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. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this book - the second in the Afghanistan series from brother and sister Alison Belsham and Nick Higgins..

In this book, full of twists and turns - and its fascinating insight into aspects of Afghan culture - a Well Diggers employee is found dead, while another is missing, and it falls to Mac and others to find out what happened.

With character development and descriptions of place masterfully crafted, along with a nail biting read from start to end, this is a book you must not miss.

2nd in the series and as with the first book a throughly fascinating look at Afghanistan,it’s people,history,problems and culture whilst also telling a good story,the authors manage to bring it all together to create an authentic and atmospheric thriller

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.