FORMER television reporter Mike Rowbottom has published his first novel on Kindle.

Set in the Arabian Gulf, Shallow Lives. . . Shallow Seas — see the cover pictured below — is a tale of danger inspired by real events Herald columnist Mike encountered while living and working in the Middle East.

It’s the time of the Second Gulf War and bodies weighted down by concrete blocks are hauled from the sea. A call girl is found murdered and her friend goes on the run because she knows who did the dastardly deed.

And, as if that’s not enough to keep readers electronically ‘turning’ the pages, Mike, who used to be regular on our TV screens as a reporter and presenter with Central News, has built in a sub-plot of planted weapons in Iraq.

Mike, who lives with his wife near Wallingford, said: “The events are based on real incidents during my time living and working in Dubai.

“A poor call girl was found dead in our apartment block and while I didn’t know her, I’d seen her in the elevator and by the swimming pool. She was aloof and beautiful.”

He added: “Life can be very cheap in the Middle East and we also heard stories of young Filipinos being found in the shallows close to the shore.

“It was always denied by police, but then everything was denied by police.

“It might have happened and it might not have happened; it was enough to give me the germ of an idea.”

Shallow Lives. . . Shallow Seas is one of three novels penned by Mike, who is busy preparing the other two for publication on Kindle as well.

Mike, who writes as Michael J Rowbottom, said of Shallow Lives. . . Shallow Seas: “It’s a potent mixture which rattles along at a pace but still I hope has time to explore all of the characters.”

Mike started his writing career as a local newspaper reporter for the Aldershot News Series and Reading Evening Post before fulfilling his ambition to become a broadcaster by joining Radio 210 in the Thames Valley.

From there, he moved to Independent Radio News in London, at the time part of LBC, to serve the fledgling Independent radio network with stories from around the country and around the world.

Mike said: “It was an eye-opener coming from the provinces to be suddenly keeping my head down in Northern Ireland, or covering major events in Europe.

“But all of this gave me an outlook on the world which informs my writing now.”

He added: “We were based just off Fleet Street next to the Cheshire Cheese pub so we were immersed in the atmosphere. The media of newspapers, radio and TV reporters was a much smaller world in those days and everyone more or less knew everyone else.”

Mike joined the South of England ITV station, TVS as the Thames Valley Bureau chief before jetting out to the Gulf to work for the local Dubai TV station.

“That had a profound effect on me and my thinking,” said Mike “and it’s still with me now.”

Returning to Britain, Mike worked freelance with ITN before joining Central TV, becoming well known in the south of the station’s transmission area stretching from the Welsh border to the M25 and from Northampton to Swindon.

His novel Shallow Lives…Shallow Seas is published in two parts — see http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00K0Y0D1W?*Version*=1&*entries*=0