Mike Ponder’s debut action thriller opens promisingly with the body-littered prologue almost obligatory for the genre. The first chapter then fast-forwards the reader to the present-day Caribbean, and the apparent kidnapping of none other than H R H Prince Charles. Shortly after, a severed finger, claimed to be that of the Prince, arrives on the desk of a British journalist. But a full-fingered Prince Charles is still very much alive and well in London. Is this just a bizarre hoax, or could there be a double? The journalist is murdered and suddenly a shadowy government department also becomes involved. The body count rises steadily, as the kidnappers, those wanting to find out the real identity of the Prince, and those trying to protect the Monarchy, become increasingly desperate. The search for the truth leads first to outback Australia, then to Florida, New York, and finally to the action climax in the Outer Hebrides. The author has assembled all the right ingredients: plenty of action, a love interest, interesting locations, and a tantalising series of conspiracy theories, including shady business dealings by the Queen Mum, and the death of Princess Diana. Unfortunately he has concentrated too much on the action, rather than more fully integrating the conspiracies into the plot.

Graeme Moore  is an online bookseller and freelance writer

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

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