Books
Castle in the Hill......
Part two of the Sandie Watson Trilogy
An innocent action during the seemingly routine recovery of a grounded yacht, activates a tsunami of consequences against the crew of the salvage vessel, Sandie Watson.
Suddenly a London gangland boss and a wealthy German Baron are calling the shots, and the crew now find themselves part of an explosive rollercoaster of events, that sees them being hunted by two separate groups of extremely dangerous men.
With his house under siege, Duggan must make some tough calls and knows that even if they survive, the impact of what they’ve unwittingly got themselves embroiled in, could be potentially lifechanging.
The Story Behind the Book
Smuggling in the UK is thought to have begun in the late 13th century when Edward I placed taxes on exported wool, in order to raise money for his armies to go to war. Since then it has become commonplace around the world, with even the everyday man or woman, considering bringing that extra bottle of booze or perfume into the country after a holiday, along with their straw donkey and the huge sombrero hat!!!!!
I than began to realise there are many different reasons for smuggling goods, as well as ways to go about it. The bottom line however, is nearly always the same; greed.
I hope you enjoy reading this book which very much features on the "greed" aspect of smuggling.
Swallowed By The Sea...
Part one of the Sandie Watson Trilogy
How does a ship loaded with brand new cars disappear in a calm North Sea, without leaving any wreckage or crew, either dead or alive?
Nick, Jim and the crew of the salvage vessel Sandie Watson, are asked to investigate and quickly discover that something is very wrong. As they probe into what happened, they find with each step forward they are faced with more questions than answers.
The trail finally leads them into the shady world of a Russian Entrepreneur and a rogue ex SAS undercover agent, who even the Russian Mafia wouldn’t want to cross and suddenly one question dominates their investigation.
Will they get out of this alive?
The Story Behind the Book
This story came about after I stumbled across an article on-line about a Car transporter ship called the Tricolor, that sunk on the 14th December 2002, following a collision with another vessel.
Unfortunately she capsized at the point where shipping coming down the North Sea begin their turn into the English Channel, which is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The water at the site was just 30m deep and with the ships beam (width) at 32m she was now only barely submerged, making her a major hazard to shipping. She was Initially patrolled by a French maritime police vessel, a 195 foot patrol vessel (HMS Angelsey); two salvage vessels and also had three wreck buoys attached to her, but despite all this, she was hit the very next night.
They then added two additional patrol ships, six more buoys and a Racon warning transponder, which kept her safe for a few days, before she was struck again on the 1st January. The authorities acted quickly and over the next 18 months she was cut up and taken away.
Being a keen car man, my interest was initially piqued by the fact that it was loaded with 2871 high end vehicles (BMW's, Saabs, and Volvo's). The cargo alone being quoted at $100 million dollars!
Then of course there was the value of the vessel itself, all very expensive. This turned out to be the catalyst for the story and with a few twists, turns and unsavoury characters, Swallowed by the Sea came into being.