Blood Rival - by Jake Arnott (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Following the suspicious death of notorious underworld gangster, Lee Royal, his widow Jo and Eddie - the rival gangster Jo has been having an affair with - try to solve the murder.

"It happened at a place where three roads meet. Junction 1A of the M25, heading east towards Gravesend. There's a killer on the road."

Lee Royal - the King of Kent - is dead. Killed on the M25 in a brutal act of road rage. But was this a random attack or something more premediated - something stemming from a dark and long-kept secret? With Lee's death, so begins a cat and mouse game to discover the truth ...

Jo Royal, Lee's wife, has long been discontented in her marriage. A complicated relationship and a marriage fraught with secrets and betrayals has left a steady resentment for Lee bubbling away under the surface. But does this give her motive enough to want him dead?

Eddie Pierce - young, ambitious and ruthless - is the new kid on the block. Determined at any cost to move up the ranks within the criminal underbelly of Kent, his growing infatuation with Jo only gives him more to fight for. But as his obsession with finding Lee's killer takes over, his grip on what is fact and fiction begins to dangerously unravel. What is he capable of doing to become the next King of Kent?

Commander Ray Spinks of Scotland Yard has been a long-time associate of Lee's. Brash, arrogant and underhand - he is owed his share of the wealth Lee has amassed and he won't let anyone get in his way.

What starts as a seemingly random act of violence will soon turn into a high-stakes man hunt for a killer and the revelation of an explosive secret that will have devastating consequences.

Blood Rival is a fast-paced, addictive and twisty thriller told at a whiplash speed, rife with dark family secrets and deadly stakes. A story of lust, betrayal and tragedy.

About the Author

Jake Arnott is an award-winning novelist whose bestselling debut The Long Firm was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was adapted as a BAFTA award-winning BBC TV drama series starring Mark Strong and Sir Derek Jacobi. His second novel, He Kills Coppers was made into a critically acclaimed ITV1 series, starring Rafe Spall and Kelly Reilly. Along with his third book, truecrime, this trilogy was awarded the Crime Writers Association Dagger in the Library. His subsequent novels include Johnny Come Home, The Devil's Paintbrush, The House of Rumour and The Fatal Tree.