A thrilling aviation novel about Ken Holland, a daredevil stunt pilot in a flying circus. After his partner's death and a suspicious offer, Ken finds himself entangled in a web of murders, leading him from England to France and the Caribbean. Characteristics ISBN-13 978-0340193945 ISBN-10 0340193948 Book cover finish(es) Hardcover ( rounded spine binding ) Special Features Dust Jacket Condition Like new Author(s) Brian Lecomber Publisher Hodder and Stoughton Limited Number of pages 271 Published date 1975 by Brian Lecomber. First printed 1975. Language(s) English Size 14 x 22.1 x 2.5 cm Categorie(s) • AVIATION CIVILE• AVIATION LÉGÈRE• ROMANS - FICTION Description Flying was Ken Holland's lifeHe was part of a flying circus team, one of the very few left in England in the Seventies. They'd do the round of the seaside resorts in the holiday season, starting their days with low-level beat-ups of the towns to set the punters' hearts a-flutter and draw them into their field in the afternoon for the big show. That was when they did the stunts - the aerobatics, the wing-walking, the mock dog-fights, and leaping from old biplanes into moving cars. Ken collected scars and broken bones as the badges of his trade - but so far he'd always survived. They billed him as 'Nine-lives Holland' - and the standard joke was 'Ken's bounced again!'Ken bounced - but Bill Charlton didn't. He crashed his aircraft and killed himself on the way to a show in the Isle of Wight. Ken and Bill had been more than just mates - they'd also been business partners, buying old aeroplanes and patching them up and selling them at a fat profit. After Bill's crash a well-dressed man called Haydon came along and offered to buy their latest find from Ken. Haydon offered a lot of money - but Ken was suspicious of him, and refused to sell. Then Ken had another crash - a Tiger Moth engine failed while he was hanging below the aircraft on a rope ladder. He bounced again this time too - maybe things would have been easier if he hadn't.Because suddenly there were no such things as accidents any more. Just murders - and a trail that led to central France and then on to the steamy islands of the Caribbean. And a collection of rare stamps worth over a million pounds... BRIAN LECOMBER'S first novel, a 'flying' thriller, is a marvellously enjoyable addition to the genre. The action is fast, violent and vivid - and the background is totally authentic, since the author himself was a flying stuntman in one of the last of Britain's air circuses.He has also been a charter pilot-cum-instructor in the Caribbean, and is well known in Britain as a regular feature-writer in several popular motoring magazines.Jacket design/George Chrichard
