Raider Books

Five gun-shots, fired from a castle tower in Mexico City's Chapultepec Park, send shock waves around the world, creating an international crisis and a mystery that is tackled with conflicting interests by the CIA, FBI and the Mexican authorities. It is Mexico City's most publicised crime since 1940 when a Stalinist assassin plunged an ice-axe into the head of Leon Trotsky at his fortified villa in Coyoacán. And from the beginning the ensuing investigation produces more questions than answers. Who is Consuelo and why did Manuel Ramírez, a 22 year old unemployed carpenter, blame her for turning him into a hired assassin? Where is Manuel's older brother Julio and why has he mysteriously disappeared in the United States? Above all, why should the Mexican and American governments agree to a cover-up? Mysteries abound throughout The Philotimo Affair, a two-part political thriller of epic proportions in which, defying the Byzantine intrigues of politicians and police, one man stands alone - willing for the sake of his family's philotimo (love of honour) to sacrifice his life in pursuit of truth and justice. As the gripping, suspenseful story gathers momentum, the reader is transported from Mexico City to the U.S. Virgin Islands, from Athens to Istanbul, from Washington to Miami and Acapulco - through a labyrinth of duplicity, presenting surprises at every twist and turn; and culminating in a spectacular climax that takes the breath away. Set in the near future, unfolding with spellbinding, action-packed excitement, The Philotimo Affair is extraordinarily rich in characterisation and based on massive, first-hand research by an author who has visited all the locations so meticulously detailed, and who brings to life a world of corruption, violence and sexual passion that is perilously close to reality. Contributors