Best known for his grittily realistic South African set cop procedurals, Mike Nicol relaunches himself as an outstanding purveyor of the international thriller field, making an immediate impact in a crowded genre. Vicki Kahn of the State Security Agency is despatched on her first foreign mission with instructions to take down a child trafficker. However, the trail soon becomes deadly in Amsterdam and then Berlin as her target and then her contact are found dead. Meanwhile, her boyfriend PI Fish Pescado is investigating the killing of an African rebel colonel and the two cases perilous links to the powers that be are unveiled and both protagonists become targets themselves. Conspiracies and cover ups, a sympathetic sleuthing duo and dark subterranean rumblings of corruption at the very top make this a quick, involving read and confirm Nicol as a master storyteller. ~ Maxim Jakubowski
Bring in the child tracker. That's Agent Vicki Kahn's assignment, her first foreign mission for the State Security Agency. That the child tracker is a top fashion model with connections to the president's son is an added complication. Especially when Vicki watches as the model's limp body is wheeled away at Schiphol airport. Then, in Berlin, she finds her contact dead on the kitchen floor, shot in the head. Get out, Vicki's instincts tell her. Get out now. Vicki's lover, PI Fish Pescado, is working another case. Find out who shot my husband, is his brief. The husband: a rebel colonel from the Central African Republic taken down in a spray of bullets on the steps of St George's Cathedral. As Fish digs he comes up against a local connection: none other than the South African president. Drop the case, he's warned. Go surfing. And take your girlfriend Vicki Kahn with you before it's too late. Secrets, conspiracies, vested interests, commie plots. Vicki and Fish are caught in the mix, with only one way out.
‘Incisive . . . top-class . . . riveting . . . Nicol is a superb storyteller, with vibrant characters and stunningly vivid dialogue. A gripping thriller, which is also an insight into a fascinatingly flawed society.’ THE TIMES on OF COPS & ROBBERS
‘I think I may have read the best crime novel of the year; certainly one of them . . . An absolute belter . . . makes most Scandi-crime look as if it’s been set in Legoland’ SHOTS MAGAZINE on OF COPS & ROBBERS
‘This is not just superb genre writing: it is superb writing, period ... Read Mike Nicol now, before everyone else starts telling you how wonderful he is’ JOHN CONNOLLY
Author
About Mike Nicol
Mike Nicol was born in Cape Town, where he still lives. The Revenge Trilogy is his first foray into crime fiction, and has met with widespread acclaim.
