Somehow I got hooked on Nero Wolfe mystery novels. That's strange because if I envisioned my own crime fiction series, my protagonist certainly wouldn't be a fat guy who rarely leaves his house, lives with two men and tends orchids in the attic.

Even stranger was my flirtation with Donald E. Westlake's Dortmunder. In that series, the hero is a grumpy cat burglar.

So it was refreshing to discover the fictional world of David Sloane, a nearly unbeatable courtroom attorney whose cases inevitably lead he and his loved ones into danger.

What's special is Sloane lives on Three Tree Point and hangs out at the Tin Room Bar in Old Burien. He shops at the Burien Fred Meyer and drives home on SR-518.

I met Sloane's creator, Kirkland author Robert Dugoni, at the Tin Room last week to talk about his new novel, "Bodily Harm."

As he did for Dugoni's previous New York Times bestseller, "Wrongful Death," Tim Room proprietor Dan House is hosting a big launch party. This one is May 27, starting at 4:30 p.m.

House is in both books. In the new one, House is described as a former European soccer star with an easy smile, gray curls and an infectious laugh. That's all true, except for the gray hair, House insists.

"I'm always looking for characters and Dan's a real character," Dugoni noted.

Burien has loads of eclectic character with fun restaurants, interesting houses and charming community events like Three Tree Point's Fourth of July celebration, according to Dugoni.

When Dugoni moved up here from California, he briefly lived at the Point in a home that has been in his wife's family for over 40 years.

It's the same house where much of the action takes place in the Sloane books. The picturesque three-story colonial with white clapboard was built on a small bluff near the old community store and next to a public access. A gate cut into the ten-foot laurel hedge allows entry to the back door.

Dugoni explained he wanted his main character to reside by the water in a soothing environment.

Besides, "Sloane's not the kind of guy that would live on Lake Washington," Dugoni declared.

Uh, Bob, you know Sloane is a fictional character, right?

With two Sloane books already on bookstore shelves, a third one coming out next month and another due to the publisher in September, Dugoni admits the world of Sloane and is very real to him.

"Sloane often does something just because he would do it-- not necessarily what I would want him to do," Dugoni explains.

While Sloane might have moved to the Burien waterfront as a peaceful escape from his dark past, his fictional Three Tree Point is not nearly as tranquil as the real place. At home, menacing fishermen, invasions from the sea, and explosions besiege Sloane.

For those faithful fans who have become emotionally invested in Dugoni's fictional world, YOU WON"T BELIEVE WHAT HE DOES IN THE NEW BOOK.

"The toughest part about doing a series is keeping it fresh," Dugoni said. "So I kind of blew up his world. Some people will be mad at me, but the worst thing you can do is bore your readers."

Dugoni says he enjoys writing the action scenes.

"It gives you a chance to live vicariously," Dugoni said. "The characters do what you wouldn't do. You've got to give your characters a chance to act like heroes."

The Seattle Times has compared Dugoni to John Grisham, also a former attorney. Others call his books a cross between Grisham and David Baldacci. But Dugoni says some independent bookstore owners have told him his novels are unique.

"Bodily Harm" is available at bookstores or online retailers on May 25.