‘The Counterfeit Candidate’ by Brian Klein.

Published by Level Best Books,
15 July 2021.
ISBN 978-1-953789-48-8

Argentina, 2012:  a safe depository in Argentina is burgled by three men wearing plastic monkey masks. They escape with millions of dollars’-worth of valuables, no-one knows exactly how much.  The thieves divide the proceeds and separate, never to meet again.  But, unbeknownst to them, they have stolen something that could have major repercussions for a group of powerful people.  The powerful people set out to reclaim the property, which is not good news for the thieves.

At the same time in the USA, Senator John Franklin, the ‘Great Unifier’, accepts the Republican Party Presidential nomination and seems to have a good chance of winning.  And the Buenos Aries and Los Angeles Police Departments are involved in exposing a political conspiracy relating to the last days of the Third Reich.

This is a story that moves rapidly through the years and across continents.  It features historical figures, powerful politicians and hard-working police officers, offering tantalising alternative possibilities to historical puzzles.  It has quite a very visual feel, (perhaps unsurprising as the author is a tv producer) and provides a fast-moving and entertaining read.
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Reviewer: Jo Hesslewood

Brian Klein is an award-winning Television Director, with over twenty-five years' experience in the industry. His work regularly appears on Netflix, Amazon Prime, BBC and Sky. Amongst his directing credits are twenty-five seasons of the iconic car show, Top Gear and five seasons of A League Of Their Own Roadtrip, Sky One's highest rating entertainment show. He has also directed two feature-length films for BBC Worldwide and five entertainment specials for Netflix. The Counterfeit Candidate is his debut novel.

Jo Hesslewood.  Crime fiction has been my favourite reading material since as a teenager I first spotted Agatha Christie on the library bookshelves.  For twenty-five years the commute to and from London provided plenty of reading time.  I am fortunate to live in Cambridge, where my local crime fiction book club, Crimecrackers, meets at Heffers Bookshop .  I enjoy attending crime fiction events and currently organise events for the Margery Allingham Society.