Into The Fire

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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

“A fan of Graham Greene and John Le Carré, Linda Davies’ speciality is the link between banking and the secret service. 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.”

“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
“Fabulous characters.”
“This slick novel about banking, murder and international travel is epic in aim… Linda Davies clearly knows both Peru and the banking world well… Excellent depiction of Peru and well-handled cliffhanger ending.”
“Ayant travaille sept ans dans une banque d’investissements avant de passer quelques années au Pérou, c’est évidemment dans son expérience que Linda Davies … a puisé les decors et la trame de ce roman qui mêle le thriller au livre d’action et que dessome un très fascinante et très séduisant portraite de femme hantée, volontaire, expert en arts martiaux et tentée par tous les démons de la liberté. Une très romanesque histoire racontée avec autant de vivacité que d’élégance.”

“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

The Inca Trail: the most famous hike in South America
The man from SIN: Vladimiro Montesinos, an inspiration for Victor Maldonado. Former Peru spy chief given another jail sentence for 1993 forced disappearances, The Guardian, 28 September 2016
Moche Decorated Ceramics: an essay from the Met Museum, New York
“Many progressive men think that women are better at Aikido than they are.”
The Western Mail, 9 January 1996

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.

Read Linda’s latest article

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.

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