PHOTO: Jack Kregas, author of thrillers and autobiographical works, photographed in Brisbane where he continues to write with unstoppable energy and purpose.
Thrillers Rooted In Real Life And Adventure
Jack Kregas shares how his global life journey informs his gripping novels, blending autobiography and fiction while exploring deep themes such as justice, family loyalty, and moral complexity.
Jack Kregas writes with the assured clarity of someone who has truly lived. From the snow-laden slopes of Europe to the sun-soaked coastlines of Australia, his stories carry the weight of real experience, sharpened with the edge of imagination. His journey from American soldier to Brisbane-based author is one marked by reinvention, adventure, and an unflinching honesty that pulses through every line he writes.
There is a distinctive authenticity to Kregas’ voice—an immediacy that comes from having walked the streets, fired the weapons, and felt the emotional pull of the themes he explores. Whether chronicling his own life in It’s All About Me or crafting high-stakes thrillers like Shattered Innocence and The Visual Deception, he anchors his work in a tangible reality that makes even the most dramatic twists feel alarmingly plausible.
The Joey Moretti series, now in its fifth instalment with Joey & Slick, reflects Kregas’ mastery of character and conflict. Loyalty, revenge, and moral complexity are given human shape in Joey—a creation built from fragments of real people and shaded with personal insight. Likewise, his Tall Tales collections blur the line between truth and fiction, reminding readers that life itself often tells the wildest stories.
What sets Kregas apart is his unwavering belief in storytelling as action: you write it down, you live it on the page, and you never apologise for the truth. Whether it’s gritty realism, adventurous exaggeration, or something defiantly in between, Jack Kregas invites us into a world where every story bears the mark of the man who lived it first.
In Joey & Slick, the themes of family loyalty and revenge run deep—how did your own experiences influence the depiction of Joey’s moral struggles?
Part of oneself is in every book. The Character of Joey evolved in Mystical Glasses and continued in all five books.He was based on many people I meet over the years and not only one.
The Visual Deception tackles human trafficking—what inspired you to address such a challenging social issue in a thriller format?
I was at the races and saw all the horses being transported with equipment in containers and thought people could be included and out of country before anyone raised the alarm. Visual Deception is the sequel to Shattered Innocence.
Shattered Innocence centres on the disappearance of a twin—how did you develop Ruby and Rose’s dynamic and the suspense surrounding Queensland’s Gold Coast?
Being Twins increased the tension on Ruby and her family after Rose disappeared. I live on the Gold Coast and know the area well. I have been to all the locations in both books. I also raised my daughter from when she was eight which gave me the working of a female teenager’s mind.
Having written autobiographical works and crime fiction, how do you balance truth and invention in books like It’s All About Me and a few others?
It’s All About Me and a few others is 100% true with the 40 photos to prove it. All the other books are based on some facts to make them as real as possible and believable.
Your Tall Tales collections draw on personal adventures—how do you decide which real life events to fictionalise and which to recount factually?
They are never stated as fact but based on a true story. Like TV shows with that tag line it gives one the possibility to pick and choose what they say. Truth mixed with exaggeration or a different outcome than what really happened entices the reader as they are not sure where truth begins or ends.
With Contested Ransom and the Joey Moretti series, how do you maintain tension and character growth across multiple sequels?
It starts with strong characters of which Joey is and traits that make him different. As he said, ‘I never killed anyone who didn’t deserve it. Change the situation, put them out of their usual comfort zone and have them adjust makes each book a new adventure.
You’ve lived in Vermont, Europe, Maui and Brisbane—how has this diverse background shaped the settings and tone of your novels?
When as an author you have firsthand knowledge of locations it makes friends with readers who have been to the places as well as excites those who wish they had. I have been to over seventy countries and each of my books revisit places I have been. I very seldom include a location that I have not been to.I also do not include weapons that I have not personally fired or have a working knowledge of.
What is your one key piece of advice for aspiring authors hoping to blend autobiography with gripping fictional storytelling?
My advice is always the same. First write it down. It can be edited later. If you do not have it on paper it’s only a dream. If it’s an autobiography it has to be the truth warts and all. If it’s fiction it has to border on truth leaving space for imagination to fill in the blanks.
