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Dark Secrets Trilogy #1
The Janus Complex
November 1966, a dark winter’s night in Glasgow, and someone is in trouble. Jamie Raeburn, hearing a call for help, goes to investigate and what follows changes Jamie’s life forever.He discovers a man, an American Naval Officer, being viciously assaulted by four other men ... but Jamie is alone and the odds are stacked against him and the American. Jamie, never one to dwell on odds, intervenes and in the ensuing fight ends up being stabbed and left for dead. Rushed to hospital Jamie undergoes emergency surgery and spends three days in Intensive Care and it’s there he meets Kate Maxwell, a beautiful English nurse, and falls in love. But Kate Maxwell is married and their affair ends some months later when Kate, threatened by loan sharks for money her husband has borrowed - and missing the baby daughter whose existence she has kept from Jamie - returns to England and her family in the village of Calverton, near Nottingham, in England’s Midlands leaving both men in her life behind. This leads to a unexpected meeting between them Jamie visits Kate’s home in an effort to find her. It also leads a violent confrontation with the loan sharks.Jamie finally accepts that he has lost Kate but realises his reluctance to walk away from trouble in what is a violent city played a part in her decision. Intent on changing for the better he leaves his native Glasgow and heads south to Nottingham and a new job and, he hopes, a better future. His new life in Nottingham starts well enough but trouble seems to follow him no matter where he goes. And then fate takes a hand. Returning early to his lodgings one night after a girl he has arranged to meet doesn’t turn up he meets Lucie Kent and his life takes on meaning again. The couple fall in love and it isn’t long before they are living together in Nottingham but Lucie, like Kate Maxwell before her, has dark secrets she finds it impossible to share with Jamie, afraid that if she does she will lose him. These secrets involve Max Kelman, gangster son of a notorious Derby gangster. Jamie, conscious that something is playing on Lucie’s mind presses her to tell him and, reluctantly, she does. But Lucie’s revelations are much worse than Jamie expected and he realises he can’t escape his past. He and Lucie are living a nightmare and confrontation with Max Kelman is inevitable. But winning the battle against Kelman will be difficult, if not impossible, and dangerous. It isn’t only Kelman Jamie will have to defeat but the members of the Kelman gang. His first attempt ends in failure and he is lucky to escape with his life to Glasgow but this makes him even more determined defeat Kelman. With help from the American he saved months earlier (Conor Whelan) and a trip to Belfast as well as intervention by an old Glasgow Priest, Jamie develops his plan to free Lucie from Kelman’s clutches. And, a few weeks after his first attempt, he returns to The Midlands and takes the final steps. In a violent climax in the Derbyshire countryside Jamie puts his plan into action with devastating consequences ... for both men.
441 pages, Paperback
First published July 31, 2013
10 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Graeme Gibson
4 books3 followersWhat can I say and where do I start? Well, I suppose this is the place where you blow your own trumpet...but I'm a little uncomfortable with that, so let's just stick to facts.
Okay, I'm a "baby boomer", born in 1947, so I'm no spring chicken but I suppose the upside is that I've gained plenty, and I mean plenty, of experience. Various jobs...I started as a trainee metallurgist, became an engineer, production supervisor, stock control manager, and all before going to University to study Law at the tender age of 27. I then spent almost 30 years practising as a lawyer in Scotland before retiring. Add to all of that the fact that I have been a bus driver, beer salesman, book seller, double glazing salesman, taxi driver and wine merchant and you see where the experience comes from.
I see writing as a natural extension to my career as lawyer but I wish I had started writing earlier...it's much more fun!
My first novel, The Janus Complex, was published on Amazon in August 2013 and is the first book of a trilogy - Dark Secrets. The second book, Archangel, is well under way and I am hoping that it will be available on Amazon by January/February 2014. I am also working on another book, Web of Evil, and this too should be completed for publication in early 2014. The plan thereafter is to concentrate on book three of the Dark Secrets Trilogy which will be published under the working title of Redemption.
If you have paid me the compliment of reading this to the end, I thank you. Hopefully, you will like what my writing offers too.
Okay, I'm a "baby boomer", born in 1947, so I'm no spring chicken but I suppose the upside is that I've gained plenty, and I mean plenty, of experience. Various jobs...I started as a trainee metallurgist, became an engineer, production supervisor, stock control manager, and all before going to University to study Law at the tender age of 27. I then spent almost 30 years practising as a lawyer in Scotland before retiring. Add to all of that the fact that I have been a bus driver, beer salesman, book seller, double glazing salesman, taxi driver and wine merchant and you see where the experience comes from.
