Render unto Caesar: The Tale of Jack's Battle With a Jihadi Drug Lord in the Heart of Africa

Jack Mawgan #2

by Geoff Newman

Jack Mawgan was the most successful homicide detective in the West Country but when fate dished up a bunch of trouble, life suddenly headed downhill. A new beginning provided fresh opportunities. Life should then have been simple, but Jack could never let an injustice pass him by. Old habits die hard, he is a policeman at heart and a detective through and through and this trait led to trouble, serious trouble. His life was in danger and so were those of friends and family. This fast-paced tale of murder and intrigue leads to a villain with a privileged background and his evil, murderous, henchman. This exciting page-turner will keep you enthralled from the very first page. Jack is about to fulfil his ambition to become a qualified paramedic when an incident involving a young Muslim man found naked on a Cornish road in broad daylight draws him into the sinister world of ‘Extraordinary Rendition’. This campaign was run by the US security services and involved their operatives in torture in their search for information about Al Qaeda’s activities. Jack’s involvement sets off a chain of events that leads him to the depths of the African interior in pursuit of a self-proclaimed jihadist fomenting rebellion and heavily involved in the drugs trade.

342 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 22, 2014

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

linked through the discovery of a young naked Muslim boy on a Cornish road. This, the second book in the Jack Mawgan series, is tightly written thriller that is difficult to put down as Mawgan and friends get drawn deeper and deeper into a tale of international intrigue and corruption involving spy agencies and the drug trade. As the author says, “The story is built around real places, real people and real events ...”, so although the story is fiction, it is clear that Newman is drawing on considerable expertise or research as the book contains a great deal of detail about places, culture and events: a bit too much detail about some of the sleaze, for my taste. The title comes from Matthew 22:21, and is an apt title, as the reader will find out.
Newman also quotes from Gibbon (Lord Acton) and his concern that corruption is now to be found everywhere, especially amongst our public services. This informs his novel which acts as a stark reminder of how power corrupts and as Gibbon says “.. and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Enjoy this roller coaster of a novel and be informed at the same time.