AN intrepid York traveller has used his own experiences driving the length of Africa as the basis for his first thriller.

James Marr started out his life working for the family's ship business in Hull - J Marr which was essentially a deep-sea fishing company. But as the east coast fishing fleets declined, the firm found new uses for its trawlers - as survey ships.

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Eventually he decided to leave and began to earn a living as small-scale property developers: buying a house, doing it up, and selling it on before getting into writing.

Now the 61-year-old's debut thriller Kill at First Light has gone on sale.

James says it was conceived while driving through West Africa during a period of increasing jihadist activity. Tuareg connections in Mali warned him, his wife and two friends against driving certain routes in the east of the country and two weeks later, a group of European travellers had their vehicles ambushed by al Qaeda in the Maghreb.

James, who lives in Aldwark in York, said: “We shall be forever grateful for the warning we received from the Tuaregs we met. The shocking and brutal outcome to this incident started me thinking about the experience of being abducted in such terrifying circumstances. All control stripped from you. Your life in the balance.

“Drawing on my own travels and experiences and, helped by the advice of experts in different fields, provided the foundations for Kill at First Light which includes a brutal abduction in West Africa.”

The book is released today (May 30) and has already received positive reviews with Dexter Petley, author of several acclaimed novels, enthusing: “The drama in each scene is frighteningly real, each character so ambiguous you can never guess their next move or their motive.”

To date, James has covered more than 130,000 miles through Africa and the Americas by both motorcycle and 4x4 vehicle, has written three books about his adventures, and contributed articles to a number of motoring magazines.

Kill at First Light has been released on Amazon and the Kindle eBook version is available now.

Linda Besser, Reedsy reviewer says: “The situations and the characters stayed with me even when not reading the book, and I would analyse every detail to theorise what would happen next and why.”