NOJO – No Judicial Option

 

Mac Macdonell has been badly wounded. He’s recovering at the military facilities known as Eden, but the Egyptian’s want him out of their country. It therefore suits him to accept an invite to France to attend the memorial of a former colleague. However, once in Paris, Inspector Julia Martin has other plans for him. Someone is killing foreign visitors who should be enjoying the wonders of the French canal system. The murders are horrific. The victims are tortured to death inside their own boats. The French authorities have reached out to Simon Callow of New Scotland Yard, and Mac is perfectly positioned to assist Julia Martin with her enquiries. After all, he does own a boat. Mac realises that he’s being used as bait, but that doesn’t deter him. The appeal of drifting lazily through the beautiful and vine-laden countryside of France and heading for the Mediterranean Sea is simply too enticing.
Marie Fries is one of France’s top criminologists, and of course, Mac considers her opinions to be of limited value. Using his own, unique techniques, he partially uncovers a group who appear to profit from one of humanity’s darkest and most vile of trades. So dark in fact, that Mac feels that there could never be a suitable judicial outcome to the investigation.

Sometimes, in exceptional circumstances, governments resort to the use NOJOs. Normally, for acts of terrorism or high treason. NOJOs are exclusively the domain of a country’s Secret or Special Services.

As Mac finds himself in deep and dangerous water, a close ally comes to his assistance. Mathew Price is one of Europe’s top soldiers, and it’s his job to validate and execute the NOJO. But first, he and Mac need definitive proof. The people they hunt are evil, but they are also cunning and street-wise. For Mac Macdonell, it will be a journey into the deepest recesses of his already darkened soul. The outlook is bleak, but when he least expects it, his own salvation becomes possible when he meets Emerentienne and her profoundly disturbed daughter, Gigi.

Mac can’t rescue everyone from the horror he’s been forced to encounter, but if he can assure the futures of these two remarkable people, he might just be able to save himself.