Carrying years of insider knowledge lightly, the author’s sparing use of professional shipping and insurance jargon is enough to give an authentic flavour of that world, without cluttering the text with technicalities. Hard to believe that this is a first novel – easier to see it as the first of a long series. A very intricate well written plot wrapped around the obscure (and often baffling) flag state, chartering and P & I parts of the shipping business. A great read for anyone in shipping as well as for the general public. Nick Elliott’s main character, Angus McKinnon, is a professional reminiscent of Dirk Pitt in the Clive Cussler series, but in a different sector of the marine industry. I look forward to Angus McKinnon’s next adventure.

Nick Elliott ticks all the boxes in this fast-paced yarn, with a keen eye for descriptive detail and solidly drawn characters. The first-person narrative, complete with ironic internal asides, is the perfect vehicle for a thoughtful and witty style that draws us swiftly into the shoes of its protagonist, a credible and consistent, if not entirely likeable, character.

Nick Elliott’s debut book has a well developed and credible plot within a maritime setting. Angus, the protagonist, uses his Scottish obstinacy to good effect in playing various villains off against each other, finally foiling their grandiose schemes of power grabbing. The action goes from Greece and Scotland to Georgia and the Philippines and a few places in between. I particularly liked the Greek background details and the authentic expressions used which made me feel I was sitting in a cafe in Athens for some of the time. The author certainly knows his shipping business and it provides an interesting and less known backdrop to the criminals’ plans to use their purloined assets for nefarious purposes. And its not without love interests either! I had to keep on reading it to see what happens next and that’s a good sign for a new novel.