Featured Author: Douglas Buckland
Douglas Buckland’s life reads like the prologue to an adventure novel, because, in many ways, it is.
Growing up in Colorado, he first trained as a petroleum engineer before spending decades working on offshore drilling rigs in Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico, and the North Sea. His career took him across every continent except Antarctica, switching between engineering, environmental policy, and high-level drilling consultancy before he finally retired to Malaysia in 2015.
But retirement didn’t mean slowing down.
When Covid arrived, so did a new chapter: writing.
Encouraged by the success of his first novel — a runner-up in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards — Douglas threw himself fully into storytelling. Today, he has published eight novels spanning adventure, suspense, and humour, with no plans to stop anytime soon.
📖 Smoke on the Water
Genre: Adventure, Suspense & Romantic Humour
In Smoke on the Water, investigative journalist Taeng Skeete uncovers a high-stakes Chinese plot to overthrow the government of Barbados. When her boat explodes at sea and she is presumed dead, she survives, washing up on the private island of Cody Morgan, a brilliant and reclusive engineer with a complicated past.
Cody has no interest in global politics… until Taeng walks into his life.
What follows is a fast-paced mix of political intrigue, boat chases, covert missions, and sharp-edged flirting, as the two are drawn closer together while racing toward a dangerous final showdown with Taeng’s enemies.
Douglas balances suspense with wit, danger with desire, and action with heart, proving that saving a country doesn’t have to come at the cost of chemistry.
✍ A Glimpse from the Pages
“The mixed-race woman had been standing on the swim platform at the stern of the boat watching the phosphorescence in their wake when the explosion had ripped through the hull… She grabbed onto the cooler to use as a flotation device and watched the various bits and pieces of the Caribbean Queen that remained afloat eventually burn out and all that was left was a drifting layer of smoke lying on the water.”
A gripping opening that pulls the reader straight into danger and never fully lets go.
📎 Where to Find Douglas Buckland
Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1917411472
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DouglasBucklandAuthor
Contact: douglasbuckland@yahoo.com
At its core, Douglas Buckland’s work carries the energy of lived experience — a life spent navigating complex systems, harsh environments, and impossible logistics — now translated into stories that move, entertain, and thrill.
And perhaps the best part?
His writing journey didn’t begin early in life.
It began when the world stopped.
Sometimes, that’s exactly when new worlds are born.
