Bøker av Mick Whitehead

Late autumn 1977, Byrney and Fionn having re-joined the crew of the forty year old, Vintage motor yacht, Liberty Angel are destined to sail across the Atlantic ocean and take up winter charters around the southern coast of Antigua.Eagerly awaiting their arrival are a group of suspicious looking, American divers, who have been possibly lured there by a vast, sunken, cache of Spanish gold and silver which has so far eluded every would be bounty hunter, including the world famous underwater explorer, Jacques Cousteau. What other hidden secrets from conflicts established in the days of Horatio Nelson, lie in wait? On the surface the quiet marina at Cross Green appears to be an idyllic, laid back and cushy assignment. But when Byrney is handed an eighteenth century, Caribbean mystery of his own to unravel, he quickly becomes entangled into a shadowy world of thieves, smugglers, pirates and fraudsters. It might be wise not to go poking around shadows especially ones which have laid dormant since the Colonial era.

In the past six months, Byrney has endured quite a few hairy moments; knocked unconscious, threatened with a German Luger pistol, and almost blown away for good above the Glacier Di Aureola high up in the Pyrenees. Now as the Mediterranean Mistrals begin to settle Byrney hopes that the summer of 1977 aboard the charter vessel 'Liberty Angel' will bring less turbulent times ahead, even if it means he has to work below the plimsoll line.In these strange new surroundings and distracted by a motley crew, millionaires and models, Byrney feels he can at least put his errant past behind him. However when Gingernut, the Churchtown Bruiser is spotted visiting Byrney's favourite bar in Monte Carlo, Byrney is reminded there's no hiding place for his guilt. How long can he keep his secrets to himself? It'll take a series of mishaps and tragedies before Byrney realises his only salvation and eventual redemption can only be uncovered back home in England.In the meantime he and Fionn being the youngest members of the ships crew are in a more vulnerable position than they imagine.Do worse things really happen at sea?

Desperate to distance himself from the stolen loot buried behind his parents garden shed and still grieving the sudden loss of Max his first real girlfriend, Byrney has decided to go to France with the sole purpose of locating a certain war grave. Moved by the recent death of an old work colleague Eve, Byrney hopes to find redemption for himself and at the same time reunite Eve's ashes with those of her deceased husband Paul Larouchamps, who'd been murdered by the Gestapo during the Occupation of France in 1943.Accompanied by his school friend Fionn who is also starting out on a career of her own in France at Paul's younger brother, Henri's hotel in Nice, it's a brave move on their part. Despite their obvious youth and naivety, it's a move which they both feel comes perfectly natural to them. Initially Byrney is confident of overcoming the difficulties in locating this thirty three year old grave, somewhere in the Pyrenees, but he is soon plagued by the dangers that lie in wait for him; like the mysterious man following him and the fact that those responsible for the betrayal and murder of Paul Larouchamps are still be at large. Armed only with a smidge of badly pronounced French and just a single point of contact in the south of France, Byrney has a mountain to climb in more ways than one.

Have you ever dreamt you turned up for work naked from the waist down? Anxieties like this began to form inside school-leaver Byrney's head whilst he worked at a busy village café and contemplated what the future had in store for him at the beginning of the blistering unforgettable hot summer of 1976. When he fell for co-worker Max a free spirited but troubled girl he found himself constantly having to play catch up. Who at his age doesn't dream of finding a pot of gold and owning their own island? And don't worry if you lose a few morals along the way, you can always pick them up later on when you're older and wiser. Unfortunately, for Max and Byrney they should have been more careful what they wished for - We'll never be sixteen again.