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In Rough Diamond – Rough Justice, Avien Gray introduces readers to Cain, a former MI5 operative whose life shifts from covert service into a perilous world of international crime, moral ambiguity and survival at any cost. Spanning multiple countries and cultures, the novel weaves espionage with the criminal underworld, shaped by loss, loyalty and hard-earned experience.
In this interview, Avien discusses the real-life influences behind Cain’s character, drawing on personal travel, encounters, and lived experience to explore the novel’s ethical tensions and emotional depth. He reflects on the themes of betrayal, inevitability and protection, and considers what he hopes readers will carry with them long after the final page.
Mary Anne: Rough Diamond – Rough Justice follows Cain from MI5 agent to globe-trotting adventurer and reluctant killer. What first inspired you to create a character with such a conflicted moral compass?
Avien: Like Cain, I was born in the UK. I have a driver’s license, motorbike license, and pilot’s license. I have also had handgun – no longer allowed in the UK – and shotgun licenses. My physical disciplines extend to martial arts, where I earned a karate black belt. On one or two occasions, I met real-life characters like Cain, hence I was inspired to create his character. Readers will decide if Cain is a character with such a conflicted moral compass.
Mary Anne: Cain’s journey takes him from protecting the Royal Family to the diamond world of Florida and South Africa, and even into a Chinese prison. How did you approach writing such a wide-ranging international thriller?
Avien: During my life, I have lived in Australia, Florida, South Africa and China where I took many hundreds of photographs, where real-life events and real people inspired such a wide-ranging – written over several years – international thriller.
Mary Anne: Themes of betrayal, loyalty, and survival run throughout the novel. Which of these felt most central to Cain’s story, and why?
Avien: Over decades, I met with many people who lived in extreme ways. Some good and tragically, some bad. Con men and perpetual liars – especially lawyers – who lived in a world of deceit, theft and corruption, causing financial loss and other tragic situations. These brutal realities of betrayal, loyalty and survival all felt most central – and the reason why – to Cain’s story.
Mary Anne: Cain begins as a photographer and surveillance agent before crossing into a far darker world. What drew you to blend espionage with the criminal underworld?
Avien: In the Good Old Days, several of my friends were police officers, members of The Sweeney, the Flying Squad, other services and Fleet Street. Their past experiences were all very helpful when it came to blend espionage – along with the realities I experienced in the different countries I lived in – with the criminal underworld.
Mary Anne: Romance and emotional connection appear alongside violence and danger. How did you balance tenderness and vulnerability with the novel’s hard-edged action?
Avien: From the age of fifteen to twenty-one seven friends tragically died in a motorbike, car accidents – I was not with them – or because of unexpected medical conditions. And for the rest of my life, more male and female friends / associates died in car accidents, – I was not with them – from unexpected medical conditions and in military action. It was a continuously recurring, always with me, tragic part of my life. And on one occasion in two different countries – walking on the streets in darkness – my life was threatened by robbers / thieves, wanting to take my vehicle or my watch & wallet, etc. Neither of them succeeded. Hence, my life’s experiences have helped me balance the novel’s tenderness and vulnerability with hard-edged action.
Mary Anne: The book places Cain in morally ambiguous situations again and again. How do you approach writing ethical dilemmas without offering easy answers?
Avien: Many people have their own quandary about what may be ethical dilemmas, what may be right or wrong. Therefore I will leave readers to decide if the book places Cain in morally ambiguous situations again and again – also ethical dilemmas – without offering easy answers. For Cain, there were no ethical dilemmas.
Mary Anne: The diamond trade and its associated dangers play a significant role in the plot. What kind of research did you undertake to portray this world convincingly?
Avien: There was no research. I relied on my own and associates personal experiences, encounters, and of course, the antics of con men and perpetual liars – who lived in a world of death, deceit, theft and corruption – to portray this world convincingly.
Mary Anne: Cain can never quite escape his past. How important was this sense of inevitability to the overall tension of the story?
Avien: Cain could never quite escape his past because he always had in the back of his mind why the death – possible murder – of his fiancée happened. But deep-down he knew he would eventually discover the truth, and his sense of inevitability told him what he would have to do. Inevitability only added – it kept readers thinking – to the overall tension of the story.
Mary Anne: The novel spans multiple countries and cultures. Did personal travel or life experience influence the way you depicted these settings?
Avien: My personal travel – and living in Australia, Florida, South Africa and China for several years – along with life’s experiences, influenced the depiction of these settings.
Mary Anne: At the end of Rough Diamond – Rough Justice, Cain has been changed by everything he has endured. What do you most hope readers will take away from his journey?
Avien: I most hope readers will take away thoughts for an enduring conversation with others. I hope readers will take away the feeling they will always be protected. They will have enforcers who will step-up to guard them, enforcers who will safeguard their families, their friends, their streets and their country. And bearing in mind how Cain has been changed by everything he has endured to the very last page of Rough Diamond Rough Justice, I hope readers will take away a simple question from his journey: What will happen next?
Our sincere thanks to Avien for joining us and offering such candid insight into the experiences, encounters and global influences behind Rough Diamond – Rough Justice. His reflections on morality, loyalty and survival mirror the uncompromising nature of Cain’s journey, and highlight the depth of lived experience that shapes the novel. It has been a fascinating conversation that underscores why this hard-edged, international thriller resonates so powerfully with readers.
✔️ Former MI5 agent turned undercover, extra-judicial operative
✔️ A morally complex protagonist shaped by violence and consequence
✔️ From royal protection to covert assassinations
✔️ Sun-drenched Australia, Florida’s diamond world, South Africa, and China
✔️ A gripping look inside the international diamond trade
✔️ Betrayal, loyalty, and survival at the heart of the story
✔️ A fast-paced international thriller grounded in real-world experience
Check out the blurb:
After a first kill, MI5 Agent and erstwhile photographer Cain
becomes an undercover, extra-judicial killer for a secret Bureau.
Avien Gray, the English author behind Rough Diamond – Rough Justice, brings a wealth of experience to his gripping debut novel. Born in the UK, Gray has led a dynamic, bachelor’s life marked by an impressive array of skills and global adventures. He has a driver’s license, motorbike license, and pilot’s license. His physical discipline extends to martial arts, where he earned a karate black belt, complemented by a lifelong passion for photography that captures the world through his discerning lens.
Gray’s rumoured travels paint the picture of a man unbound by borders. He is said to have spent many months in Saudi Arabia, Australia, the USA, South Africa, Europe and China. This rich tapestry of experiences infuses his writing with authenticity, lending a vivid, worldly edge to the thrilling narrative of his complex protagonist: a man called Cain.
Avien and his best friend shared a flat and went out with various female friends together. They had a great time. As it says in the book when Cain is talking with his best friend: a Royal Protection Officer.
‘We will have to write that book when we retire,’ Cain said.
They looked at each other with knowing smiles – for a long few seconds.
‘All those secrets,’ said Jerry. ‘Perhaps we will.’
And time moved on.
But in real life, his best friend tragically died – leaving Avien to write their book alone.
Connect with Avien Gray:
This is a really insightful novel. It is on my to-read list.
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