I see writing as a natural extension to my career as lawyer but I wish I had started writing earlier...it's much more fun!
My first novel, The Janus Complex, was published on Amazon in August 2013 and is the first book of a trilogy - Dark Secrets. The second book, Archangel, is well under way and I am hoping that it will be available on Amazon by January/February 2014. I am also working on another book, Web of Evil, and this too should be completed for publication in early 2014. The plan thereafter is to concentrate on book three of the Dark Secrets Trilogy which will be published under the working title of Redemption.
If you have paid me the compliment of reading this to the end, I thank you. Hopefully, you will like what my writing offers too.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 8, 2014
Janus Complex – my review
What, Amazon won’t let me give six stars? Okay, five stars it is. An engaging book of fiction, I have read in a long time. Some Americans might find the local Scottish And British slang of the 1960’s difficult to understand but I found reading around it, I caught the meaning and could follow the story with little difficulty buy the end of the book, I was on top of it with ease. A well-written action adventure that grabs you as the story unfolds both in twenty-one year old Jaime Raeborn’s life and his loves. The author’s descriptions are just enough that you will feel like you are right there next to Jaime, feeling what he feels, seeing what he sees. Tasting his bittersweet life while he struggles through it. The sex scenes are very appropriately placed and descriptive enough to place you in the middle of the action. Even though there are several sex scenes they do not dominate the action in the troubled young man’s life. Struggling to become a man, his life is filled with heartache, sorrow and pain. I won’t go to far in-depth but will say this book will take hold of you and make you stay up late at night to find out what happens next. I purchased this almost a year ago and kept skipping over it doing reviews of other books. Now, I wonder what other gems I have in my queue that I should be reading and reviewing.
Back to the story, I am posting the opening scene for your enjoyment and a sample of this book.
Tuesday 31 October 1967 – Glasgow
It was a great day for a funeral, if you can use words like “great” and “funeral” in the same sentence, Jamie Raeburn reflected gloomily. A dense pall of smoke and dust rising from the demolition of the old Saracen Foundry hung in the damp morning air, clinging to clothes and staining buildings. When it was absorbed into the moist autumn air it became almost viscous, filling nostrils and coating tongues. It was so thick you could taste it ! And it was raining… again! But when did it ever do anything else in this God forsaken city, Jamie asked himself? He felt disconsolate and miserable and wished he could be somewhere else, anywhere else, with the events of the last year erased from his memory, like chalk marks on a pavement washed away by rain. The early morning mist that had drifted like a protective ghost around him and had penetrated into every nook and cranny of the city was lifting at last…
A small crowd had gathered, shuffling about on the pavement outside the close, and Jamie felt uncomfortable with the eyes of this throng on him. He still blamed himself for Jack Connolly's death, even though he knew that doing so was irrational, and he still imagined accusation in every sideways glance. You’re just being paranoid he told himself angrily for the umpteenth time.
Gibson, Graeme (2013-11-17). The Janus Complex (Dark Secrets) (Kindle Locations 85-87). . Kindle Edition.
Gibson, Graeme (2013-11-17). The Janus Complex (Dark Secrets) (Kindle Locations 74-81). . Kindle Edition.
If you haven’t read or know I friend that reads a lot, especially this type of book, I highly recommend it. I loved the story so well, here are a couple of links to pick up your copy.
http://www.amazon.com/Janus-Complex-D...
What, Amazon won’t let me give six stars? Okay, five stars it is. An engaging book of fiction, I have read in a long time. Some Americans might find the local Scottish And British slang of the 1960’s difficult to understand but I found reading around it, I caught the meaning and could follow the story with little difficulty buy the end of the book, I was on top of it with ease. A well-written action adventure that grabs you as the story unfolds both in twenty-one year old Jaime Raeborn’s life and his loves. The author’s descriptions are just enough that you will feel like you are right there next to Jaime, feeling what he feels, seeing what he sees. Tasting his bittersweet life while he struggles through it. The sex scenes are very appropriately placed and descriptive enough to place you in the middle of the action. Even though there are several sex scenes they do not dominate the action in the troubled young man’s life. Struggling to become a man, his life is filled with heartache, sorrow and pain. I won’t go to far in-depth but will say this book will take hold of you and make you stay up late at night to find out what happens next. I purchased this almost a year ago and kept skipping over it doing reviews of other books. Now, I wonder what other gems I have in my queue that I should be reading and reviewing.
