Wolverhampton author to launch book:
A former soldier born in Telford is set to release a book this month.
Phil Syron-Jones, who writes under the name Stuart Field, went into the army at 17 and served in Germany as part of 1st Regiment The Royal Horse Artillery after starting in 1988.
Mr Syron-Jones, who was born in Wellington but now lives in Germany, joined 3rd Regiment The Royal Horse Artillery in 1998 due to family links and served with them until 2010.
The 48-year-old, after serving for 22 years, took up a job as a security guard in Germany before writing the book – Steel and Shadows – which centres around a British detective who works with the NYPD to track down a serial killer.
Mr Syron-Jones goes back to the start of his personal story. He says: “My brother was in the regiment and he asked me to join.
“I was thinking to myself ‘this can’t be it’ so when my brother came home on leave, I thought I could do with some of that and I joined up when I was 17.
“When I left the army in 2010 I joined a security firm in Germany, the German Guard Service, for five years, guarding the bases and I was bored at work one day. This story popped into my head. I wrote it down and showed it someone and they said it was good and it built up from there.”
Mr Syron-Jones was picked up by Crime Scene Books to re-launch his work, which he had previously self-published in 2014. The author, who completed tours of duty in Bosnia, Kosovo and the Gulf, is currently writing book number seven and intends to release two of those books a year in the future.
Despite his time in the army, he said there were ‘absolutely no similarities’ between his life and the life of his main character, John Steel.
He said: “The story is a lot more fun than your usual crime thrillers. Usually they’re very dull and this is a bit more of a cross between James Bond, Castle, Jack Reacher and it’s a lot more fun.
“The Steel character has got a ‘squaddie’ dark sense of humour, as in he makes fun of a bad situation.
“John Steel is working with a female detective who doesn’t like him and he has involved himself in the case. With the character, you don’t quite know whether he’s a goodie or a baddie.”
A spokesperson from Crime Scene Books said: “Crime Scene Books are proud to announce the publication of Steel and Shadows, the first in the brilliant new, fast-paced John Steel thriller series, written by author Stuart Field and to be published on October 11.
Gripping
“This novel keeps the reader gripped from start to finish with a breathtaking joyride through a wild series of unexpected twists and turns, inevitably falling into the pitfalls of thinking you’ve solved the mystery, only to find yourself wrong-footed on the next page.”
Hidden Steel, the second book in the series and Steel Justice will be released in 2019. The launch of Steel and Shadows is on October 26, from 6.30pm, at Waterstones in Birmingham.
For tickets, go to waterstones.com/events/steel-and-shadows-launch/birmingham
