Absolution

It's 1997, and eight months since vigilante justice-seeker Claymore Straker fled South Africa after his explosive testimony to Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In Paris, Rania LaTour, Claymore's former lover, comes home to find that her son and her husband, a celebrated human rights lawyer, have disappeared. On an isolated island off the coast of East Africa, the family that Clay has befriended is murdered as he watches. So begins the fourth instalment in the Claymore Straker series, a breakneck journey through the darkest reaches of the human soul, as Clay and Rain fight to uncover the mystery behind the disappearances and murders, and find those responsible. Relentlessly pursued by those who want them dead, they must work together to uncover the truth, and to find a way to survive in a world gone mad. At times brutal, often lyrical, but always gripping, Absolution is a thriller that will leave you breathless and questioning the very basis of how we live and why we love. 'A trenchant and engaging thriller that unravels this mysterious land in cool, precise sentences' Stav Sherez, Catholic Herald 'This is a remarkably well-written, sophisticated novel in which the people and places, as well as frequent scenes of violent action, all come alive on the page...' Literary Review 'Gripping and exciting … the quality of Hardisty's writing and the underlying truth of his plots sets this above many other thrillers' West Australian 'Searing … at times achieves the level of genuine poetry' Publishers Weekly 'A stormer of a thriller - vividly written, utterly tropical, totally gripping' Peter James

'Beautifully written, blisteringly authentic, heart-stoppingly tense and unusually moving' Paul Johnston 'The plot burns through petrol, with multiple twists and turns' Vicky Newham 'A solid, meaty thriller – Hardisty is a fine writer and Straker is a great lead character' Lee Child

'A fast-paced action thriller, beautifully written' Tim Marshall, author of Prisoners of Geography