Flash Harry

by Carole Sutton

Everyone's looking for Harry... but when his daughter finds out what he does for a living, his ruthless associates need to shut her up-fast. Harry Tremaine is missing, his wife murdered. His daughter Liz is determined to find her long-lost father. Defying her controlling boyfriend, she travels to Thailand to Harry's last known address, the Bird of Paradise Club. She tracks her father through the seedy bars and clamour of the Bangkok streets, but the trail goes cold in a rural village where she stumbles on a startling part of Harry's secret life. But somebody is watching her every move. Betrayed by her boyfriend, Liz becomes the target of villains who are also hunting Harry. Coby Archer, an Australian undercover police officer, is also hot on Harry's trail. Coby needs Harry as a material witness to crack a child pornography ring operating between Sydney and Bangkok. Liz and Coby join forces to find Harry before his enemies silence him for good.

246 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2012

About the author

Although Carole has short stories and wildlife articles to her name, her real passion is writing crime fiction. Brought up in the UK, she married Bill and raised a family in Cornwall, where they built their own boats and enjoyed years of sailing the English Channel and the French coast during weekends and holidays. They moved to Australia in 1981 and set up a family retail business. Now, since she has retired, Carole combines the two interests and sets her crime locations around boats and rivers.

Reviews

[Wendy Laharnar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flash Harry is a Dramatic International Exposé.

The mystery of who killed Liz Tremaine’s mother and the animosity of the controlling boyfriend are ever present concerns while Liz sets about finding her father, Harry, whom she hasn’t seen for seventeen years. Her search takes her from Australia, and Sydney’s fashionable suburbs, to Thailand and the seedy side of Bangkok. In a Bangkok night club, Liz meets her father’s ex business partner who is less than helpful; he sends his thugs to follow and intimidate her. The call girls who like ‘Flash Harry’ are more forth coming with information, but they haven’t seen him for two years. Shocked by the revelations about her father's business and his associates, but refusing to heed the many warnings to leave Bangkok, Liz becomes caught in a web of international pornography and trafficking. The bad guys are determined to be rid of her at any cost.

Liz teams up with Coby Archer, the Australian policeman tracking down Harry for his own reasons. He is helpful and attentive, a much nicer person to be around than her boyfriend back home, and Coby protects her whether she wants him to or not, but he is risking his own life to do so.

The author, Carole Sutton, is a wonderful story teller. She is a master of suspense and has a knack of drawing the reader inside the setting and holding him there. I’m sure the author must have visited the location because the details of the streets, the people’s expressions and the climate have a realism that comes only from first hand experience. That’s why I believed everything Liz saw and suffered and I endured the boat chase, spray and all, as if I were on it, too. Behind-the-scenes Bangkok seems very real and scary.

Clever phrases and unexpected turns enrich the writing in this exposé which keeps us guessing until the end. From the chilling prologue and tragic first chapter through to the brutally satisfying end, I found Flash Harry to be gripping, entertaining, enlightening and a thoroughly satisfying read. Highly recommended.

[Todd Fonseca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flash Harry - Murder, Money, and Mystery in Asia's Seedy Human Trafficking Underground

Rating: 5 of 5
Author: Carole Sutton
Format: Kindle, Paperback

After the brutal and shocking murder of her mother, Liz Tremaine decides to find her long lost father, inform him of her death, and close some wounds that have been open for years. Having nowhere else to start but her father's last known address in Bangkok, Liz travels from her quiet life and home in Autralia to bustling Thailand where she learns about her father's secret life. Soon Liz finds she is in for much more than a reunion but a fight for her life finding herself in the middle of an illegal human trafficking business and adult video cartel. Will Liz find the answers to her father's disappearance and her mother's death or will she suffer their same fate?

Carole Sutton's, "Flash Harry" is her best novel yet. Expertly plotted and fiendishly clever with a pace that keeps the pages turning well into the night, Sutton's narrative pops off the page. Her descriptions of Bangkok's red light district are the stuff movies are made of. Infused with just the right amount of twists and turns, you'll keep guessing well to the end what will be the fate of Liz, her friends, and what remains of her family.

I've enjoyed Sutton's work since her Debut novel - Ferryman. She hooked me with her creativity in this first book portraying her antagonist through his psychotic actions - such as the parading of his conquests for all to see without anyone even realizing it was happening. Since then she has retained this creativity, but added even more depth to her plots and her turn of phrase is spot on. "Flash Harry" is a great read. Race to pick up your copy.

Note: A complimentary copy of this work was provided in return for a review.