Category: Action/Thriller Publisher: New Generation Publishers.
ISBN-10: 1908775924
Pages: 334
Copyright: Feb 29 2012
ISBN-13: 9781908775924
A twisting tale of murder, lies and deceit. Likened to The 39 Steps and The Constant Gardener by reviewers and the film producer who's London Film Production Company is turning the story into a film. The book has been featured in The Sunday Times Book Club.
“The Desolate Garden is especially for readers who like a story, largely rendered through dialog because it was the dialog that pulled the work off the page and onto a movie set. This political thriller resonates with charm, deft touches of satire, and romantic entanglement and where the promise of rampant sex is a turn of the page away.
As the story unfolds, the relationship between the two, both sexually and intellectually, ricochets back and forth like a train driven by a teenager, stuck in first gear. Lord Harry knows more than he is willing to reveal, and Judith Meadows knows more about his family than Lord Harry does."
Excerpt
Chapter One.
Poison Ivy
The first time I saw her was three days after I was told that my father had died. All the national newspapers had carried the story in their first editions; most describing him as a private banker, others as simply a financier. All had speculated as to why. The majority of the more respectful had suggested pressure, and stress in the current financial world. However, the most popular tabloids had repeated the accusation, for which he had successfully sued them, that his money had come from unscrupulous and tyrannical rulers of various African countries. Only this time they glossed over some previously mentioned names, and added the word ‘alleged.’ They had not known that he had been murdered.
“Tell me a joke,” she said. She was seated at the table nearest the bar in the Dukes Hotel, in London’s St James.“What?” I replied, in complete surprise.“I’ve had a really shitty day, and I need cheering up. Come and join me,” she suggested, enticing me in from the lobby. She was about thirty but, in the dim seductive light of the world-renowned Martini bar, I could have been wrong by ten years either way. She had long curly dark hair, penetrating large eyes of an indeterminable colour, and a very attractive face. As to her figure, I had no way of knowing for sure but, from what I could see, she was quite petite. A colourful shawl draped from a glimpse of bare shoulder, and the cut of the red dress she wore was modest and high. What stood out was her perfume. The clear, smoke-free atmosphere carried an array of sweet aromas, mingling with the gin and lemons and the fresh damp air of the outside night, but hers was the sweetest. It reminded me of raspberries ripening on autumn canes, mixed with jojoba oil and honey. I smelled of whiskey and tobacco; not the catch of the night, I supposed
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In keeping with centuries of family tradition, Lord Elliot Paterson managed a secret Government bank in Westminster …until one morning, at ten past one, his startled housekeeper found him with a bullet in his head.
A few years earlier he had discovered a 1936 bank ledger revealing a questionable Russian address and a missing family fortune. As a result of these revelations, Lord Elliot formed a probable but dangerous hypothesis. Was this hypothesis what prompted the banker’s death? If so, the next Lord Paterson wants to uncover who instigated the murder?
Harry Paterson’s road to the answer is considerably more complicated than he expected. Not only is it complex (spanning many years of his family’s past as well as international borders) but it is also dangerous in an unexpected way. The case officer is an unlikely individual; an enigmatic and captivating young woman, Judith Meadows. Probing, sharp, with an unsettling knowledge of his family affairs - is Judith is a nightmare, or a dream? Whichever, the two must piece together the puzzle before another meets the late Lord Elliot’s fate.
“The Desolate Garden” by Danny Kemp is a fresh spy mystery providing entertainment, stimulation and insight. Brilliantly constructed, the winding plot, stealthy loopholes and clever humour render this novel one that claims your attention, holding it captive until the final page. With its vivid descriptions, three-dimensional characters and accessible prose, ‘The Desolate Garden’ can be thoroughly enjoyed by a wide spectrum of readers.
It has been likened, not unnaturally, to some English classics such as The 39 Steps, The Third Man and The Constant Gardener. Like those novels, The Desolate Garden is to be made into a film.
