Loosely linked to her debut novel, Border Watch, this latest romantic suspense thriller has the heroine, Lauren, picking up the story one year after the initial storyline unfolded.

Here the reader is introduced to the murky world of sex slave trafficking, outlaw bikie gangs and espionage.

Helene has a wealth of experience to draw on as a novelist. With a day job as the captain on a regional airline and her knowledge of flying with crews from Surveillance Australia, the idea for her first book emerged after Helene discovered a dead body on the beach.

Although there was nothing sinister involved in that incident, it planted the seeds for Border Watch, which was nominated for a slew of awards in 2008 and  2009.

"Border Watch was mildly autobiographical in that it featured the Lake District, in England, where I had worked in the late ’80s," she says.

"You get to meet some interesting characters in my line of work, and the steamy wildernesses of places like Cape York seemed perfect setting for thrillers," Helene says.

"But Shattered Sky has moved things on and readers will recognise the personalities and the earthy richness of Far North Queensland where the story unfolds."

Born into a family of writers, her father, an engineer who worked on Arctic oil tankers, wrote fantasy adventure stories for the family.

"He was a natural," Helene says. "I used to think everyone’s dad wrote stories for them too, but when I grew up, I realised this wasn’t the case.

"Those stories remained with me and became a big part of my early childhood."

Helene now has loyal readers across the world, who write telling her how much they adore her work and who now want to travel to the Far North, so taken are they with the description of the land and its people.

"Those from abroad, like the Canadians and the English, seem to pick up on a lot of the themes," she says.

A Brisbane girl, Helene has made her home in Cairns with husband Graham and her beloved staffy, Zeus, with plans for a third book in the series, to be published next year.

"I’m settling into flying a new aircraft and am loving being a captain for the first time in a decade. I have more time at home and that means more time to write," Helene says.