*
Visitors
to Tenerife will recognise the beauty of the island in Nik Morton's evocative
descriptions of what the island has to offer to the tourist, but few, if any,
will recognise the darker side so vividly portrayed in this novel.
No
doubt the fiction is inspired by Morton's ability as a thriller writer, and not
something that he has uncovered by stealth.
It
is a fact that immigrants head for the Canary Islands from Africa, but here
Morton has added spice to the tragedies that often unfold through people
trafficking.
In
Blood of the Dragon Trees, Morton
puts his main character, Laura Reid, in mortal danger simply because she has
unwittingly placed herself in a new teaching job with a family involved in the
dark arts of people smuggling and trading in endangered species. She finds
herself drawn to Felipe, the brother of her employer, but Felipe's girlfriend,
Lola, turns out to be something other than a girlfriend scorned.
Piling
into this conspiracy of thieves and murderers is Andrew Kirby who is attracted
to Laura for reasons other than just wanting her to help him in his pursuit of
the villains. Along with the local police and the Guardia Civil, Laura and
Andrew find themselves hounded by the criminals where their lives are in
danger.
Nik
Morton takes the story along at a fine pace, and readers of his past novels
will not be disappointed in his narrative, his characterisation and careful
plotting.
*
Due
for release on November 29th
Spanish
Eye, 22 cases from Leon Cazador, private eye,
to be published by Crooked
Cat.
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