"They tear you apart... They leave no trace..."
Five years out of the Marseilles Judiciaire, Daniel Jacquot is happily retired, bringing up his two daughters on a beach in the Caribbean. But when an old friend pays an unexpected visit, retirement rapidly becomes a battle for survival...
"The girls didn't see the first shark... They didn't see the second or the third one either..."
"They tear you apart... They leave no trace..."
Five years out of the Marseilles Judiciaire, Daniel Jacquot is happily retired, bringing up his two daughters on a beach in the Caribbean. But when an old friend pays an unexpected visit, retirement rapidly becomes a battle for survival...
"The girls didn't see the first shark... They didn't see the second or the third one either..."
In 1972 a gold bullion convoy is hijacked in Marseilles. The security trucks and hijackers are swiftly rounded up, but a ton of gold has disappeared.
More than twenty years later, Daniel Jacquot receives an unexpected gift from an old fisherman. At the same time, a Marseilles lawyer called Claude Dupont receives an equally unexpected gift from a dying gangland boss.
When the Marseilles police become involved following a series of gruesome murders, the investigation is headed by Chief Inspector Isabelle Cassier. An old friend and sometime lover of Jacquot's, Isabelle discovers that the years haven't lessened her longing for the maverick Marseilles cop, and that her feelings for him are far from professional.
Together they embark on a cut-throat hunt for the gold, with hit-men from the Polineaux and Duclos clans hot on their heels. But after nearly thirty years, is the gold still there? And if it is, who will get to it first?
The Jacquot series is set in the 1990s – the years of Mitterand's and Chirac's presidencies – so there's no real emphasis on technology or advanced forensic science to crack the cases Jacquot finds himself involved in. Rather, it's bloodhound work, and he's the bloodhound – passionate, incorruptible, and often inspired.
It's also France with francs not euros, a golden age when you could smoke in a bar and Calvados didn't come with a health warning. Jacquot is not a drunk, but nor is he the kind of man who counts 'units'. What a horrible word. What a horrible concept. Jacquot would not approve.
MARTIN
BRIEN
O'
STORM
It's late summer in Melville County in America's wild north-west, a land of fog-shrouded coastal cliffs and wave-pounded beaches, with a backwoods interior that rises up around the twisting course and echoing canyons of the Susquahannish River.
Up in the highlands, the first of the season's fishermen are casting for steelhead salmon and cut-throat trout, and despite the cold seas wet-suited surfers are gathering to ride the breaks on Melville Bay.
And then the rain begins to fall… And the rivers rise… And the tide begins to turn… And the sharks gather…
In a single day, a vengeful Mother Nature will change lives for ever.
Reviews
"A classy old school thriller."
– Daily Sport
"Gripping stuff. Exciting and enjoyable."
– Amazon Vine Voice
"Well recommended. One of the best disaster books that I have read in a long time. This is some roller-coaster ride on land and sea."
– Amazon Reviewer
"Drummond’s vivid description is superb and the build-up electric. A brilliant action-packed read that plays on every emotion."
– Amazon Reviewer