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Black Reef
A ship's captain is found hanged in his suicide or murder? Marine claims investigator Angus McKinnon is assigned to the case, but when he discovers a falsely declared cargo of military equipment in the ship's holds, alarm bells start ringing in the intelligence world. What looked routine becomes a perilous mission to thwart a coup d'état that threatens to pit two global superpowers against one another, while a secretive bank with Nazi gold glimmering darkly inits vaults attempts to derail the investigation. From the Atlantic Ocean to the jungles of West Africa and a final showdown in the vast emptiness of the Sahara, McKinnon must bring down a psychopathic war criminal and those playing him as their proxy.
311 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 11, 2018
18 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Nick Elliott
11 books26 followers"Nick Elliott delivers in spades when it comes to fast-paced, intelligent, international thrillers. You feel, smell and touch every authentically crafted location; you’re expertly drawn into a maze of shadows and sinister organizations and characters where nothing is what it seems. This really is thriller writing of the highest calibre.” Craig Russell, award-winning author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Jan Fabel and Lennox crime thrillers.
Over an eventful career in international shipping, Nick Elliott has handled dozens of maritime claims, casualties and other assorted mishaps throughout the Far East, the East Med and Black Sea. Many of these cases provide inspiration for his series of Angus McKinnon thrillers.
He worked as a ships agent in Hong Kong and Tokyo for twenty years and Piraeus for a further eight. Along the way he's been sent to the Pacific island of Nauru to quell fears of a typhoid epidemic; hidden in a storm drain during an inter-gang shootout in Guam; investigated the theft of a cargo of ethyl alcohol in Georgia tracing both cargo and the armed gang of thieves to North Ossetia; and oversaw the welfare, disembarkation and migration from Hong Kong to the UK of 1,002 Vietnamese boat people rescued by a British ship in the South China Sea.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and now divides his time between Scotland and Greece.
Dark Ocean, his second thriller in the Angus McKinnon series, was published on Amazon in August 2017: http://amzn.to/2vIPRyJ
Nick’s first book, Sea of Gold, is also available from Amazon: http://amzn.to/1jkQUYT
You can sign up to Nick's newsletter from his website: http://www.nickelliott.org
Over an eventful career in international shipping, Nick Elliott has handled dozens of maritime claims, casualties and other assorted mishaps throughout the Far East, the East Med and Black Sea. Many of these cases provide inspiration for his series of Angus McKinnon thrillers.
He worked as a ships agent in Hong Kong and Tokyo for twenty years and Piraeus for a further eight. Along the way he's been sent to the Pacific island of Nauru to quell fears of a typhoid epidemic; hidden in a storm drain during an inter-gang shootout in Guam; investigated the theft of a cargo of ethyl alcohol in Georgia tracing both cargo and the armed gang of thieves to North Ossetia; and oversaw the welfare, disembarkation and migration from Hong Kong to the UK of 1,002 Vietnamese boat people rescued by a British ship in the South China Sea.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and now divides his time between Scotland and Greece.
Dark Ocean, his second thriller in the Angus McKinnon series, was published on Amazon in August 2017: http://amzn.to/2vIPRyJ
Nick’s first book, Sea of Gold, is also available from Amazon: http://amzn.to/1jkQUYT
You can sign up to Nick's newsletter from his website: http://www.nickelliott.org
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 23, 2025
This is another well-constructed thriller, the appeal of the main character Angus increasing with each book. He is intelligent, thoughtful and three-dimensional, and it is impossible not to care what happens to him. The surrounding cast of characters is complex and the plot even more so, involving the politics of the Eastern block, USA, UK and Africa. Elliot clearly has a firm grasp both of the political backgrounds and the maritime environment, and handles them deftly. The fact that I struggled somewhat both with the politics and with some of the technical descriptions and acronyms is a result of my own inadequacies rather than Elliot's writing.
If you like your thrillers action-packed, with strong characters and a well-constructed plot, this series is for you.
If you like your thrillers action-packed, with strong characters and a well-constructed plot, this series is for you.
April 30, 2019
A truely gutsy book, you never know where it’s going
Angus McKinnon does his research and this book shows it. He keeps the reader in suspense with its twists and turns. I couldn’t put it down
Angus McKinnon does his research and this book shows it. He keeps the reader in suspense with its twists and turns. I couldn’t put it down
October 1, 2019
A good read
December 8, 2023
Another excellent book in the series, if at times a little far fetched, but it kept up the momentum so there was never a long spell with nothing happening. I have learnt a bit about maritime procedures as well, through reading his very informed novels. Angus is a believable hero, though as i said, this last book did stretch credulity somewhat. I would happily recommend the whole series and buy the next book if there is one.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews