Repercussions (Ben Coverdale)

?Repercussions? is the second in the Ben Coverdale Trilogy. Having released Mary from her tyrannical boyfriend, Donald, he and Mary settle down to a new life together in Ben?s beautifully converted cottage, La Sanctuaire, in the Loire Valley with their adorable son, Alex. Life is a dream ? or it should be. Donald, however, has different ideas. He needs Mary in order to carry out an audacious plan that relates back to his time in, and his hurried exodus from, South Africa, some seven years earlier. Those who work for him know him as a ruthless man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. And what he wants is Mary. Ben is aware of the danger after he is physically attacked by Donald and they are chased halfway across France. In his determination to learn more about Donald, he manages to make contact with some black diamond miners from Kimberley, and discovers that Donald has a very unsavoury history. Rumours abound that he was responsible for the death of a coloured girl who found out about his illegal diamond dealings and threatened to blow the whistle on him. ?Repercussions? centres on the two men, Ben and Donald, each trying to stay one step ahead of each other, but Donald?s actions, fuelled by his greed and desperation, take the upper hand. Fearing that Mary knows too much about his past, he puts out a contract to ?deal with her?. Donald retraces his steps to South Africa with help of the same man who got him out of the country those years before, but his companion is found dead in his cabin when they arrive back in England. The police think that there are no suspicious circumstances. A reader of part one of the Trilogy says on Amazon.com: Sanctuary is a well written, first novel for our author. I loved the development of the characters, they are charming. The quirky, best friend Georgina "Grunge" and the implementation of Madam Delphine was genius. The story line is concise and there are twists and turns that keep your attention. I found myself laughing or saying 'Oh no' out loud. This is a great weekend/rainy day/beach read and I cannot wait to read the sequel "Repercussions". The same group of characters appear in ?Repercussions? and play a major part in the progression of the story.