CORNUCOPIA

My new book can be downloaded free from Smashwords in ebook format. The gestation of this book was long, five years, and during these five years the world changed. China grew, big business grew, the Arab world collapse into a dysfunctional, dystopian, pile of rubble, whilst Europe was prostrated by indecision and introspection.

The story is the continuation of my series which commenced with Death of a Financier, followed by The Turning Point and The Plan.

The Russian banker Sergei Tarasov falls out of favour with the Kremlin as a consequence of the crisis in the Crimea. His London partner bank, INI, headed by Michael Fitzwilliams, is the object of a forced take over by the predatory City & Colonial bank.

Pat Kennedy, head of INI Hong Kong, wakes up to be informed by City & Colonial his services are no longer required.

Tom Barton, sets out to seek a new start in Bogota, Liam Clancy is making his first steps in the heady world of international banking and finance.

Observing the players are John Francis, a Dublin economist, and Pat O’Connelly, a successful writer.

The front cover is a scene in downtown Panama City, which provided me with ideas for the story. In early 2015, I spent a month in Colombia and Panama, travelling by steps from Bogota to Cartagena and then to Bocas del Torro before finishing my journey in Panama City.

Those of you who read Offshore Islands will remember how Pat Kennedy started his career and his friendship with the CEO of the Irish Union Bank.

Other characters who have peopled my different stories reappear as their lives overlap in London, Paris, Moscow and SE Asia.

This story paints a broad outline of offshore banking and the lives of those who gain from the system. The middle-classes have seen their wealth decline, the have-nots have even less and the rich has grown significantly richer.

The world looks on as Vladimir Putin pursues his plan to create Greater Russia. Little England seeks the obsolete lure of sovereignty, while China forges ahead spewing out goods and services, yes services, from its Cornucopia.