Shadow of the Rock: A Spike Sanguinetti Novel

by Thomas Mogford

Overview

A humid summer night in Gibraltar. Lawyer Spike Sanguinetti finds Solomon Hassan, an old school friend, waiting on his doorstep. Solomon has been accused of murdering a Spanish girl, Esperanza, in Tangiers - slicing her throat on a beach. He has managed to skip across the Straits but the Moroccan authorities want him back.

In order to delay the extradition, Spike travels to Tangiers. Helped by Solomon's boss, Nadeer - the founder of a renewable-energy company called Dunetech, who are about to close a deal to finance an enormous solar-power site in the Sahara - Spike realises that if he can delay Solomon's trial until after the deal signs, Nadeer will persuade the Governor of Tangiers to bury the extradition demand.

While in Tangiers, Spike meets a beautiful Bedouin girl called Zahra who believes Dunetech are linked to the disappearance of her father. As Spike tries to discover more he finds himself in a dangerous game of secrets, corruption and murderous lies.

The Shadow of the Rock marks the arrival of a compelling new international, character-led thriller series.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802711885
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	08/07/2012
Series:	A Spike Sanguinetti Mystery , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	927 KB

About the Author

Thomas Mogford studied Modern Languages at Oxford University and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from City University, London. He works for ITV Sport as a translator and reporter on the UEFA Champions League. His short fiction has been published in The Field Magazine, Litro and Notes from the Underground. An early work featuring Spike Sanguinetti reached the semi-finals of the 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award and was referred to by Publishers Weekly as 'an exotic, addictive mystery.' Thomas Mogford is married and lives in London.
Thomas Mogford has worked as a journalist for Time Out and as a translator for the UEFA Champions League. His first novel in the Spike Sanguinetti series, Shadow of the Rock, was published by Bloomsbury in 2012. It received a starred review from Library Journal, which described it as a 'breathtaking debut ... Mogford's exotic locales, gorgeous prose, and closing twist make this debut a showstopper'. Thomas Mogford is married and lives with his family in London.
@ThomasMogford
http://www.thomasmogford.com/

Editorial Reviews

Gibraltar tax attorney Spike Sanguinetti agrees to help childhood schoolmate Solomon Hassan fight extradition to Morocco when Solomon is accused of murdering his boss's stepdaughter, Esperanza, in Tangiers. Being Jewish, Solomon fled the country because he is convinced the Moroccans will happily convict him. Spike travels to Tangiers, where he finds the authorities less than cooperative and Solomon's employer, a solar power company called Dunetech, most sinister. After a harrowing night, Spike tracks down Zahra, a Bedouin woman who knew Esperanza and suspects Dunetech had something to do with her death since the company covets the Bedouin lands. Spike manages to find enough allies to save his life, and along the way, he achieves some justice for those who need it most. VERDICT Guns, grit, and torture: this breathtaking debut runs through the shifting sands with aplomb. Mogford's exotic locales, gorgeous prose, and closing twist make this debut a showstopper. [Previewed in Kristi Chadwick's Genre Spotlight feature, "Crime Travels," LJ 4/15/12.]

Library Journal