Varuna by Phillip Vincent
Phillip Vincent is a writer living in Portland, Oregon. Deciding to take a break from his career managing assets from the wreckage of failed financial institutions, he has plumbed his experiences from his lifelong passion for diving, climbing and caving to write his debut adventure novel, Varuna.
A little bit about Author Phillip Vincent…
Before I started writing, which was about ten years ago, my career was in finance. More specifically, cleaning up the wreckage of failed financial institutions. Banks, Savings and Loans, and Investment company failures are often the result of mismanagement, theft, or fraud. My job was to clean up, restructure, collect, and liquidate the assets on behalf of governments or investors. Quite often this involved dealing with the perpetrators of the malfeasance. In doing so, I met a lot of unsavory characters and gained a lot of knowledge of the methods and mindsets of these criminals, which I put to use in my writing.
This is Author Phillip Vincent’s writing and publication journey in his own words…
Inspiration to start writing…
Many, many years ago, before starting my career in finance, I spent a few years as a commercial diver working in the offshore oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico. After retiring from commercial diving to return to college to pursue finance, I never lost my love of diving and the oceans. My career took me around the world, and I took advantage to dive some of the most pristine and remote locations on earth. It was one of those trips in Indonesia that sparked my idea to write Varuna. My genre is fiction because it allows me, after changing names and places, to write about my experiences without endangering myself. And to me, it is just more fun!
Phillip’s works…
My book is Varuna. It is available on paperback and audio book. You can find Varuna on Amazon and other major national book sellers. The audio book is available on Spotify, Audible, and other platforms as well. It is also on my book website: https://www.philvincentbooks.com. I am currently working on two books, one is a sequel to Varuna, the other is a memoir of sorts, written as a compendium of stories, events, and adventures from my life and career.
Varuna Blurb
Charter boat captain Malik Bashir’s family is forced to flee when he
is conscripted into the service of a notorious drug lord and ordered
to smuggle a large cache of heroin. He is determined his current
mission will be his last. A charted dive diving expedition on Malik’s
boat goes awry when a member of the dive team is seriously injured
under mysterious circumstances. Malik must choose between risking his
own life and abandoning his mission or following his orders. When
Malik and his team are forced to seek refuge on an isolated island,
they discover something more terrifying than a drug lord is hunting
them.
One of Phillip’s favourite scenes from Varuna…
This is one of my favorite scenes. It is at the beginning of the book and sets the stage for the action to come:
The steel door swung open and sunlight spilled onto the concrete floor. A guard reached out and gruffly ushered Malik Bashir inside, then pointed to the far end of the cavernous warehouse where a single light hung from the high ceiling. Malik started across the floor toward the light when the clang of the heavy door slamming shut behind him stopped him in his tracks.
Malik had bolstered his confidence rehearsing what he would say while on his way to dank warehouse in the Maura Angke slum on the northern outskirts of Jakarta, but now his courage faltered. Needing more time, he lit a cigarette and paused to let his eyes adjust to the dim light. He took a drag, noticed his hand tremble, then dropped and crushed it out with the toe of his boat shoe. He set his jaw and started toward a group of men under the light at the far end.
The warehouse smelled of dust and moldy cardboard and was stacked high with boxes and crates. The rubber soles of Malik’s shoes squeaked with each step, the sound reverberating down the wide corridor, making him all the more nervous. Approaching the far end, he recognized Anand Priya, the man who summoned him. To his left stood another man with shoulders as broad as he was tall, a long braided beard, and a fierce scowl. There was no mistaking Eko, Anand’s ever-present bodyguard and enforcer. A chill ran up Malik’s spine. Courage.
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