Harry Ross

Created by Bob Bergin

An old “Asia hand,” American ex-pat HARRY ROSS has been bouncing around Southeast Asia, starting back in the days of the Vietnam War, before settling down in Bangkok (mostly). Purporterdly a dealer in Asian antiquities, what he really is is a guy with “an itch for life on the adventurous side,” up for just about anything that pays, from tracking down old warplanes in the jungles of Burma to investigating corporate shenanigans and murder.

So, despite his occasional protests that he’s not a “private eye” the adventuresome Harry and his old pal Aloysius Grant (a “former lotus eater”) nonetheless find themselves making trouble their business — something the increasingly turbulent political landscape of Southeast Asia seems to have plenty of.

Not that that’s really something new. One novel, Spies in the Garden (2010), is subtitled “A Novel of War and Espionage” and follows Harry’s Uncle Harry, for whom he was named, and his adventures as a reporter in Burma and China during the early days of World War II. Things weren’t exactly peachy keen even back then…

The author is a former U.S. Foreign Service officer and is himself adealer in Southeast Asian antiques. He’s written on the history of aviation in Southeast Asia and China, and on intelligence and military operations in the World War II China-Burma-India Theater. Besides the Harry Ross books,he’s written two collections of short stories that look back on his days in Asia, Africa, and other exotic places.

NOVELS

• Stone Gods, Wooden Elephants (2001) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• When Tigers Fly (2005) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• Spies in the Garden (2010) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• When a Dog Barks in Bangkok at Night — It’s the CIA! (2017) | Kindle it!

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

• The Eyes of Southeast Asia

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.

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