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FOXBORO - When a Foxboro resident and his brother wrote their first suspense thriller, they sent the first 1,000 copies to soldiers in the Middle East.

Paul DeFazio and his brother, Mike, shared their novel, "Pros & Cons," through "Operation Paperback," a nonprofit that sends gently used books to American troops overseas.

The DeFazios are both former military men.

High-Pitched HUM Publishing published "Pros & Cons" last month, and it hit bookstores Thursday.

"It's a small thing that we could do to say 'Thank you,' but it's also a great thing for us to send it to people who we know would like the story," Paul said. Paul said he served as a military police officer in the Army from 1985 to 1987, while Mike was a flight engineer in the Air Force for six years during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Since then, Paul has spent 28 years in corrections and law enforcement. And Mike, who lives in Florida, runs a plastics manufacturing plant.

"Pros & Cons" is about two cousins, a Boston police detective and a corrections officer, as they deal with two sides of the same case.

The cop arrests a high-ranking enforcer for a Dominican gang. The suspect is held in the prison where the detective's brother works.

The story covers such issues as international drug trafficking and prostitution.

Aspects of the tale are based on a number of incidents the DeFazios have encountered over the years, Paul said.

A serious assault in a prison is one example.

"That incident actually happened back in 1989, when I was working in a prison in Norfolk," Paul said.

Paul said he and his wife have resided in Foxboro for 13 years. Their son, Matthew, attends Foxboro High School, and daughter, Jennifer, attends Ahern Middle School.