It started out as a kidnap, turned into a brutal murder and ended up as a plot to assassinate the American State Secretary … DCI Henry Christie faces his toughest challenge yet in CRITICAL THREAT the new thriller from Nick Oldham.
Henry, taken off an anonymous murder case and transferred into a dead-end desk job, leaps at the chance to investigate the brutal killing of an ex-cop turned sleazy private eye.
At first he thinks he will have no trouble identifying the killer, but as he investigates, he stumbles into a plot by Muslim extremists and finds himself plunged into the world of international terrorism.
Christie faces his toughest challenge yet as he tries to head off one of the worlds most ruthless assassins who has never yet been caught and who has never yet missed a target.
A series of increasingly violent assaults is shrouding the happy-go-lucky resort of Blackpool in a veil of terror. It seems only a matter of time before one of these brutal attacks leads to the ultimate crime - murder. The police response, coordinated by an increasingly harassed DCI Henry Christie seems to be getting nowhere fast and the public are growing restless.
When
the brutally murdered body of a Manchester drug dealer is found dumped in Lancashire,
it turns out that the dead man had been a CID informant working for a small
nucleus of corrupt detectives. Then a high profile trial collapses amid acusations
of police misconduct. Thrust into the investigation of the drug dealer's death
is DCI Henry Christie, recently returned to work after a period of suspension.
After
his adventures in Substantial Threat, Detective Inspector Henry Christie has
been suspended from duty. He's spending quality time with his family, but at
heart he's bored - and itching to get back into the fray.So when the attractive
and wealthy ,mother of one of his daughter's horse-riding friends asks him to
investigate the bizarre mutilation of some of the family's bloodstock, Christie
agrees - against his better judgement. He soon finds himself caught up in a
web of corruption and intrigue.
Ray
Cragg is one of the country's biggest gangsters. His patch extends from Birmingham
to the Scottish borders., dealing in drugs, prostitution and illegal immigrants.
The cops are desperate to nail him. When Cragg's brother and side- kick, ends
up with his face blown off, Detective Inspector Henry Christie gets sucked into
a world of ultra-organized crime.
It
is party conference week, and Blackpool is heaving with pundits and politicos.
Also loose on the street are killers and cops. A massive operation is protecting
the Prime Minister, but that doesn't mean that regular policing can stop. That falls to Inspector Henry Christie, recently
transferred to uniform duties. First on the scene of a murder with
racial overtones, Henry is obliged to hand ove rthe job. His pride is dented - not least because the murder
looks part of a series committed across the country.
Blackburn
on a Friday night at the beginning of summer is always a policing headache.
But for the officers of Blackburn police station it's about to become a nightmare.When
three police cars explode in quick succession in the station car park, it seems
as if a spectacular terrorist campaign is underway. But as Blackburn's finest
get ready to do battle with the IRA, the real action is going down elsewhere.
It's
difficult to have much sympathy for a prisoner like Louis Trent - no matter
how the other inmates abuse him. For Trent is a child-molester, one of the nastieast
kind. Just how nasty, the authorities and his tormentors are about to find out.
The world's brashest, trashiest seaside resort, alive with daytime fun and night-time
thrills - Blackpool, city of dreams. And for some, like Detective Inspector
Henry Christie, a city of nightmares.
As
far as mafia hitman Jimmy Hinksman is concerned, working in Britain is a piece
of cake. In his opinion the police are unarmed amateurs and security is nowhere
- at least, that's what he tells his boss, Mr. Corelli. Which is how Hinksman
can clamp a Semtex bomb to a Daimler in a Lancaster hotel car park unobserved.
The Daimler is due to take two associates of Mr. Corelli's to Manchester Airport
- Mr. Corelli does not intend them to get there in one piece.