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Requiem
A pop star with green ideals buys an estate in Scotland. By accident his wife is sprayed with pesticide by an off-course aircraft. In America, a multi-national pharmaceutical firm is poisonously concealing for profit the results of its research. A thriller by the author of "Red Crystal".
Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
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About the author
Clare Francis
75 books65 followersClare Francis's first novel; Night Sky was published in 1983 to international success. It went to number one in the Sunday Times bestseller list, and spent six weeks in the New York Times top 10.
Three more thrillers followed, Red Crystal (1985), Wolf Winter (1987) and Requiem (1991), which was published in the U.S. as The Killing Winds. Her first crime novel, Deceit was published in 1993, and dramatised for television in 2000. Four other highly successful crime novels have followed, and a highly acclaimed literary novel, Homeland. Her latest crime novel Unforgotten has just been published. Her books have been translated into 20 languages and published in over 30 countries.
Clare was born in Thames Ditton, Surrey, the younger of two sisters. Christmas holidays were spent with her grandparents in a remote corner of the Yorkshire Dales where she developed the love of landscape that is a feature of so much of her fiction. Summer holidays were spent on the Isle of Wight, where she learnt to sail at the age of nine.
After five years at the Royal Ballet School she went to an A-level crammer in Oxford (where she appeared in the university revue Keep This to Yourself), then to University College London, where she obtained a degree in Economics. She worked in marketing for three years before taking a year out to travel and discover what she really wanted to do.
What began as a personal odyssey turned into what she terms her 'unplanned' five-year career in sailing. The odyssey was an unsponsored and unsung solo voyage across the Atlantic, during which she read, listened to music and tried her hand at writing. Soon after, Clare was offered sponsorship to take part in the Round Britain Race with Eve Bonham. This was followed by the Azores and Back Singlehanded Race, the Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, and, with a crew of eleven, the Whitbread Round the World Race. It was after writing three works of non-fiction about her adventures, Come Hell or High Water (1977), Come Wind or Weather (1978), and The Commanding Sea (1981) that Clare took the leap into fiction.
In 1977 she married Jaques Redon with whom she had a son, Tom, in 1978.
She is an MBE, a Fellow of University College London, and an Honorary Fellow of UMIST. She has served as Chairman of the Society of Authors (1997-99) and Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Public Lending Right (2000-03).
For the past twenty years she has been commited to the charity Action for ME, of which she is President, a trustee and member of the Council of Management. She herself has had ME (also known as Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) for many years.
Clare Francis lives in London and the Isle of Wight, and loves opera and walking.
Three more thrillers followed, Red Crystal (1985), Wolf Winter (1987) and Requiem (1991), which was published in the U.S. as The Killing Winds. Her first crime novel, Deceit was published in 1993, and dramatised for television in 2000. Four other highly successful crime novels have followed, and a highly acclaimed literary novel, Homeland. Her latest crime novel Unforgotten has just been published. Her books have been translated into 20 languages and published in over 30 countries.
Clare was born in Thames Ditton, Surrey, the younger of two sisters. Christmas holidays were spent with her grandparents in a remote corner of the Yorkshire Dales where she developed the love of landscape that is a feature of so much of her fiction. Summer holidays were spent on the Isle of Wight, where she learnt to sail at the age of nine.
After five years at the Royal Ballet School she went to an A-level crammer in Oxford (where she appeared in the university revue Keep This to Yourself), then to University College London, where she obtained a degree in Economics. She worked in marketing for three years before taking a year out to travel and discover what she really wanted to do.
What began as a personal odyssey turned into what she terms her 'unplanned' five-year career in sailing. The odyssey was an unsponsored and unsung solo voyage across the Atlantic, during which she read, listened to music and tried her hand at writing. Soon after, Clare was offered sponsorship to take part in the Round Britain Race with Eve Bonham. This was followed by the Azores and Back Singlehanded Race, the Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, and, with a crew of eleven, the Whitbread Round the World Race. It was after writing three works of non-fiction about her adventures, Come Hell or High Water (1977), Come Wind or Weather (1978), and The Commanding Sea (1981) that Clare took the leap into fiction.
