Contrail

by Malcolm Havard

It is June 1951. Italy. The revolutionary DH Comet is on a final test programme. The plane, a technological leap of faith by a relatively small British company, will give Britain a 5 year head start over its American and French competition.But the knives are out for it; there is a threat to the plane. Soon three people - Stafford, a brilliant engineer, his headstrong sister Harriet and Harry Jones, a rogue and former Soviet agent - are reluctantly drawn into a web of intrigue spun by the competing interests of British Intelligence, the company, the Americans and the Russians involving sabotage, espionage and murder. Can they find out who is behind the plot before it is too late? Can they save the aircraft and themselves?Recent page turner - 5 Stars' Peter C June 2013'A cracking read - 4 Stars' Roy D March 2013

308 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 6, 2013

About the author

Malcolm started writing fiction around 10 years ago, self-publishing three novels through Amazon including a mountaineering thriller, The Last Mountain, which has had more than 10,000 downloads. He also has two books published by a small publisher, including a collection of WW1 stories which topped the Amazon anthology best-sellers list at Christmas 2014.
His short stories have done well in a number of competitions, including runner-up placings for those run by Henshaw Press and the Mere Literary Festival.
Having written in several genres early in his career, Malcolm has now settled into writing historical fiction.
This includes LMF, a WW2 novel set during the RAFs controversial night bombing campaign, Leviathan, a novella about a young, frightened pilot hunting Zeppelins in the night during WW1, The Neutral Zone, a collection of short stories, and Eleven Days, a novel set around the events of 'Bloody April'. 1917.
LATEST NEWS!
The long-awaited sequel to LMF, The Way Back, is published 15 March 2021.

Reviews

[Mr. J. W. Buckingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping!

A well paced story with an aviation background that keeps one guessing until the very end. That the story is set with the prototype DeHavilland Comet, the worlds first passenger jet airliner at its core makes for exciting reading. The characters are well portrayed, with a strong plot that has enough twists and turns to keep one's attention until the very end.

[Gordon Orr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great spin on a fascinating true story

Malcolm Havard writes very well indeed. Totally plausible characters and plots with pitch perfect dialogue make reading his books a pleasure. Beats television hands down. He deserves a very wide audience and will undoubtably get it. 5 stars.