Escaping This World Series

Instead of going home directly after a tough week at work, Giles Greenwood and his brother Michael arrive at their favourite pub with their friends Phillip and Francis. Unbeknownst to them, two crime gangs planned to meet at that location to conclude an illicit transaction involving international terrorism plans. Phillip is fatally shot during a brawl that accidentally consumes all the gathered groups. The two criminal gangs quickly disperse, leaving Giles wrongfully implicated in Phillip's murder. The three agree they must pursue the man who killed Phillip and bring him to justice to absolve Giles. Many elements of their pursuit are unforeseen. They use clandestine crime routes to head out to sea, where dangers quickly surround them. There is much at stake for Giles. He is torn to protect his fragile brother Michael, exonerate himself, and find the elusive happiness he yearns for. However, the quest seems to have a life of its own. The threesome feels they are not in control, and events sweep them further away into an uncertain world. The companions now learn the world's hard truths and must rely upon each other only. They steer towards Brazil, deeper into a perilous criminal underworld of dark conspiracy which they are unprepared for. A broader international conflagration is about to begin due to their pursuit. A shadowy Illuminati-like organisation is revealed at the centre of all matters as Giles, Michael, and Francis have unknowingly become active players in a more expansive and dangerous struggle by the world's dark forces.

The pursuit of the man who murdered their life-long friend on the streets of London has forced Giles, Michael, Francis, and their newfound companion Vasily to the shores of far-off Brazil, an unfamiliar land to them. They are forced to rely on themselves only to traverse through dark paths to catch the mysterious fleeing criminal, Alikhan. Unbeknownst to them, they have become players in a global struggle among Illuminati-like forces, each striving to land the ultimate death blow to dominate the other. The mystery cargo transported south by Alikhan is one such terrorism operation that the three friends from London inadvertently have been dragged into. They are forced to confront many terrors as before they lay many crime networks that plague the region. They must find a way to capture Alikhan and stop his supporting gang from transporting the dangerous cargo across southern Brazil. Along their journey, they find themselves always behind their enemy, outgunned and outnumbered, always striving to anticipate the next move and purpose of the criminals. Constantly presented with the natural choice to quit and flee, the four muster their courage to continue, only to find that fortune sometimes smiles on them. They are rewarded with help found from new friends. Their quest stretches from the Atlantic Ocean coast and proceeds further from civilisation towards the sparsely inhabited regions in the interior where bandits reign supreme. As they race further west into Brazil's interior, the scale, and reach of destruction, pillaging and banditry shock and horrify the companions. Unknown to the outside world, long has this region suffered under the persecution of those who seek power and profit. They discover by accident hidden people who still hold out against the evildoers and share a common enemy. But the plans and machinations of the criminals are fast coming to fruition, and the friends are forced to divulge details of the conspiracy of the dangerous cargo they are pursuing. They are thrown into a last desperate war of life and death for the persecuted people of the region. Murder and destruction sweep the lands as the friends are scattered and pushed to oblivion. The search for peace, happiness, and redemption strains their relationship. Giles' underlying struggles to find joy in this world force him to question the point of continuing towards more significant dangers and seeing him at odds with those who want to persevere. He finds romance with an astute local woman, Elisabetta, who offers Giles the path to a new serene life. Torn in two and faced with the choice to continue pursuing Alikhan or grasp his dreams with Elisabetta, Giles is ultimately forced towards a lonely end where betrayal and death become his last companions.

When Doctor Fyodor Dyatlov accidentally discovers a hidden piece of paper within a ruined frame of a painting, he immediately becomes entangled in an international criminal conspiracy. It's the Soviet Union, 1977. Decades before the incredible adventure of Giles, Michael, and Francis, the story of Vasily's youth in the Ural Mountains begins. The Dyatlov family, central to his early days, departed the city of Perm to move east for a better life. Fyodor Dyatlov successfully secures this transfer and transports his family to an ancient cathedral town on the slopes of the eastern Ural Mountains, Verkhoturye. Instead of the cramped concrete sprawl of the city, Fyodor hopes to bring a more pure, wholesome life to his family. It is a dream come true for his eldest daughter, Galina. Being a strong, young spiritual girl, she often dreams of the far-off magical forests filled with elusive wonders and strange beings that stretch endlessly across the Soviet Union.  Verkhoturye was laid down centuries ago and was meant to be the springboard to the far Russian east. Still a frontier town, the locals are hardy people. Forged to endure the hardships of the land. The town remains secluded, and relishes being forgotten by the outside world. As outsiders, the newly arrived Dyatlov family finds it initially challenging to adjust and find their place in a rural society, split three ways between the farming community, town folk, and the mysterious Woodlanders. Bit by bit, they become accustomed to their new life, and Galina sparks up a new friendship with a local Woodland boy, Vasily Ivanov.  Week by week, a remarkable relationship between Galina and Vasily grows stronger. The two spritely youths share many adventures. Great love and a lifelong bond are established between them as they spend many days together exploring the mountain forests, searching for relics of mythical dwarves and elves while cementing Galina as a dearly cherished friend to the Woodland community.  For Fyodor, the mystery of the discovered piece of paper leads him to follow a trail of questions that leads to the irrefutable conclusion that the fatal demise of the previous Doctor was not an accident, but murder. The suspense grows as Fyodor uncovers chilling coincidences, one at a time, as he edges perilously close to revealing a dark local conspiracy whose hidden, unseen chain stretches globally. So close he gets to exposing the truth that his investigative endeavours are quickly discovered, and his very life is threatened to keep the clandestine operation undiscovered.  As a shadowy stalking doom closes in on her father, Galina accidentally uncovers a secret scheme from the Local Council, which plans to profit from a vast deforestation of the region. Her mother, Viktoriya, is promoted in the Council and is personally placed in charge of executing this secret plan. Appalled by the fate awaiting her beloved forests, an unbearable anxiety grows within Galina. She quickly joins forces with Vasily to stop the wanton assault on the forests. As a result, Galina is presented with a terrible choice thrust upon her: ultimately compelling her to choose between the forests and her family. Either path leads to terrible conclusions, and her tortured final decision results in an even darker end for the Dyatlov family.