Eye For An Eye

by Andy Hughson

Ever wondered how you’d respond if someone kidnapped your family? They may have chosen the wrong target this time…

Captain Marco Darnelli is enjoying retirement when his life takes a desperate turn. His wife and son are snatched from a Spanish beach. What follows is a frenzied race against time to save them.

Is it simply a kidnap for ransom as it first appears, or does his former career as a British Army bomb disposal officer hold the key?

As he pieces together the facts, and the trail gets ever longer, Marco is reliant on an odd mix of friends old and new. With time running out, and with the stakes so high, this is one mission he can’t afford to fail.

Here's what readers are saying about the
★★★★★ 'Fabulous writing, technically spot on, with some great humour, good backstory, and grips the reader.' - ex-EOD and Counterintelligence officer

★★★★★ 'The story builds quickly with believable plot lines and relatable characters.' - Goodreads reviewer

★★★★★ 'I genuinely couldn’t put it down.' - Amazon reviewer

★★★★★ 'Fabulous from cover to cover.' - Amazon reviewer

★★★★★ 'A thrilling read, genuinely heart racing at times.' - Amazon reviewer

★★★★★ 'Hard to believe this is a debut novel.' - Amazon reviewer

332 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 21, 2024

About the author

Born and raised in and around the grey skies of Manchester, England, I am now fortunate to reside in the sunnier climes of inland Andalucía, Spain, and I would describe myself as equal parts creative (as a writer, musician and artist) and practical.

From an early age I fell in love with reading and the power of the written word to transport the reader to another land and time. In my adult life, my reading tastes have been mainly thrillers and police procedural novels, with the occasional sojourn into horror, comedy and autobiographies.

I really enjoy the writing process, and like most writers, I don’t write to be famous or earn a million – although that would be very nice, of course, even if the Spanish state would end up keeping more than half the proceeds! – and so I’m really writing to entertain the reader.

I do hope you enjoy my debut thriller. I think a writer’s first book is always going to be a labour of love and one that takes much longer to successfully edit than to write, as indeed this book did – you always believe it could be improved in some small way, and knowing when to stop and publish is a constant source of doubt.

I have ideas for further adventures for Marco and his friends, and my research and plot lines for book 2 are already well developed … I just need to take a small break before I go again and throw myself into the writing process, something which is always hard to do when the sun is shining and you are inundated with visitors to this little corner of Spanish paradise.

Reviews

[Martin Hetherington · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrilling read, genuinely heart racing at times. Some twists and turns that are definitely not expected – keeps you on your toes. Well written and easy to picture the scenes as a movie in your head. I also liked the breakdown of chapters and switching between different parts of the story and different characters. The characters are strong and easily relatable (the good ones obviously). As the story unfolds more and more of the plot is expanded and fans out absorbing you deeper.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gripping read. There is no build up, the actions starts right at the beginning. We then get some flashbacks to give context to what is happening. The story builds quickly, with believable plot lines and relatable characters.

I don't want to reveal too much and spoil any plot twists , but the plot line revolves around the main character, Marco, who is ex-forces and served in Afghanistan. He and his family are now ex-pats living in Spain when the action starts. His wife and son are kidnapped at the request of someone he crossed in Afghanistan and smuggled into Morocco. Marco enlists the help of a couple of former colleagues and a local to get them back. As you would expect, the execution of the plan is not simple, with plot twists cropping up to keep things moving and the reader in suspense.

The book is well thought out and well written. It is easy to keep track of who is who and what is happening, even though there are multiple characters with their own sub plots, and scene changes to keep things progressing in parallel. It would appear the author has researched this well, with credits given to an ex-forces person he knows. Presumably, the technical references to weapons and munitions are therefore accurate. It certainly comes across as believable.

I really enjoyed reading this book (his travelogue book is also excellent) and I would highly recommend it to those who like action novels.

[Wendy Norton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blooming good read

At first I didn’t think I would like this book when it went into detail about the war in Afghanistan but I persevered past that and it soon became obvious why that part was necessary. I read the book in a short space of time as I genuinely couldn’t put it down. I did not anticipate what happened towards the end and it had me crying when I read it. Overall a great storyline with strong characters who I could emotionally connect with throughout, I would definitely want to read the follow ups to this.

[PAULA EAGLES · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so enjoyed reading this book, it had a good storyline, was exciting, interesting plus an ending I couldn't have guessed and so well edited, (I get irritated by badly edited books, it annoys me, so much so that I can't continue reading). I can't understand how this book was rejected by so many publishing companies, maybe they are out of touch of what readers want. This book had
everything for me. Looking forward to your next one 'Andy'.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Andy's memoirs, so I thought I'd try this novel. It's not a genre I read very often, but I loved it. Some meticulous research has gone into this book, and the characters and scenarios are well written and believable. It kept me on my toes to the end. I hope Andy is planning to write more.