"Without taking his eyes off me, he bent down and picked up a thick hardback, ‘Texas’ by Michener. He grabbed it with both hands, extending his arms in my direction, like he wanted to give it to me. And then he ripped it in two. I was impressed.

So I shot him, right between the eyes."

William McVane is an American ex-operative living in Paris who sets out for Eastern Europe to find the bastards that tortured and murdered his wife.

McVane goes back to his old stomping grounds in Athens, looking for answers. Dimitri, a mafioso friend from his time with the agency, tells him it’s the Cult of Achilles. The next day Dimitri is found strangled with his own intestines.

Based out of his safe house in Bulgaria, an estate on the coast of the Black Sea, McVane sets out in search of the Achilles; from the monasteries in Meteora, to the catacombs of Odessa, from the Vatican to the Hagia Sofia. But it’s a two way street. The Achilles are after him too.

*****

"I enjoyed the noir feel of the book. The threat faced by the protagonist and his associates was well developed. I enjoyed "Bill's" character and the dialogue was acerbic, amusing, and just what you would expect from an international spy. A really enjoyable read."

— Diana Craig (Amazon reviewer)