After graduating from university, Barrett joined the Army Security Agency and was trained as a Chinese translator.
He served in Thailand and Taiwan with the 83rd RRSOU (Radio Research Special Operations Unit) during the Vietnam War.
[4] A mystery novel set in New York City, Murder in China Red, features a Chinese detective from Beijing.
Barrett is one of the contributors to the highly successful Bangkok Noir, along with John Burdett, Stephen Leather, Christopher Moore and others.
He has finished writing Thieves Hamlet, a sequel to Hangman's Point, also set in Hong Kong and southern China in 1857.