Blood and Fire »

NICK BROWNLEE is a former Fleet Street journalist who now runs his own freelance news agency. He lives in Cumbria with his wife and daughter.

“A literate and thought-provoking story that runs a bit deeper than the standard crime thriller. Brownlee peels back the layers of modern-day Kenya with a skilled hand.”

—Deseret News (Salt Lake City)

Just when Inspector Daniel Jouma thought it was calm in Mombasa, all hell breaks loose. Bodies pile up in the morgue, his new boss wants answers . . . and the new mayor wants him out.

Meanwhile, the bulldozers are bearing down on Flamingo Creek, and fishing boat skipper Jake Moore is just one man against the corporate might of Kenya’s most ruthless developer.

But soon a hideous secret, thought to be buried in the ashes of a deadly inferno, will bring the maverick crime-busting duo together once again. And Jake and Jouma are about to discover that when you play with fire, someone always gets burned. . . .

Publishers Weekly

British author Brownlee's hard-hitting sequel to his first novel, Bait (2009), follows the activities of a clever assassin sent to Mombasa, Kenya, by the human-trafficking ring whose operations have been damaged by the activities of British ex-cop Jake Moore and Det. Insp. Daniel Jouma. An elderly nun's disappearance and an ex-pat thug's mysterious death preoccupy Jouma. The incompetence and corruption of the people the inspector must work with complicate his investigation. Meanwhile, an unscrupulous construction corporation's efforts to drive away the inhabitants of a nearby village disrupt Jake's job as a fishing boat captain. The story jerks along in James Patterson style through short, brutal chapters, but it does hold interest because of the heroes' determined goodness versus the pure evil of their antagonists. The colorful and dangerous setting also comes through with unusual vividness. (Nov.)