Back to the story, I am posting the opening scene for your enjoyment and a sample of this book.
Tuesday 31 October 1967 – Glasgow
It was a great day for a funeral, if you can use words like “great” and “funeral” in the same sentence, Jamie Raeburn reflected gloomily. A dense pall of smoke and dust rising from the demolition of the old Saracen Foundry hung in the damp morning air, clinging to clothes and staining buildings. When it was absorbed into the moist autumn air it became almost viscous, filling nostrils and coating tongues. It was so thick you could taste it ! And it was raining… again! But when did it ever do anything else in this God forsaken city, Jamie asked himself? He felt disconsolate and miserable and wished he could be somewhere else, anywhere else, with the events of the last year erased from his memory, like chalk marks on a pavement washed away by rain. The early morning mist that had drifted like a protective ghost around him and had penetrated into every nook and cranny of the city was lifting at last…
A small crowd had gathered, shuffling about on the pavement outside the close, and Jamie felt uncomfortable with the eyes of this throng on him. He still blamed himself for Jack Connolly's death, even though he knew that doing so was irrational, and he still imagined accusation in every sideways glance. You’re just being paranoid he told himself angrily for the umpteenth time.
Gibson, Graeme (2013-11-17). The Janus Complex (Dark Secrets) (Kindle Locations 85-87). . Kindle Edition.
Gibson, Graeme (2013-11-17). The Janus Complex (Dark Secrets) (Kindle Locations 74-81). . Kindle Edition.
If you haven’t read or know I friend that reads a lot, especially this type of book, I highly recommend it. I loved the story so well, here are a couple of links to pick up your copy.
http://www.amazon.com/Janus-Complex-D...
January 28, 2014
Over excited is the best way I can describe this novel. You can feel the author's desire to be a super spy. Taken as that, it is endearing.
Jamie Raeburn is the spy who knew no limits. Any man who can so effortlessly keep his two ladies happy is more a man than me. I tried it once. Two lovers is god awful.
But Rauburn is all man. He kills the bad and loves the lovely. I wish I were Jamie Raeburn.
Jamie Raeburn is the spy who knew no limits. Any man who can so effortlessly keep his two ladies happy is more a man than me. I tried it once. Two lovers is god awful.
But Rauburn is all man. He kills the bad and loves the lovely. I wish I were Jamie Raeburn.
April 19, 2021
MUST READ!!
Highly recommend this book I Couldnt put it down, Absolutely loved it, and cant wait to start the 2nd of the trilogy, have heard they may be trying to make it into a film, really hope this is true!!
Highly recommend this book I Couldnt put it down, Absolutely loved it, and cant wait to start the 2nd of the trilogy, have heard they may be trying to make it into a film, really hope this is true!!
Read
November 11, 2025From the very first page, I was completely drawn in because the story has everything eg love, danger, redemption, and a powerful emotional core. Jamie is one of those rare characters you find yourself rooting for no matter what, even when the world seems stacked against him.
The writing is vivid and gritty, yet deeply heartfelt. I could almost picture the streets of Glasgow and Nottingham as if I were walking alongside him. It’s a story that feels both real and cinematic at the same time
The writing is vivid and gritty, yet deeply heartfelt. I could almost picture the streets of Glasgow and Nottingham as if I were walking alongside him. It’s a story that feels both real and cinematic at the same time
Read
November 11, 2025This book was an emotional ride from start to finish. Every time I thought Jamie might finally catch a break, something unexpected would pull me right back in. The pacing is sharp, the tension is constant, and the emotional depth keeps you invested. It’s raw, moving, and beautifully written. I found myself turning page after page long into the night, completely unable to put it down.
Read
November 11, 2025What impressed me most was how authentic the characters felt. Jamie’s journey like his flaws, his regrets, and his small victories. it felt incredibly real. The story doesn’t just show his struggles; it makes you feel them. The ending hit hard and lingered with me for days afterward. If you enjoy crime dramas that go beyond action to explore the human heart, this book absolutely delivers.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews