I am a Belgian/Flemish author with more than 40 books traditionally published in Holland and Belgium. My cross-over oeuvre between literary and noir/suspense is translated and republished in French, English, German, Spanish, Swedish, Slovenian, Italian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese,  Russian, and Chinese.  My work has received consistent acclaim and recognition, including Awards and finalist places.

Short Biography
Bob Van Laerhoven became a full-time author in 1991. The context of his stories isn't invented behind his desk; instead, it is rooted in personal experience. For example, as a freelance travel writer, he explored conflicts and trouble-spots across the globe from the early 1990s to 2003. Echoes of his experiences on the road trickle through in his novels. The countries he visited and about which he wrote are Somalia, Liberia, Sudan, Gaza, Iran, Iraq, Kosovo, Burma... to name but a few.
MASS MURDERS
During the Bosnian war, Van Laerhoven spent part of 1992 in the besieged city of Sarajevo. Three years later he was working for MSF - Doctors without frontiers - in the Bosnian city of Tuzla during the NATO bombings. At that moment the refugees arrived from the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica. Van Laerhoven was the first writer from the Low Countries to be given the chance to speak to the refugees. His conversations resulted in a travel book: Srebrenica. Getuigen van massamoord - Srebrenica. Testimony to a Mass Murder. The book denounces the rape and torture of the Muslim population of this Bosnian-Serbian enclave and is based on first-hand testimonies. He also concludes that mass murders took place, which was questioned at the time but later proven accurate.

·       Four-time finalist of the Belgian Hercule Poirot Prize for Best Mystery Novel of the Year with the novels "Djinn," "The Finger of God," "Return to Hiroshima," and "The Firehand Files."

·       Winner of the Belgian Hercule Poirot Prize for "Baudelaire's Revenge" in 2007. The novel also won the USA Best Book Award 2014 in the category "mystery/suspense."

·     His collection of short stories "Dangerous Obsessions," first published by The Anaphora Literary Press in the USA in 2015, was hailed as "best short story collection of 2015" by the San Diego Book Review. The collection is translated into Italian, (Brazilian) Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish.

·     In 2018, The Anaphora Literary Press published "Heart Fever," the second collection of short stories. With this collection, Laerhoven became the only non-American author to be selected as a finalist in the Silver Falchion 2018 Award, in the category "short stories collections." 

·      In 2018, Crime Wave Press published "Return to Hiroshima," after "Baudelaire's Revenge," his second novel in English Translation. The quality English book site Murder, Mayhem & More chose "Return to Hiroshima" as one of the ten best international crime books of 2018. Readers' Favorite rated the novel Five Stars.

·     In August 2021, Next Chapter published the third novel in English: "Alejandro's Lie," set in a fictitious Latin-American dictatorship. The novel is a Best Thriller Book Awards 2021 winner in the category « Political Thriller” on BestThrillers.com