Review: The Proof is in the Ending
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 23, 2013
AFN Clarke a Hong Kong born Brit,  knows what he is about - a master builder of tense thrillers that involve constant input of questions that plead to be answered, but Clarke has the gift of pulling the reader in so perilously close that letting slip even the slightest hint of `aha!' is left to the very last moments of his book.Clarke has the background for having experienced and /or imagined stories such as this one which serves to introduce a new series focused on Thomas Gunn, an Ex-British Special Forces soldier who if he had his druthers he'd be sunning on beaches or finding other forms of escape rather than serving in the role he by nature must assume. Clarke moves slickly into these pages because as he says, `I have lived in many different countries and worked in many fields - as a computer programmer; a designer, builder and driver of race cars; flying school owner; manager of a marine retail store; screenplay writer and novelist - as well as a bus conductor and a motor cycle courier in London (ah the joys of youth!).  In 1971, I joined Britain's elite Parachute Regiment as a Private, was commissioned as an officer a year later and I served for over seven years in Cyprus, Northern Ireland, Germany and with the French Airborne.  On leaving the Army, after two bloody tours in Northern Ireland - that left me without a large bowel - I started writing.'The planned series of which this novel is the first follows Thomas Gunn's adventures with his partner Julie that take them around the globe as they are unwittingly caught up in mysteries, conspiracies, murder and mayhem. Gunn's idea of a quiet life aboard his cruising catamaran in the sun soaked Mediterranean with his partner Julie, is shattered with the news of his father's murder. Determined to discover the truth behind this ruthless execution, Thomas is drawn into an international web of intrigue that spans the globe. What started as a simple murder investigation becomes a dangerous cat-and-mouse game where Thomas has to call upon his old skills to survive and discover the truth and protect what remains of his family. But nothing is what it seems. And as Clarke has said, `often the lines between fiction and reality blur in the unraveling of a conspiracy that could very well be real.'  If that means that this hauntingly realistic novel is close to reality, then hang on.  You are in for a terrific ride. Grady Harp, July 13