THE arch villain in a charming adventure story by a Shaldon author has been inspired by Saddam Hussein.
Tony Brown, a former imports manager with a refrigeration company, met the late dictator in the 1970s just two years before he seized power. Mr Brown was touting for business with Iraqi state bodies when Hussein entered the room.
'He just breezed in and I think he was there because he had put friends in positions of power so he could get kickbacks. 'I had some Turkish coffee with him. He was perfectly friendly, but afterwards an aide said to me, do not get tangled up with him.'
The encounter has inspired the smarmy developer, Reginald the Fox, in Mr Brown's new book Water's Edge. Reginald is a love-to-hate character typical of adventure stories, and, needless to say, much cuddlier than the Iraqi dictator. Mr Brown said: 'To some extent Reginald the Fox is based on Hussein.
'He is the one with the power and in this instance finds his way in that position one way or another.' Mr Brown also swam with shoeaholic Imelda Marcos during his work, which took him all round the far and Middle East – though that encounter does not feature in the book.
Water's Edge tells of the plight of riverside creatures whose homes are threatened by the development of luxury bungalows. The naïve animals do their best to beat off the wily developers, but it is the greed and stupidity of the incomers that ultimately jeopardise their scheme.
Comparisons to Wind in the Willows are inevitable, and in fact, the book was started when Mr Brown lived in Berkshire, not far from where Kenneth Graeme wrote his children's masterpiece. The subject matter of Water's Edge means that adults and children will enjoy it on different levels.
'My intention was for adults to read it to children, and for the adults to have a wry smile at some of it, which would go over the children's heads.' A fan of linear narrative, good characters and plots, the story is a well-written piece of escapism that many readers crave. It is funny and realistic in its observations.
'It is a metaphor for life in that we all stumble through it. 'I also like the idea that evil in this case is not truly evil, because it is too ham-fisted for that. It is not omnipotent but flawed,' he said.
Water's Edge is the sixth novel by Mr Brown, which is available from his own publishing imprint, Cadenza Press. He has written in a number of genres, including thrillers and sci-fi. 'I like writing a variety of books with the idea that even if a reader doesn't normally like one genre, they will try it because they like the author.
'It takes readers out of their comfort zones and that is a good thing,' he said. Thriller Dangerous Friends references Torquay and the sequel, The Guardian, is centred on the Shaldon regatta, the Ness and Teignmouth.
It is released in May.