Dead Rich - G.W.Shaw

  

I’ve read all of William Shaw’s crime novels, the Breen and Tozer series, and the Alex Cupidi books plus The Birdwatcher and I’ve loved them all to the very last full stop. So I was intrigued when I heard about an adventure thriller where the author is calling himself G.W.Shaw -  a Shaw by any other name smells just as sweet, I’m sure. (No, he’s  Shaw 😉, I’m certain) Frankly, I don’t care what he calls himself!  I’d read his books if he changed his name by deed poll to Mickey Mouse! He writes books that you don’t want to stop reading, once you’ve started. 

However nothing really prepared me for Dead Rich. Because it is just so on the money, almost scarily so. Why? 

‘Super yachts are secretive, like their owners. The bigger the richer. Like castles, they are created to inspire awe. Like castles too, they are defended. They are an entire world, separate from the rest of us.

Kai, a carefree once-successful musician is invited by his new Russian girlfriend Zina to join her family's Caribbean holiday. Impulsively accepting he learns that Zina is the daughter of a Russian oligarch, Stepan Pirumov and that the trip is aboard his yacht, the Zinaida, moored in St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.

On arrival Kai discovers that the head of security has been arrested, armed guards are below deck, there's an onboard panic room and a strong sense of all not being quite right beneath the gleaming surfaces of the Pirumov's lives. An unnerving presence punctures the atmosphere: a murderous imposter is on board the Zinaida, but who is it?

Kai will find that the only person he can trust will be Erin and that the world of the super-rich will become a prison from which they must escape.’

I’ll come clean and say that as soon as I read “Russian oligarch“ various images were conjured in my head pertaining to the current events unfolding in another part of the world. I don’t need to say any more do I? I tried to put that to one side, all I will say is that I think it makes the book so topically conceivable in a way that might not have been so potent had the events of this year not developed. It’s stylistically different from the author’s crime books, a different pace with the emphasis on action and adventure. 

I felt that some of the good old swashbuckling adventure yarns from the past masters were being revived in a contemporary style in a modern, connected world. I found myself wondering what Richard Hannay might have done if he had been in possession of a mobile phone! (Although he probably wouldn’t have got a good signal in some of the places he was hanging out!🤣)

It’s crisp, sharp dynamic writing. I enjoyed the way the story develops and builds up, gathering in power and momentum like some kind of literary tornado. It’s well plotted with some nice twists. It’s a complex plot and clearly there were political motivations but it didn’t come across as an overtly political thriller. The emphasis was more on adventure and survival.Maybe it’s because I’ve read the author’s work before and maybe I’m in tune with his way of thinking but I did figure out the identity of some of the perpetrators. 

I loved the character of Erin. It was good to have a courageous and compelling female character. Her abilities as a sailor were awesome but also revealed a great deal of meticulous research regarding the art of sailing. I enjoyed the dynamic between her and Kai as the pair of them worked together to try and extricate themselves from the perilous situation they found themselves in. But all of the characterisations were good and solid, believable.

I found it a very entertaining story. It what I sometimes think of is a cyclical story where events that happened earlier on in the book are all but forgotten and then you near the conclusion and their place overall is revealed. And sometimes when that happens in a book you find yourself saying out loud “Oh yeah!”

My thanks to Ana McLaughlin at riverrun for a beautiful hardback copy of this book.