East Sussex writer pens fast-paced crime thriller with an ecological focus

Ben, aged 46, said: “The Constant Gardner meets Dexter, Green Shoots is a story of grief and revenge, a fast-paced crime thriller with an ecological focus.

“The novel reflects my passions about protecting nature, in particular the rainforest, which I was fortunate to visit several times when I lived in South America.

“I hope readers will find my novel a refreshing twist on the thriller genre – an eco-thriller. I wanted to write a novel that resonates with the current challenges that people face. Most importantly, the book contains optimism and solutions rather than just documenting the problems. The inner story of the book is the main character John’s journey through grief, drawing on my own experience.

“At the outset, grieving journalist John Adamson is brought back from the brink of suicide by a mysterious phone call.

“John then embarks on a quest to find the truth about his wife Christina's death in South America.

“The man on the phone gives John clues to what really happened, but also tips him off to investigate a spate of deaths of businessmen, all found with the same cryptic message: ‘Out of their ashes, green shoots will grow.’

“From the protest-filled streets of London to the ravaged jungles of Ecuador, John is unwittingly drawn into a lethal plot, but who is behind these murders and what is the connection to his wife's death?

“I am also releasing a soundtrack of songs on the themes of grief and healing. I am a singer-songwriter and have released two albums previously. I have written a collection of songs which reflect the themes of the book. The Green Shoots soundtrack is available on Spotify, iTunes and all major music distributors.

“I am working on a sequel. This is my first novel. I have written several travel guidebooks with both Rough Guides and Moon Handbooks on destinations including London, Ecuador and Peru. Prior to this, I was a journalist at The Daily Telegraph and I still occasionally freelance for newspapers.

“I have been writing as a journalist since I was a university student. I then moved into travel writing and over lockdown I decided I no longer had an excuse of being too busy to write a novel!

"I began my journalism career in London on student publications as well as freelancing for The Independent. After a spell abroad teaching English, I trained at City University Journalism School and joined Telegraph Media Group. I worked there for five years, working mainly on news and travel, both online and in print. I then spent two years working in public relations in the fields of tourism and education. For the past decade I have combined lecturing with freelance writing and have authored several travel guidebooks.”