About | Veteran Author of Suspense & Mystery Novels

Hello, friends. I’m Colonel Lee Martin, retired Army officer having served a total of 26 years. Welcome to my website. A native West Virginian, I am now residing in a community outside of Atlanta, Georgia. In the late 1990s, I went back to school to earn my masters and doctorate in Counseling Psychology, after which I joined the faculty of an Atlanta university teaching Psych courses for 18 years. As I have always had a passion for writing, I was successful in getting my first novel published in 2004 entitled The Third Moon is Blue. Getting this book out further compelled me to continue writing, and voila, 20 years later, I had 22 novels under my belt.

As you will discover on this website, I have created a series of action novels featuring my popular, cool and calculating protagonist, Bruce McGowan, a former Army Special Forces captain, later serving as an FBI special agent for 20 years, and as a State Department counter-terrorist operative. He’s a character who will rival other fictional, lethal action heroes such as Jack Reacher, James Bond and Cole Maddox. The books are numbered chronologically and it is best if you begin with Book One, Wolf Laurel. Subsequent novels will take you through about 20 years of Bruce’s thrilling adventures. McGowan a fearless, highly-skilled man of action is driven by not only a strong moral code and sense of patriotism, but by the love of his beautiful wife, Adriana. Quick-witted, resilient and often comedic, he is the government’s most sought-after operative in the world of covert operations. The majority of the McGowan novels are set in the stunning countryside of Greenbrier County, West Virginia, a place with which I am fully familiar. And by the way, both Bruce and I graduated from a military school once located in that area. I offer the McGowan Collection in three different formats: paperback, Kindle version, and on Audible, narrated by the talented Canadian reader, Benjamin Hunter.

As you will see on my website, the McGowan series is first series listed, followed by my stand-alone collection of mystery novels that contain both heart-warming and heart-wrenching storylines having snippets of intense drama, romance, guile, and yes, murder, my most popular being the vastly-acclaimed novel, The Valiant. In these novels, I will take you from 19th Century Charleston, South Carolina, in The Six Mile Inn, to the late 1950s in nostalgic books such as At the Devil’s Tea Table and Panther’s Breath, books for every generation. Other novels will have more recent settings.

Whichever book you begin with, when you have reached the exciting, often surprising ending, my publicist, Terry Byrnes, CPPB, of IER Media, a former Navy submariner and co-author of a portion of the dynamic novel, The Terminus Protocol, asks that you leave your honest critique on the Amazon site. Thanks for reading.

Colonel Lee Martin’s transition from military service to literature was not a departure—it was an extension of his mission. His characters, many of them veterans or individuals grappling with trauma and justice, reflect the trials and triumphs of real life. Whether depicting small-town crime, historical injustice, or international terrorism, Martin’s work is shaped by personal understanding and lived experience.

His prose is straightforward yet deeply evocative, drawing readers into a world where moral gray areas are explored with nuance. Each novel poses important questions about ethics, duty, and the fragility of the human condition.

Perhaps best known for The McGowan Collection, Colonel Lee Martin created the iconic Bruce McGowan character as a symbol of relentless justice and internal conflict. McGowan, a retired FBI agent turned counter-terrorist operative, is complex, principled, and haunted—mirroring the realities of those who live in service to their country.

The series explores modern threats, domestic politics, and covert operations through an unflinching lens, offering readers high-stakes plots anchored in realism. Across 11+ titles, McGowan navigates both national security and personal demons, giving fans a rich and expanding narrative arc.

Note: The McGowan Collection is the only series available in audiobook format.