John Le Carre (The Constant Gardener), and John Burdett (Bangkok 8). Also, of course, other great writers, including Patrick Süskind (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) and Apuleius (The Golden Ass).
Actually, everything in my novel Toxic Spirits, including the terrifying events, is based on stuff that happened to me and/or around me. The novel is set in Thailand, where I live, and most of the characters are blends of fascinating characters whom I've met. The fire on Maple Avenue -- a very similar one happened to our neighbor's house in Austin, Texas! The hill-tribe portrayed in the novel is based on my volunteer work teaching hill-tribe children, with the NGO I volunteered with being featured in the documentary film The Wrong Light (2016, from Run Riot Films). The exploitation of tribal communities for medical experiments is also based on something I saw elsewhere with my own eyes.
