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MacKenzie and Khan #2
Death in Helmand
One man murdered, another missing. A race against time…
Helmand, 2004: Afghanistan’s most lawless province, where nearly 90 per cent of the world’s opium is grown. Pink and lilac poppies flutter innocently in the breeze in fields that stretch for miles and miles along the Helmand River south of the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. Gangsters and warlords battle for supremacy in the lucrative trade, territories well-known, and fiercely contested.
Well Diggers, an Anglo-Dutch NGO helping the farming community, comes under attack. One man is dead and another man is missing – suspected kidnapped, so head of security Ginger Jameson calls in his old friend Alasdair 'Mac' MacKenzie to help.
But when the expected ransom demand fails to materialise, rumours blossom, creating a web of deceit and a multitude of false leads. Embarking on a rescue mission into the no-go reaches of southern Helmand might look like a major scoop to Mac’s girlfriend, investigative reporter Baz Khan, but it puts the whole team in danger. And if they don’t find him soon, they won’t find him at all…
From Helmand’s shimmering poppy fields to the blistering Desert of Death and the opium bazaars of Bahram Char, where nothing is as cheap as a man’s life, this is the gripping sequel to Death in Kabul.
Helmand, 2004: Afghanistan’s most lawless province, where nearly 90 per cent of the world’s opium is grown. Pink and lilac poppies flutter innocently in the breeze in fields that stretch for miles and miles along the Helmand River south of the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. Gangsters and warlords battle for supremacy in the lucrative trade, territories well-known, and fiercely contested.
Well Diggers, an Anglo-Dutch NGO helping the farming community, comes under attack. One man is dead and another man is missing – suspected kidnapped, so head of security Ginger Jameson calls in his old friend Alasdair 'Mac' MacKenzie to help.
But when the expected ransom demand fails to materialise, rumours blossom, creating a web of deceit and a multitude of false leads. Embarking on a rescue mission into the no-go reaches of southern Helmand might look like a major scoop to Mac’s girlfriend, investigative reporter Baz Khan, but it puts the whole team in danger. And if they don’t find him soon, they won’t find him at all…
From Helmand’s shimmering poppy fields to the blistering Desert of Death and the opium bazaars of Bahram Char, where nothing is as cheap as a man’s life, this is the gripping sequel to Death in Kabul.
373 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 8, 2022
1 person is currently reading
32 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 19, 2023
What was your last 5 star read?
Mine? Death in Helmand by Alison Belsham and Nick Higgins. February 2022 I was given the opportunity to read an ARC of Death in Kabul by the same authors and my god did I love it. I could not wait for the sequel to be released and whilst it might have taken me a while a get to it on my ever growing TBR but I finally got to it in July.
Death in Helmand is every bit as good as Death in Kabul. We meet up with our old friends Mac and Baz as they are drawn into a missing persons case in Helmand Province. Helmand, Afghanistan's most lawless province, where nearly 90 per cent of the world's opium is grown. Pink and lilac poppies flutter innocently in the breeze in fields that stretch for miles and miles along the Helmand River south of the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. Gangsters and warlords battle for supremacy in the lucrative trade, territories well-known, and fiercely contested.
This is an edge of the seat thriller that will make you swear you are travelling across Afghanistan with them and have sand in your shoes and eyes. The authors once again knock it out the park in terms of creating a vivid and fascinating world that draws you in with its realism and history of a broken and often fought over country.
If you love a good thriller read then I highly recommend this series and this book. You won’t regret it.
Mine? Death in Helmand by Alison Belsham and Nick Higgins. February 2022 I was given the opportunity to read an ARC of Death in Kabul by the same authors and my god did I love it. I could not wait for the sequel to be released and whilst it might have taken me a while a get to it on my ever growing TBR but I finally got to it in July.
Death in Helmand is every bit as good as Death in Kabul. We meet up with our old friends Mac and Baz as they are drawn into a missing persons case in Helmand Province. Helmand, Afghanistan's most lawless province, where nearly 90 per cent of the world's opium is grown. Pink and lilac poppies flutter innocently in the breeze in fields that stretch for miles and miles along the Helmand River south of the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. Gangsters and warlords battle for supremacy in the lucrative trade, territories well-known, and fiercely contested.
This is an edge of the seat thriller that will make you swear you are travelling across Afghanistan with them and have sand in your shoes and eyes. The authors once again knock it out the park in terms of creating a vivid and fascinating world that draws you in with its realism and history of a broken and often fought over country.
If you love a good thriller read then I highly recommend this series and this book. You won’t regret it.
December 31, 2024
I listened to the first one and quite enjoyed it but the things that I found tiresome in that one proved features that made it impossible to finish this book. It’s the story of recovering a hostage with diversions, mistakes fights, armed conflict along the way. If you like listening to an account of that then this is fine but there really is no point listening if you want to find out a backstory of why someone went missing and why it matters and deducing how to get them out. So it’s an action feature with name checks for a lot of rifles and armed security vehicles. Fine if you like that sort of thing but I realise that I don’t. It’s not a crime story and as thrillers go it isn’t so much thrilling as armed conflict action packed. Not for me but I’m sure it’s for plenty of others. DNF at around 2 1/2 hours left to go. Excellent narration by Simon Mattacks
August 31, 2022
A fast-paced action thriller set in Afghanistan in 2004. A Dutch engineer from a company working on the irrigation canals in the area is missing, presumed kidnapped. The new head of security for the company calls in his friends to help him locate the man but things start to go wrong when one of them is kidnapped himself.
This is the second book in the series. I haven't as yet read the first one, but I found that the book can quite easily be read as a stand alone.
This was an exciting read and very atmospheric. Danger was always lurking just below the surface and there were some unexpected plot twists that added to the thrill.
Highly recommended.
I received a free review copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest and unedited review.
This is the second book in the series. I haven't as yet read the first one, but I found that the book can quite easily be read as a stand alone.
This was an exciting read and very atmospheric. Danger was always lurking just below the surface and there were some unexpected plot twists that added to the thrill.
Highly recommended.
I received a free review copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest and unedited review.
March 19, 2024
I really enjoyed Death in Helmand. The plot kept darting off in unexpected directions, meaning I could never quite predict what was going to happen next. And the end was a real curveball.
However I had to knock a star off for 2 reasons. Firstly a minor one where a character was a nephew, then became a son, then reverted to a nephew. Secondly, one of the characters suffers severe injuries - these end up being glossed over and almost forgotten about, and he dives back into action, when in reality he'd be laid up in a hospital bed.
Looking forward to the third book in the series!
However I had to knock a star off for 2 reasons. Firstly a minor one where a character was a nephew, then became a son, then reverted to a nephew. Secondly, one of the characters suffers severe injuries - these end up being glossed over and almost forgotten about, and he dives back into action, when in reality he'd be laid up in a hospital bed.
Looking forward to the third book in the series!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2024
3.5 ⭐️
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews