R.E. McDermott Books In Order

Publication Order of Disruption Books

Publication Order of Tom Dugan Books

R.E. McDermott is a sometime expatriate, former entrepreneur, an ex-merchant seaman, and always an inveterate storyteller. RE had always loved writing but he found himself involved in international work and travel which left very little time to engage in his passion. Nonetheless, he has said that in the course of his work and travels he has had the fortune of making new friends, acquaintances, and all manner of people that he reworks and fleshes out to make the characters in his popular novels. Often compared to Tom Clancy, he is known for writing gritty, meticulously researched stories with unmatched realism. He usually tries to make his lead characters into fallible humans. They are not your ordinary superheroes who can do anything and everything but rather everyday people. The protagonists make mistakes but rise to the occasion and deal with the many obstacles that they may face in sometimes very extraordinary circumstances. RE currently lives with his wife who also doubles up as his proofreader in Nashville, Tennessee. They usually split their time between a rural retreat in the Tennessee backcountry and a condominium they bought on Old Hickory Lake with no internet, email, or phone. This is just how he likes it as it makes it possible for him to concentrate on writing.

McDermott was born on the Texas Gulf Coast and for much of his early years he was worked in several of the businesses that his father ran. One of these businesses was a beachfront fishing pier and motel and it was this that gave him an affinity for everything marine. When he finished his schooling, he was lucky enough to be seconded to the US Merchant Marine Academy. When he graduated from college, he spent several years working on merchant ships across the world before he left that gig and went to work on ship management onshore. It was a winding path for the aspiring author as he spent a year working in a nuclear sub program in the navy, then several years working for major oil companies as ship superintendent. In later years, he branched out on his own to run a marine consulting/surveying business. It was during this time that he met and married his patient and a wonderful wife that has been with him for nearly four decades. His work in the marine business meant that he spent a lot of time in different countries and traveled to different continents managing a variety of management and shipbuilding projects in China, the United States, Singapore, and Japan. On his travels, he met a lot of people and his experiences gave him ideas that he thought would make for some great stories. In 2007, he decided to scale down on his marine consulting business and try his hand at fiction writing.

RE McDermott has always been a voracious reader but his tastes were so varied a. Growing up, he would read anything from the classics to pulp fiction every though historical fiction has always been his favorite genre. While he believes he was influenced by all the books and genres he read over the years, Richard McKenna’s “The Sand Pebbles” stood out, particularly when he began to think of what he was trying to achieve. When he began writing in 2007, he did not set out to become a self-published author as he believed it was for losers. When he finished writing the manuscript for ”Deadly Straits” in 2010 he began pitching and looking for an agent only to be discouraged and frustrated. It was at this time that looking to learn more about the publishing business he started reading the blogs of authors such as Dean Wesley Smith and Joe Konrath among many others. He soon determined that traditional publishing was significantly inefficient and flawed. The fact that getting a book to the bookstore took eighteen months while the engineering, design, construction, and testing of a ship took less seemed absurd. Following his epiphany, he knew that a traditional agent and publishing deal was not for him. After educating himself on all aspects of self-publishing he got a cover artist, proofreader, and editor, and his debut novel “Deadly Straits” was published in 2011. He has never looked back since and believes it was the best decision he ever made in his writing career.

“Deadly Coast” by R.E. McDermott is a masterfully written novel written in the tradition of the likes of Brad Thor, WEB Griffin, Clive Cussler, and Tom Clancy. When Tom Dugan a part-time spook and marine engineer is designated collateral damage in the “War on Terror,” he refuses to take it lying down. He has been falsely accused of being involved in a hijacking and the CIA wants him to help capture Alex Kairouz, a London ship owner who is his best friend. He reluctantly agrees to become an undercover agent and work for his friend’s company but he is not convinced that Alex is guilty. But once he is deep undercover, his reluctance to accept the guilt of his friend puts him at loggerheads with the men who recruited him and his romantic partner that happens to be a British agent. Things get very interesting when a tanker is found with a dead crew off the coast of Singapore while another explodes in Panama. Meanwhile, Alex is taken to the hospital after surviving a very bizarre suicide attempt. The CIA or someone at odds with him has framed Dugan for the attacks. He is convinced that the attacks are a precursor to an even bigger assault but he is out of options. Tom evades capture and follows the last lead he has to Russia to what is seemingly a suicide mission as he is up against a Spetsnaz unit.

RE McDermott’s novel “Deadly Coast” is an action-packed sequel that sees Tom Dugan and his best friend and partner Alex Kairouz try to ransom their crew and ship from a bunch of Somali pirates. Things only get worse when a contracted tanker for the US Navy is taken while full of jet fuel. These are not your garden variety pirates but sophisticated militant with links to Al Qaeda and this changes the whole complexion of the mission. There could now be a link between terrorism and piracy and the British and US governments ask their teams to put on hold all negotiations for ships and crew that were taken captive. This sends the pirates into a rage and they start mistreating the crews. Dugan is frustrated when one of his crewmen is killed on a live feed and decides enough is enough. He launches his private rescue operation but then stumbles onto something even more bizarre. They find what had been thought to be lost forever. It is a weapon of mass destruction that could take out the entire plane and the mercenaries.

“Deadly Crossing” by RE McDermott is the story of the middle-aged Tom Dugan who tends to get into some very tricky situations. He was just riding in a taxi with his lover when he gets a call from two ex Spetsnaz agents that he has not seen or heard from for more than a decade. Lieutenant Ilya and Sergeant Borgandov are calling asking for help since they had been the best of friends since the time Tom worked for the CIA. They have learned that Ilya’s niece had been kidnaped by the Bratstvo, a Russian mafia organization known for underground girl trafficking and drugs. They are convinced that she was being held in London and they need Tom and Alex who are former agents of the CIA to help find the child. Every time they get closer to finding the child, the gangsters manage to get away and take more of their families to further their goals. Soon enough, it is a quest of not only finding the missing child but bringing down the criminal enterprise. To do this they may have to risk their lives.

One Response to “R.E. McDermott”

1. Christopher George: 2 years ago

   I’ll say this you wrote Tom Dugen Omnibus so well I was dreaming about it all night. You are a great writer. Keep it up.

   Reply