Mickey Starts Series

1997 was a bad year for Britain. The most loved woman in the land died in a tragic car accident in Paris. Her name was Princess Diana and few people have never forgotten her. So what can Mickey do, twenty years later, when faced with a man who claims that the incident was nothing to do with bad luck and he knows that, because he killed her! Mickey is on duty when he hears that, working for his usual unit, the anti-terrorist branch called WSB. It puts Mickey in a difficult position, because, the next week, he is back 'off-duty', a civilian on the street. What power does he have to investigate further? And should he? The Unit boss, Captain Gibson, makes it clear to Mickey that he should bow out, and Mickey finds himself alone, isolated and threatened. Only one woman will stand by him, but they are going to have to travel far to find answers. First Paris, and then the south of France. All the way, harrassment and threats dog their steps. It soon becomes clear that great nations are playing lethal games, all desparate to conceal their own roles in the tragedy, but equally eager to put the blame on others. Mickey plows ahead. He is going to get answers - even if it kills him! (This is the first book in a series called 'Mickey Starts', where just the first chapter is included. You will also get a Synopsis, so you can judge whether you want to read more. But if you do, it's up to you!) 

Mickey has few people in his life he can truly call a 'friend', so, when one of them is killed, he takes it personally. Especially as Kevin died in the most bizarre of circumstances - a plane crash in the middle of Manchester, right in front of the crowds on Salford Quays. Mickey's quest gets off to a bad start and he finds himself chasing many false leads. He can't even get to establish the simplest of facts. It's a football team, for goodness sake! It's only a game. But Mickey is soon forced to realise that the new owners of Manchester United Football Club are taking things very seriously indeed. It's Big Business, that's what it is, an opportunity for the Americans to make millions out of this soccer team. They aren't going to let anything - or anybody - stand in the way of their new profits. Mickey finds himself travelling half way around the world, trying to track down players, former players, managers and coaches, but none of them can supply the answers he wants. Only when he gets back, and is caught up in the latest outrage, does he begin to see the light. Yes, indeed, it is a game, but the rules are being ignored and the stakes are far higher than scoring a few goals on the pitch. It really is a matter of life and death, and someone else has to die before Mickey can get to the truth. It is, as he feared, far worse and more frightening than anyone would want the world to know. 

Mickey should have known better than to get involved with one of the most ancient and secretive Secret Societies in Britain, but he is under orders from his boss, Captain Gibson, to attend a Swearing-In ceremony for his friend Neil, who is, in fact, American. Maybe because of this, the event doesn't end well and Neil disappears. Mickey rushes back to Gibson for orders, but something seems to have happened. Mickey is ordered off the case. So what happened to Neil? Where has he gone? What happened to him. No one is talking. Everybody seems intimated and afraid. Mickey, distraught, is forced back on his own resources, but, as the extent of the cover-up becomes apparent, he soon realises the extent to which the Sacred Society penetrates all of British culture, right to the top. Well then, Mickey reasons, I'll have to take my concerns up there, but it is a fruitless quest and merely gets him in trouble with his superiors. It is only when those authorities try the same trick on him that the forces of repression realise what they have done - they have unleased a demon, and it's not something the can possibly control. Not ever.

Mickey is a bit too old to appreciate modern pop music, but he gets dragged into this strange new world because of a link to a former colleague in the Security Services. His pal Eddie is now the Manager of a dynamic combo which is rapidly becoming the hot new name in the North West of England and he is taking them on a tour of Europe. He mentions to Mickey that there might be an opportunity for him at a nightclub in the middle of Manchester. Mickey can't see himself as a bouncer, but when he loses his current job, he decides to give it a try. Strangely, the repsonsibilities fit in well with his skill set and he finds himself more or less at home in the music scene. His cheery new life comes smashing to a halt, however, when his pal Eddie comes back into his life, beaten and battered. Now it's personal, and Mickey brings out his other talents, employing his dogged reliability and his latent aggression. He isn't about to take any prisoners, and he isn't going ot let any jumped-up thugs take advantage of him or the people he values. There is a terrific climax as a battle breaks out. Who will be the last man standing? It's a foregone conclusion.

Manchester may be the Queen of all cities in the north of England, but it's down on its luck and starting to show its age. The place failed to get any traction in its efforts to become the site of the next Olympic Games and jobs and industry are being lost in their droves. The only hope in the darkness of this disaster seems to be the bright young hopeful, the new Member of Parliament for North Manchester, yes, it's Bill Cantion, a man who is hanging his hat on an attempt to get guns outlawed. Meanwhile Mickey has been asked to help an old pal with his battle against ruthless property developers. This seems at first to be a completely different battle, but then, to Mickey's surprise, he realises that all the forces at work in the city of Manchester are linked. Despite himself, he can't help but become involved, and this leads him into direct conflict with an old adversary, the Leader of Manchester City Council. If only Mickey could keep out of romantic entanglements, but a girl he used to know called Loreanne comes back into his life, as well as a youngster he would rather avoid. It means Mickey has no emotional support in the crises that develop, no reliable friends, no helpers he can count on. As Manchester hots up, and it becomes increasingly difficult for a man of honour to make an honest living in the febrile atmosphere, Mickey finds himself absolutely and alarmingly alone.

Mickey is out of his comfort zone, down in London and being asked to help a family friend in the publishing business. It's all new to him, and he doesn't understand it. Only when people start punching each other does he really feel suited to his task, and then he has to use all his native guile and wit and charm to overcome his prejudices and get to the bottom of what could be a very puzzling mystery. Fortunately, there's no depths to the sink of human greed, and past all the surface glist and glamour, publishing is simply another dirty business, where reputations are made and lives are ruined, fortunes are created and lost, and people co-operate and compete in equaly manner. Mickey has to smile. He has, it seems, the talents to survive, whatever jungle - real or city - that he finds himself in.

Mickey is a Secret Agent and used to living a 'double life'. For his new assignment, he's working 'triple'. He's pretending to be a lecturer in a prestigious college in Manchester, England, but the story he tells his superiors - which allows him to work 'undercover' - is that he is helping them solve some finanical irregularities. In fact, it's far more serious than that. He's hunting a foreign agitator and possible terorrist. After several weeks, Mickey is getting nowhere on either front, but then things turn really nasty, when the suspect is found dead. Who could have caused that? And why? Are there other forces at work in this remote, academic institution - tensions that could cause murder and arson? It doesn't seem possible, and Mickey is reluctant to believe it, even when he sees the evidence with his own eyes. He has to learn a valuable lesson - something that he could share with his students. If you see it with yourself, then no matter how unbelievable, it's the sad and horrifying truth.