They destroyed her life. Now she’ll do anything to get it back.
“Into The Fire uses fraud as the springboard that catapults its feisty, aikido-kicking heroine into a steamy espionage plot that reaches its apex at the Inca temple of Machu Picchu.” Financial Times
After growing up in the shadows of her father, a suspected fraudster who disappeared when she was a child, Helen Jencks builds herself a picture-perfect life as a successful City of London trader. But her past makes her the ideal fall guy for a multi-million dollar scam. Overnight, the life Helen created is destroyed.
Disgraced and devastated, Helen escapes to Peru where she launches an investigation to salvage the only thing she has left: her good name. As she pieces together who set her up and why, she unearths the terrifying truth of what really happened to her father. As she seeks redemption for herself and her father, she makes dangerous enemies who want the past to stay buried.
Aided by the beguiling and secretive Evan Conner, Helen’s investigation takes her on a perilous journey through Peru’s legendary mountains and cloud forests where her past and present collide.
Read the reviews
“It was one thrill after another, right from the word go. I always read in the bath at night, and every time, the water had gone cold before I had realised…”
Denny (full review here)
“A cracking, fast-paced thriller. Excellently researched. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
General Sir Peter de la Billière, KCB, KBE, DSO, MC & Bar, former Director SAS
“Which Peru would you like to know about? The land of Machu Picchu and the Incas? A postcard for the innocent? Framed contained beauty? Amazonia, quinine, uña de gato, destruction of the rainforest, the old tribes, the Machiguenga, the Pira, jungle warriors guarding lost cities, El Dorado and dead treasure hunters, the pueblo jovenes where the people starve, the IMF, the Brady plan and slick bankers, the earthquakes in Yungay, the thousands buried…”
Linda Davies – Into The Fire
Real life inspiration
Read the Series
Into The Fire is set on the cutthroat trading floor of Goldsteins, presided over by Zaha Zamaroh; it is the third in a series which begins with Nest of Vipers, Linda Davies’ debut financial thriller, and continues with Something Wild.
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Into The Fire in translation
Dutch
De Jungle
Luitingh-Sijthoff, ISBN: 90-245-1986-1.
Helen Hencks is mooi, jong en succesvol in haar werk als dealer bij een internationale investeringsbank in Londen. Haar leven kent slechts één schaduwzijde: haar vader, een bekend financier, is beschuldigd van fraude en vervolgens spoorloos verdwenen. Nu, twintig jaar later, lijkt de geschiedenis zich te herhalen. Ook Helen wordt een miljoenenfraude in de schoenen geschoven. En ook Helen besluit er – net als haar vader – vandoor te gaan. Weg van de menselijke piranha’s in de keiharde Londense City naar de even gevaarlijke jungle van Zuid-Amerika. Vastbesloten om haar vader te vinden en zo een antwoord te krijgen op de vragen die al jaren door haar hoofd spoken…
French
Dans la fournaise
Le Livre de Poche edition, ISBN: 2-253-17183-2. Original edition by Grasset, 1999, 458 pages, ISBN: 2-246-56831-5.
Helen Jencks est cambiste dans une banque d’affaires à Londres. Experte en arts martiaux, elle est également ceinture noire dans l’art de prendre des risques financiers…
Mais cette jeune femme ravissante et talentueuse porte en elle une part d’instabilité liée à un passé plutôt trouble : elle devient le bouc émissaire idéal d’une escroquerie de plusieurs millions de dollars sur les “produits dérivés”…
Lorsque Helen découvre le piège, la vie qu’elle s’était si soigneusement reconstruite menace de s’écrouler. Elle se réfugie alors au Pérou, croyant échapper au danger. Son passé l’y rattrape pourtant en la personne du chef des Services de renseignement péruviens, charismatique, impitoyable et corrompu. Pour sauver sa vie, Helen traverse la jungle dans une fuite éperdue en compagnie d’un officier britannique… C’est là qu’elle trouvera les réponses aux questions qui la hantent depuis toujours.
German
Das Sonnentor
v. Schröder, Ddf; 448 Seiten (1999). ISBN: 3-547-72048-6 (hardback). Ullstein TB-Vlg., B.; 464 Seiten (2000). ISBN: 3-548-24792-X (paperback)
Dubiose Wertpapiergeschäfte, gnadenlose Drogenbosse und gefährliche Sektenkriminalität. Gelingt es Helen Jencks, ihre Verfolger im peruanischen Dschungel abzuschütteln?
Italian
Nel Mirino
Il Sole 24 Ore, 1999. ISBN 8883630319, 9788883630316
La bella Helen Jenks da quattro anni lavora nella sala contrattazioni di una grossa banca d’affari, nella City a Londra. Il padre, banchiere a sua volta, era scomparso diciotto anni prima sospettato di aver sottratto ingenti somme ai clienti. Helen non si era mai rassegnata alla fuga del padre e per otto anni si era messa alla sua ricerca in giro per il mondo. Un giorno, per caso, scopre che i due colleghi con cui lavora stanno sottraendo fondi alla banca facendo in modo che, se la frode fosse stata scoperta, lei sarebbe apparsa come colpevole. Disperata si rifugia dal suo padrino, compagno di studi e amico del padre, che le rivela che in realtà il padre è un agente dei servizi segreti e si è rifugiato in Perù per motivi di sicurezza.
Linda Davies 