‘Black Gold’ by Rob Starr

Published by Just Once Publishing,
10 July 202.
ISBN: 978-1-73941012-4 (PB)

Kiara Fox has established herself as a successful fraud investigator and now runs her own business from Hurstpierpoint, a quintessential English village in Sussex where she lives with her twin teenage daughters Mia and Jesse.  Kiara has taken some time out since the hazardous events that marked her last investigation and now feels she is ready to take on a new challenge.  That’s when she receives a phone call from Tyrone Waterstone who offers her a short and lucrative assignment. 

Tyrone is Chief Executive Officer of Worldwide Marine Insurance where a major client, Adesco Oil, has recently been granted large payouts for a series of claims related to oil theft from their tankers.  A new claim has been received, so costly that the CEO’s approval is needed.  As a matter of due diligence Tyrone decides to check out the legitimacy of Adesco’s previous transactions.  He needs someone skilful enough to examine the claims discretely and quickly.  Kiara ticks all the boxes; however, she will need to travel to South Africa where the company is based.  At first, she baulks at the prospect of being so far away from her children, but she could do with the money, and the job sounds interesting, who knows, she may even find time to indulge her love of running and swimming under the hot southern sun.  As she boards the plane to Johannesburg, Kiara little realises that this latest assignment will test her mental and physical resilience to their limits.

As a foreigner in an unfamiliar country, Kiara is plunged into the unknown.  She is forced to rely on Tyrone, a man she has only just met.  The CEO is considerate towards his guest employee but expects her to hit the ground running. 

An intriguing subplot unfolds through brothers Gavin and Tony Adriaanse, who are CEO and second in command of Adesco Oil respectively.  Alongside these highflyers we meet an aggressive insurgent and his gang, as well as eco activists determined to disrupt the oil industry for the sake of the planet.  Another key character arrives in the form of a brilliant, but gullible, inventor seeking to produce and store energy without destroying the planet.  It’s quite a cast!  Kiara’s enquiries begin to untangle the carefully concocted mess of associations.  Then the threats begin, and not only to her, but also to the daughters she has left behind.

Black Gold is Rob Starr’s second thriller to feature Kiara Fox and works perfectly as a stand-alone.  The novel is a high octane thriller that weaves contemporary ideological and social issues into a good old fashioned mystery and with a protagonist who proves to be intelligent, assertive and determined that justice will be served.   

A brilliant read and highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Dot Marshall-Gent

Rob Starr is an author, chairman of the charity Starr Trust and CEO. He has co-written two full-length musicals and written two plays, all of which have been staged. In 2013, Rob wrote a book about his English Channel swim in 2012 called From Starr to Starrfish and in 2022 he released his first fiction novel, What the Tide Brings Back' 'The First Widow, published in 2024, is the first book in the new Kiara Fox series. Apart from writing, Rob's passion is open water swimming. He also loves a challenge and, in 2022, completed the 52-52 challenge, which consists of 52 Olympic Triathlons in 52 consecutive weeks. Rob lives in Brighton with his wife and their three children.

Dot Marshall-Gent worked in the emergency services for twenty years first as a police officer, then as a paramedic and finally as a fire control officer before graduating from King’s College, London as a teacher of English in her mid-forties.  She completed a M.A. in Special and Inclusive Education at the Institute of Education, London and now teaches part-time and writes mainly about educational issues.  Dot sings jazz and country music and plays guitar, banjo and piano as well as being addicted to reading mystery and crime fiction.