados, St Martens and St.Lucia.
I arrived in Cartagena, Colombia with a determination to get back on track, with my mindset and my work and after a month arrived in Medellin, the city of eternal spring.
View from La Catedral
The subsequent trips I took while there, including a trek to the self-built prison of Narco Pablo Escobar, La Catedal would provide more inspiration. Those who have watched the Netflix series, Narcos will be familiar with the background to that place. It became the setting of the showdown finale in Ghost Order, naturally.
When it came to writing, White Horse (the first book in the Dark Paradigm series) was with the editor and I was deep in first draft stage with Red Horse (mostly set in Iran). So I was in a different world when it came to my fiction as opposed to my location. The dream is to be writing on location wherever my book is set – one day. But staying in Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast and then Medellin certainly simmered the imagination and the seed for Ghost Order was planted.
After my return (the digital nomad thing didn’t work out) in October/November 2017, I began piecing together the plot and then saw Derek Murphy had a spot going at his castle writing retreat in Rappottenstein, Austria. Yes, a retreat for writers during NanoWrimo (National Novel writing month). Too good to miss and what a place to get stuck into Ghost Order.
So a group of writers spent almost two weeks in this amazing location: writing, eating drinking, walking in the surrounding forest, the occasional road trip to other castles and a bord run to Czech, then more writing…lots of writing. By the end, I had a very rough first draft and the past year has been honing and reworking the story. It has been great to be working on a Frank Bowen story again after that four-year break.
There is, of course, a wider team behind the story. I also have to thank the beta readers, Diane and Dorene, who have been with me for several years now. James Newton who has spent a lot of his time copy-editing. Collaborative partner Jay Newton who mechanically dismantles the weaknesses and finds the missing parts. Thanks also to Nicky Lovick for the final edit.
So that is the story behind the story. And what next for Frank Bowen? There is certainly a long gap between this latest episode in 2000 until the Dark Paradigm series, where Frank’s offspring come into their own in the epic struggle against dark forces. Let’s see where the inspiration and ideas manifest next and perhaps I will throw darts at a globe to find out where Frank’s next destination lies, as well as mine.
Jay Tinsiano
Bristol, United Kingdom.
