In his first book, “Code of Misconduct, Conduct Unbecoming,” Maj. Chris Griffith of the Cobb County Sheriff’s Department brings his experience in law enforcement to the novel.

“I never really aspired to writing,” said Griffith, although he often writes summaries on investigative files that are reviewed by the sheriff and command staff. He has worked with the Sheriff’s Department since 1984.

“I got to where I enjoyed taking all the bits and pieces of an investigation and writing them into a summary,” he said.

“Code of Misconduct” is a fictional account about Maj. Grey Colson who retired from Georgia to Florida after his wife died of cancer. An old acquaintance and retired detective persuades Colson to help with a surveillance job. Through a series of events Colson unwittingly becomes involved in a world of human trafficking, murder and blackmail as the sheriff turns a blind eye.

“There’s a good number of twists and turns in (the book),” Griffith said.

Griffith’s personal experience adds perspective to the book. “It would be difficult for me to write something I knew nothing about because I wouldn’t be able to be accurate without a whole lot of research,” he said.

“(The book) is real life. There’s nothing fantastic that goes on in the book. The character isn’t super human. He’s just a regular guy who retired from law enforcement,” said the former Marietta resident who lives Dallas.

He is married to Beverly and they have one daughter.

“What I’ve tried to do is make the book as accurate as possible. It’s not overdone with police jargon,” he said.

Griffith wrote the book quite by accident. While looking for help to fix his hardwood floors on an online public forum, he saw a topic “Let’s Write a Novel” where different people contributed paragraphs to a story. Two weeks after he posted his first paragraph, the only people contributing was Griffith and the person who started it.

Readers would add posts questioning what would happen next. He thought, “Why am I wasting my time playing this game. If I want to write something, I should just write it.”

Working the night shift at the time, Griffith wrote during the day while he was alone. “It was just a project. When I got done with (the story) I thought it was ridiculous to just let it sit there. I wanted to do something with it,” he said.

“I just tried to be real with the book,” Griffith said.

The book is available online and wherever books are sold. Visit www.authorcagriffith.com.