The stunning new thriller from 'the proud carrier of the flag first unfurled by John le Carre' (LEE CHILD)
'An espionage master' CHARLES CUMMING
'Timely and terrific' MICK HERRON
On a deserted road in Calabria, Greek aid worker Anastasia Cristakos is driving alone to visit one of the new refugee centres funded by billionaire Denis Hisami whom she has recently married. She slows down to greet two African migrants she recognises. Too late she realises they are not her friends. This is an ambush.
She manages a desperate phone call to Hisami before her Mafia kidnappers silence her with a powerful drug. Hours later she wakes up in the pitch dark on a container ship, powering eastwards across the Mediterranean.
Anastasia has been abducted and held hostage because Hisami has explosive information that his enemies have killed for and will kill for again. But Hisami can do nothing to save his wife. His time as a commander with the Kurdish Peshmerga has caught up with him. The US authorities have seized his passport and jailed him for possible terrorist activities in the past. For all his wealth, he is powerless.
Only one man can help him. Paul Samson, former MI6 agent and a genius at tracking missing persons. He's the obvious choice. There's only one snag. Samson was, and probably still is, in love with Anastasia. If he manages to locate and save her, will it be for Hisami - or himself?
Life for Paul Samson has gone downhill since he last saw Denis Hisami. His luck on the turf has run out and, broke and a little desperate, he has accepted a dangerous assignment searching for a missing American businessman in Russia. Then he receives a call from Hisami asking him for a meeting.
Hisami has a bombshell to drop: Anastasia Christakos, the third member of the unlikely trio who searched for Naji 'Firefly' Touma across the Balkans three years ago, has been kidnapped, and Hisami wants Samson to find her. Given that Anastasia recently left Samson for Hisami, it's a bold request, but Samson is unable to say no.
It soon becomes clear that Anastasia is being held by parties with Russian connections in order to manipulate Hisami's business dealings. Is there a connection to Hisami's early business dealings, or even to actions taken by Hisami twenty five years before when he was a member Kurdish special-forces and intelligence? It will take all of Samson's courage and guile to find out - and meanwhile the life of the only woman he has ever loved hangs in the balance
An
espionage master
