International crime, online gambling and political intrigue are all available in a new thriller written by a former church minister in Bermuda.

Stewart Jackson Lamont, writing under the name 'Jackson Lamont' has just released his second work of fiction, 'Bermuda Gamble'.

Rev. Lamont was a locum minister at Christ Church in Warwick last year and is now working in Paris, France, where he enjoys writing and walking in his spare time.

In 'Bermuda Gamble' the sequel to 'Hollow Rock', the Premier of Bermuda has just unknowingly hired an international crime syndicate to set up a gambling industry in Bermuda.

Commander Neal Anderson, who works for intelligence in the Royal Navy, and journalist (Ms) Hal Krasnapolsky are sent to Bermuda to quietly investigate.

"The book is not religious at all," Rev. Lamont said. "It is meant to be a thriller. However, there is a sub theme, 'how do you deal with evil people'. Do you fight them and kill them, and somehow have to accept that you are like that?"

Rev. Lamont has previously written ten books of nonfiction, including: 'Is Anybody There?' a study of the paranormal, 'Church & State: Uneasy Alliances' and 'Religion Inc.' an expose on scientology, among other books.

"'Bermuda Gamble' is utterly fictitious," he said. "But my personal opinion is that if you don't have legalised gambling, it's best to keep it that way. I am very unsympathetic to gambling. It could have a way of taking over the community. Bermuda has done pretty well up to now, without having to resort that way of making money."

He started writing the series during a previous posting in Gibraltar, where he was a military chaplain. He wrote the Bermuda book while working in Lisbon, Portugal.

"When I was in Gibraltar, I could see how a lot of the work that some of the military people were doing would make for interesting thriller plots," he said. "I thought Gibraltar was an ideal location."

When he moved to Bermuda in late 2008, he decided to include Bermuda in his second book, because like Gibraltar, it also had a smallish community with a lot of international traffic.

"I think Bermuda is more sunny than Gibraltar," he said, "in terms of personality. Gibraltar has always had a problem about its identity. Is it Spanish, British or Gibraltarian which is not really a nationality at all. Some of these tensions come out in the story. Bermuda is a much happier place, but there are tensions in Bermuda also."

Rev. Lamont was born in Broughty Ferry, Angus, Scotland which is near Dundee on the East Coast. He attended St. Andrews University and then went to work in Edinburgh, Scotland for the BBC, after completing training to be a minister.

He worked in the religious department there for eight years, and then did freelance for radio and television.

"I wanted to be involved in both, the ministry and broadcasting," he said. "I had an element in my character and background that was interested in speech and drama and acting.

"Another part of myself felt a call to be a minister and to use my talents in that way. The two came together in religious broadcasting which I enjoyed very much. I was in radio and then went into television."

His broadcasting career included broadcasting on BBC and World Service radio; producing and presenting current affairs programmes on radio, a series on the paranormal and religious programmes on television, as well as producing several television series for BBC in general programming.

He eventually retired from this and became more of a traditional minister.

He is now semi-retired, and is currently the locum minister at Scots Kirk in Paris, during a vacancy there.

The novel is available at the Bermuda Bookstore, or by contacting Mr. Lamont at lamontsj@gmail.com.