In 1977 she married Jaques Redon with whom she had a son, Tom, in 1978.
She is an MBE, a Fellow of University College London, and an Honorary Fellow of UMIST. She has served as Chairman of the Society of Authors (1997-99) and Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Public Lending Right (2000-03).
For the past twenty years she has been commited to the charity Action for ME, of which she is President, a trustee and member of the Council of Management. She herself has had ME (also known as Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) for many years.
Clare Francis lives in London and the Isle of Wight, and loves opera and walking.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
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September 18, 2019AKA The Killing Winds
AKA Requim
AKA Requim
September 11, 2021
Slow to get into, but eventually an exciting read and full of mystery and drama. Enjoyed this, a good read.
February 8, 2023
As true today as when it was written
A good read. A timeless topic. A real page turner. Will recommend to family and friends. Keep up the good work
A good read. A timeless topic. A real page turner. Will recommend to family and friends. Keep up the good work
February 19, 2017
Unputdownable.
October 11, 2011
I found this a little slow to get into - it could probably have been a bit shorter - as the changing between the various characters involved in the story could be a little confusing. By the time I got to half way I was gripped by the story - the dirty tricks were frustrating but quite believable. Although the length of time it took the heroine to cotton on was a little less believable as in everything else she was savvy and intelligent. I wonder if this was a comment about some women not feeling important even when they are doing major things.
Glenn Ashard is an idyllic Scottish home of ex-rock star Nick Mackenzie and his exotic wife Alusha. A haven of peace and security after all the years on the road. Until the day a small plane with a deadly chemical cargo flies off course. In the tragic aftermath, Daisy Field, environmental campaigner, picks up the trail. Abrasive and idealistic, shes determined to fight the profits before safety attitude of the agrochemical industry. But to win she needs Nicks millions, and Nick is facing difficulties of his own. From the wilds of Scotland to the corridors of power in London and Chicago, from Madison Sqaure Garden to a seedy security firm in south London, the story pulls Daisy into a struggle against apathy, sabotage and dirty tricks
Glenn Ashard is an idyllic Scottish home of ex-rock star Nick Mackenzie and his exotic wife Alusha. A haven of peace and security after all the years on the road. Until the day a small plane with a deadly chemical cargo flies off course. In the tragic aftermath, Daisy Field, environmental campaigner, picks up the trail. Abrasive and idealistic, shes determined to fight the profits before safety attitude of the agrochemical industry. But to win she needs Nicks millions, and Nick is facing difficulties of his own. From the wilds of Scotland to the corridors of power in London and Chicago, from Madison Sqaure Garden to a seedy security firm in south London, the story pulls Daisy into a struggle against apathy, sabotage and dirty tricks
December 18, 2016
Dealing as it does with green and conservation issues I can imagine that this book had a greater impact on first publication 25 years ago when such topics were still very much on the lunatic fringe of politics. I found it a trifle long but the denouement was certainly pacy and exciting. One would hope that the large corporations are not quite as unscrupulous as portrayed herein but whilst they might not indulge in the dirty tricks featured in the book I fear the trust might be misplaced! An exciting and thought provoking book.
April 21, 2010
Novel was very long. Not so bad IF the plot was interesting. It took me 85 pages to finally sink my teeth into the storyline. Maybe the subject, environmental chemicals, just did not appeal to me. Anyway, I plodded thru the book....not up to Clare Francis' high writing standards.
July 17, 2012
I really loved this. It was a detective story and a love story, all in one. (I may be a softie but I do like love stories!)
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August 6, 2012Great read. Lots of diverse characters with intertwining plots. Most impressed with this one.
January 13, 2014
Gripping
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews