Former Bolton News political editor David Chadwick has published his second novel – a crime thriller set in New York in the 1970s.

David, from Smithills, based Tin Soldiers on real events at Kent State University, Ohio where part-time soldiers of the National Guard shot dead four students during an anti-Vietnam War protest in 1970.

His latest story is the first of a crime trilogy and involves a high-level cover-up after the murder of three anti-war protesters and three research scientists at a fictional university that closely resembles Kent State.

David’s debut novel, Liberty Bazaar, was set in Liverpool during the American Civil War. It was published to critical acclaim in 2015, resulting in the acquisition of a TV rights option.

David, 65, who was born and bred in Bolton, said: ‘Being a traditionally published author gave me the confidence to take the self-publishing route and invest in my own work. I don’t expect to make much money from this venture but I do hope to build a strong readership. After that, who knows what might happen?’

David worked on the Bolton News from 1989 to 1996 and used his experiences as a journalist to create his lead character, a crime reporter who returns to New York after serving in Vietnam.

He took up novel-writing on psychiatric advice more than thirty years ago as part of a successful strategy to beat alcohol addiction.

‘Boozing every day takes up a lot of time and energy – everything you do is geared to getting that next drink,’ David explained. ‘If you remove all this activity from your life, it leaves a big hole and unless you fill it with a fresh hobby or interest you’re more likely to fall off the wagon.

‘As a therapy it’s still working. It also got me through two brushes with cancer twenty years apart. It’s a welcome distraction from your worries, a reason to get out of bed, an escape and a fulfilling experience. There’s nothing I’d rather be doing.’

David writes fiction full-time after retiring from journalism two years ago. After leaving the Bolton News he started his own freelance agency, working from his Smithills home.

Tin Soldiers is published by Matador and available from Amazon as an e-book pr paperback.