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Proteus
Proteus
Proteus
Ebook429 pages5 hours

Proteus

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Gerrards Cross is a pleasant, suburban town on the borders of London situated in the heart of leafy Buckinghamshire. A commuter town, it is repeatedly voted one of the best places in England to live. It also boasts more millionaires than any other town.

This domestic bliss is about to be blown apart by acts of sheer savagery and violence as the residents of this outwardly perfect community are stalked by a deadly assassin who kills for a living and is very good at it. As the death toll rises the police find themselves increasingly baffled.

Who is responsible? Who is paying?

Their main suspect is Michael Defreitas but how can he have done it? He is dead!

Proteus is the powerful story of the aftermath of a huge financial scandal. Michael Defreitas ran a seemingly successful fund that attracted investments by offering high returns but the fund is a fraud, a Ponzi scheme that has some very murky investors who want their money back.

When the headless body of Defreitas is found on the common in Gerrards Cross, Old Etonian DCI Tom Sparks is the detective put in charge of unraveling the complicated case that takes him from the upper echelons of society in Gerrards Cross to the City, the financial heart of London, and even the Costa Del Sol.

Full of twists and turns the story is not resolved until the final page. Gerrards Cross will never be the same again!

LanguageEnglish
PublisherSimon Hawkins
Release dateMar 4, 2015
ISBN9781310734069
Proteus
Author

Simon Hawkins

Simon was born in Devizes on 5 February 1956, to John and Peggy, a brother for sister Helen. John was a director of Wadworth Brewery for many years after a distinguished duty for the Fleet Air Arm during World War II. Simon was educated at Millfield School in Somerset before becoming a golf professional in 1974. Simon left golf in 1977 and worked in insurance before obtaining a degree in property from the Southampton and Solent University. Armed with his newly earned BA (Hons) he embarked on a career in property development first with Linden and then on his own. Initially successful he was a victim of the interest rate mis-selling scandal when he lost his fortune. At the same time Simon fell seriously ill with cancer and endured three tours of chemotherapy and two lengthy operations - defying death more than once, to the amazement of his physicians. Still a keen golfer, Simon is gradually returning to a normal life despite the absence of a right kidney, duodenum, gall bladder and half his pancreas and when not working as his wife Penny's unofficial PA, is working on his new book Guts - a fictionalised version of his experiences over the past six years. "I am no Charles Dickens - I just want people to have a little bit of fun and relaxation. So just settle back and enjoy and don't take Proteus too seriously. It was so strange, I woke up one day with the plot in my head and just started writing. It must have been the drugs as I was on some pretty heavy medication at the time!" Simon was living in Gerrards Cross when he started writing Proteus but has now moved to Winchester where he lives with his wife Penny, who writes cookery books, and 'The Gabors' their two pampered Bengal cats.

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    Proteus - Simon Hawkins

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