Dead Man's Footsteps
by Peter James
Macmillan HK$272
Loser Ronnie Wilson has picked a very bad day to try to sell a scheme to make money out of biofuels. With debts mounting, his house and car about to be repossessed and a wife in Britain who likes to spend money he doesn't have, it is a make-or-break plan.
Fake Bulgari watch and Louis Vuitton briefcase in place, the former used-car and antiques dealer sets off to meet his old friend and entrepreneur Donald Hatcook. Unfortunately for Wilson, it is 8.47am on the morning of September 11, 2001, and his destination is New York's World Trade Centre's second tower.
As the events of the day unfold and the towers fall following the terrorist attacks, no one knows whether Wilson lived or died. Stumbling from the wreckage, he makes sure his mobile phone is off. He has come up with a survival plan.
Six years later, twentysomething Abby Dawson has incarcerated herself in a luxury flat in Brighton on Britain's south coast. With multiple locks and safety chain deployed and a can of pepper spray to hand, she is terrified her recent past in Australia is going to catch up with her. She fears for her life and when she receives a text message that says 'I know where you are', she realises she is in deadly trouble.