Face Value

Kara Wright and Tien Tran, former members of an elite intelligence gathering team active in Afghanistan, Iraq, and places still classified, now make their living through Wright & Tran, a PI service that tracks errant spouses, identifies dishonest employees and, just occasionally, takes on more significant cases that allow them to use all their skills. When siblings Zoe and Michael Sterling insist that their middle-aged parents have gone missing, Kara and Tien are at first sceptical and then quickly intrigued; the father, ex-intelligence analyst Chris Sterling, appears to be involved with an enigmatic Russian thug. Using less than orthodox methods and the services of ex-colleagues with highly specialised talents, Wright & Tran take on the case. But the truth they uncover is far from simple and will shake Zoe and Michael as much as it will challenge Tien and anger Kara – anger she can ill afford for she is being hunted by others for the killing of a street predator who chose the wrong prey. The only constant in this darkening world is that nothing and no one can be taken at face value. The Publishers Weekly - BookLife Prize winner for 2017 Kara Wright and Tien Tran, former members of an elite intelligence-gathering team active in Afghanistan, Iraq, and places still classified, now make their living through Wright & Tran, a PI service that tracks errant spouses, identifies dishonest employees and, just occasionally, takes on more significant cases that allow them to use all their skills.When siblings Zoe and Michael Sterling insist that their middle-aged parents have gone missing, Kara and Tien are at first sceptical and then quickly intrigued; the father, ex-intelligence analyst Chris Sterling, appears to be involved with an elusive Russian thug.Using less than orthodox methods and the services of ex-colleagues with highly specialised talents, Wright & Tran take on the case. But the truth they uncover is far from simple and will shake Zoe and Michael as much as it will challenge Tien and anger Kara. An anger she can ill afford for she is being hunted by others for the killing of a street predator who chose the wrong prey.The only constant in this darkening world is that nothing and no one can be taken at face value.“With taut writing, bone-crushing action, and a pace that never relents, this was a difficult read to put down and a worthy winner.” — Mark Dawson (BookLife Prize 2017) **Winner of the Publisher Weekly Booklife Best Fiction*** Kara Wright is a former Royal Air Force Intelligence Analyst. Her best mate, Tien Tran, is a veteran of the British Army's Intelligence Corps. Both served in Afghanistan and both were lucky to make it home. Now, based in a run-down office in Kentish Town they try to keep their heads above water as private investigators. When two grown-up children claim their elderly parents have been kidnapped, Kara and Tien are sceptical, but they need the money and anyway, Kara could really do with keeping her mind off the man she murdered.↵The gripping first book in the Wright & Tran crime thriller series. If you like electrifying action, breathless pacing, and three-dimensional characters, then you'll love Ian Andrew's award-winning special ops detective novel.