Arms Trade Books
James Martingell is a self-made explorer, hunter and prospector, and few men know war-torn Southern Africa better than he. He also sells guns to whoever can afford them. Offered a fortune to deliver a huge stock of weapons to would-be Boer rebels in the Transvaal, he supposes his fortune is made. Instead, he finds himself facing betrayal, imprisonment, open warfare and eventually murder as he becomes involved with international traders. Will he survive long enough to become the best known, and most feared, gun-runner in the world?
Back in 1918 arms dealer James Martingell received a knighthood for supplying the British Army during the war. With the coming of peace, they want to close him down. Not welcoming the prospect of poverty, Martingell resumes negotiations with his old friend, Sheikh Azam ud-Ranatullah, thereby branding himself a traitor to his country. Ignoring all obstacles, Martingell doggedly pursues the one last coup that will make him rich beyond measure. Trekking across Asia through civil war, betrayal, murder and death, he becomes a figure of grim legend...
When the Senussi tribesmen of southern Libya rise in revolt against their Italian masters in the 1920s, their main problem is obtaining arms and ammunition to fight against a modern army. In desperation they turn to American soldier of fortune, Clayton Andrews, providing him with funds to purchase weapons from the now famous gunrunner James Martingell. But by the time Clay reaches England, Martingell is dead, and Clay has to deal with his successor, Richard Elligan — and Richard's wife, the German adventuress Sophie von Bernhardt. The deal is struck, but with her husband ill, Sophie herself sets off for the Sahara, accompanied by faithful servant, Ned Carew. Together they embark on an epic adventure which takes them from the sands of the Sahara to the mountains of Abyssinia. With death and destruction on every side, her and Ned’s own relationship begins to change as they fight to survive. ‘Guns in the Desert’ is the third in the Arms of War series focusing on international trade and the weapons of conflict, following ‘The Trade’.
Albania, 1939. Catherine Ames and three friends are on a cycling holiday in the mountains. Looking out across the Adriatic, they glimpse a fleet of Italian ships and suddenly find themselves in the middle of a full-scale invasion. Catherine somehow escapes, but Peter and Alan are killed and Roberta is badly wounded. An unknown American comes to their aid, promising to look after Roberta and persuading Catherine, for her own safety, to leave the country -- and to carry out an arms deal which would provide the small village of rebels with enough fire-power to offer serious resistance. Clayton Andrews is a soldier of fortune driven to oppose Fascism wherever he finds it. He knows Catherine may lack the will to avenge her friends' deaths, but with the wounded Roberta effectively his hostage, Catherine has little choice other than to seek out Clay's contact, Sophie von Bernhardt. A woman who has lived life to the hilt in the past, and whose relationship with Andrews is far from straightforward, Sophie had thought to turn her back on her former existence. Still, Clay's offer of $50,000 is not easily ignored. Now, Catherine finds herself embroiled in a world she could never have imaged and can barely believe -- unaware that her every move is being watched ...