The Wreckage: A Thriller (56 page)
Read The Wreckage: A Thriller Online
Authors: Michael Robotham
Tags: #Fiction, #General, #Mystery & Detective, #Suspense, #Thrillers, #Suspense Fiction, #Bank Robberies, #Ex-Police Officers, #Journalists, #Crime, #Baghdad (Iraq), #Bankers, #Ex-Police, #Ex-Police Officers - England - London
“My sins have been confessed.”
“But they haven’t been forgiven.”
Ruiz leaves, walking up the slope towards the house, the turf soft beneath his worn leather shoes. Beneath the canopy of a fig tree he notices a rope swing dangling from a lower branch and can picture Elizabeth as a young girl, her hair flying, pushing herself from the shadows into the sunshine.
Although reality can sometimes corrupt the fairytale and alter our ambitions, some things remain unalterable. From richest to poorest, we start and end with family.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Wreckage
is based on many real-life events and documents but the characters are entirely fictitious. I am indebted to many fine journalists and authors who have written about the global financial crisis and about Iraq. I have drawn upon their experiences and wisdom to hopeful y create fiction that reads like the truth.
As always, I wish to thank my agents Mark Lucas, Richard Pine, Nicki Kennedy and Sam Edenborough, as wel as my editors David Shel ey and John Schoenfelder.
For their hospitality, friendship and advice I thank Mark and Sara Derry, Martyn Forrester, Peter Temple, Jonathan Margolis and Scott Dalton.
Last, but by no means least, I am indebted as always to my beloved wife Vivien, who has suffered more than usual during the birth of this particular baby. My daughters have also endured my mercurial mood swings and many absences. One day I’l make it up to them.
I love you guys.
Contents
FRONT COVER IMAGE
WELCOME
BOOK ONE
1: BAGHDAD
2: LONDON
3: LONDON
4: BAGHDAD
5: LONDON
6: LONDON
7: BAGHDAD
8: LONDON
9: LONDON
10: BAGHDAD
11: LONDON
12: LONDON
13: BAGHDAD
14: LONDON
15: LONDON
16: LONDON
17: BAGHDAD
18: LONDON
19: BAGHDAD
20: LONDON
21: BAGHDAD
22: LONDON
23: BAGHDAD
24: LONDON
25: BAGHDAD
1: LONDON
2: LONDON
3: LONDON
4: LONDON
5: LONDON
6: LONDON
7: LONDON
8: BAGHDAD
9: LONDON
10: LONDON
11: LONDON
12: WASHINGTON
13: LONDON
14: BAGHDAD
15: LONDON
16: LONDON
17: BAGHDAD
18: LONDON
19: LONDON
20: LONDON
21: LONDON
22: WASHINGTON
23: LONDON
24: LONDON
25: LUTON
26: BAGHDAD
27: LONDON
28: LONDON
1: LONDON
2: ISTANBUL
3: LONDON
4: WASHINGTON
5: LONDON
6: LUTON
7: LONDON
8: LONDON
9: LONDON
10: LUTON
11: LONDON
12: LONDON
13: NEW YORK
14: LONDON
15: LONDON
16: LONDON
17: LONDON
18: LONDON
19: LONDON
20: LONDON
21: LONDON
22: LONDON
23: LONDON
24: LUTON
25: LONDON
26: LUTON
27: LONDON
28: LONDON
29: LONDON
30: LONDON
31: LONDON
32: LONDON
33: LONDON
34: LONDON
35: LUTON
36: LONDON
37: LONDON
38: LONDON
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ALSO BY MICHAEL ROBOTHAM
COPYRIGHT
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Before writing ful -time, Michael Robotham was an investigative journalist in Britain, Australia and the US. He is the pseudonymous author of ten best-sel ing non-fiction titles, involving prominent figures in the military, the arts, sport and science. He lives in Sydney with his wife and three daughters.
Also by Michael Robotham
The Suspect
The Drowning Man
(aka
Lost
)
The Night Ferry
Shatter
Bombproof
Bleed for Me
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 by Michael Robotham
Al rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Mulhol and Books/Little, Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com
www.twitter.com/littlebrown
First eBook Edition: June 2011
Mulhol and Books is an imprint of Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The Mulhol and Books name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
ISBN: 978-0-316-18063-4
