‘Morte Point’ by Robert Parker

Published by Endeavour Quill,
July 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911445-73-9

Ben Bracken is a man with a mission, a patriot who will go to any lengths to keep his country safe.  A talent for being in the wrong place at the wrong time has resulted in Ben being discharged from the army and disowned by his family, so he now lives and works alone.

Instructed by Jeremiah at the National Crime Agency, Ben willingly takes on tasks that the Agency cannot do legally. When the call comes to extract a package from an incoming plane heading for The Royal Marines base outside Woolacomb Ben goes charging down to Devon.  He arrives just in time to see the plane ditch into the sea.  Even though he doesn’t know what he is looking for, or why, Ben manages to extract something interesting – a red earing no less – from the sinking plane whilst it is surrounded by hordes of police, marines and divers who are all looking for the same thing. 

As Ben tries to escape from the area a huge manhunt gets underway. Ben remembers his manners as he politely explains to a load of seals why he needs to share their rock, and refrains from killing a viper that bites him when he inadvertently invaded its territory.  Fortunately, help is at hand. Delirious with the effects of snake venom, Ben is rescued by a young Kosovan microbiologist, Amina. She takes him to her laboratory where she identifies the contents of the red earing. It is a deadly poison capable of killing hundreds of thousands of people.  There is no antidote.

World leaders are arriving in London to attend an auction for this horrific weapon.  Clearly all hell will be let loose no matter who gets their hands on the poison as they will inevitably proceed to manufacture yet more of the dreadful stuff. Jeremiah and a senior, ex-army member of the cabinet persuade Ben to hand over the poison to allow the auction to go ahead. Ben hands it over, but then finds his own unique answer to the threat it poses.

Morte Point and its likable hero Ben Bracken gallop through page after page of entertaining prose.  This is the second book in the series. I’m sure it won’t be the last.

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Reviewer Angela Crowther 

Robert Parker is the author of the Ben Bracken books A Wanted Man and Morte Point, and the standalone post-Brexit country-noir Crook’s Hollow. He writes full time, as well as organising and attending various author events across the UK - while boxing regularly for charity. Passionate about inspiring a love of the written word in young people, he spends a lot of time in schools across the North West, encouraging literacy, story-telling, creative-writing and how good old-fashioned hard work tends to help good things happen. He is marries with three children and lives in a village near Manchester, UK., he enjoys a rural life on an old pig farm (now minus pigs), writing horrible things between school runs.

https://robertparkerauthor.com

Angela Crowther is a retired scientist.  She has published many scientific papers but, as yet, no crime fiction.  In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the operas of Verdi and Wagner.