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Backlash
You’re being blackmailed.
But it isn’t your money they want.
Instead, you’re forced to pass the blackmailer’s threats to his more dangerous victims. Now it’s you who’s acting as blackmailer.
But what will you do when an arms dealer decides he won’t pay and it’s you he’s determined to kill?
Young interior designer Trish McGowan’s life and career are thrown into chaos. After narrowly surviving a bomb blast that destroys her shop, she finds herself running for her life. She quickly realises tracking down her blackmailer, the mysterious Argus, and trying to get his help is the only way she’ll manage to stay alive. But an experienced criminal who wants to remain anonymous isn’t easy to find.
And he might be hiding in plain sight right in front of her.
As the arms dealer’s noose starts to close around McGowan, she uncovers two more of Argus’ victims, and they form an uneasy alliance to stop the blackmail once and for all.
But it isn’t your money they want.
Instead, you’re forced to pass the blackmailer’s threats to his more dangerous victims. Now it’s you who’s acting as blackmailer.
But what will you do when an arms dealer decides he won’t pay and it’s you he’s determined to kill?
Young interior designer Trish McGowan’s life and career are thrown into chaos. After narrowly surviving a bomb blast that destroys her shop, she finds herself running for her life. She quickly realises tracking down her blackmailer, the mysterious Argus, and trying to get his help is the only way she’ll manage to stay alive. But an experienced criminal who wants to remain anonymous isn’t easy to find.
And he might be hiding in plain sight right in front of her.
As the arms dealer’s noose starts to close around McGowan, she uncovers two more of Argus’ victims, and they form an uneasy alliance to stop the blackmail once and for all.
381 pages, Paperback
Published December 15, 2024
About the author
Ian Coates
3 books10 followersIan Coates graduated with honours in electronics and often uses his experience of working in high-tech industries to give his thrillers an authentic backdrop. Although he followed a career in technology, his first love has always been books, particularly exciting page-turners about spies and assassins.
He won his first writing competition at the age of 14 with a crime novella. His debut thriller, Eavesdrop, was short listed in a Tibor Jones Page Tuner competition and was one of the winners in the centenary Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook novel writing competition. Eavesdrop was published in paperback in 2014 by Bad Day Books, Assent Publishing’s thriller imprint, and Audible Studios subsequently released it as an audio book. Backlash is his second novel, which was the runner-up in the 2024 Writers College Global Writing Competition. It is published by Wallace Publishing.
Ian lives with his wife in Worcestershire, England and is a member of the International Thriller Writers Association and the Society of Authors. A percentage of the proceeds from his thrillers supports the British Science Association.
He won his first writing competition at the age of 14 with a crime novella. His debut thriller, Eavesdrop, was short listed in a Tibor Jones Page Tuner competition and was one of the winners in the centenary Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook novel writing competition. Eavesdrop was published in paperback in 2014 by Bad Day Books, Assent Publishing’s thriller imprint, and Audible Studios subsequently released it as an audio book. Backlash is his second novel, which was the runner-up in the 2024 Writers College Global Writing Competition. It is published by Wallace Publishing.
Ian lives with his wife in Worcestershire, England and is a member of the International Thriller Writers Association and the Society of Authors. A percentage of the proceeds from his thrillers supports the British Science Association.
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January 27, 2025I'm the author, so it's not fair to comment.
April 27, 2025
Great read - really good characters that all fit together via lots of seemingly separate threads. Very clever story and I was struggling to put it down once it got going!
January 21, 2025
Fast-paced, gripping read. I didn't know where things were going or how they would be tied up which is the sign of a great plot - had me hooked all the way through and it was difficult to put down!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews