Inspired by the author’s own unnerving experiences during decades spent in the former Soviet Union.

The Roads Chosen is a breathtaking debut, exposing both the depravity within the Russian armed forces, along with the consequent and irreversible damage to families within the rural settlements; while portraying a unique culture in which hospitality and warmth are bedfellows with corruption and duplicity.

The body of a dockworker is found floating off the windswept shore of the Caspian: just another merciless killing, but one that sparks revenge. An anonymous tip-off lands on a desk in London, asserting money laundering, implying drug trafficking, smelling of terrorist funding: it begs a peek. A young wayfarer arrives in the energy capital of Kazakhstan, alleging an austere life spent walking the Silk Road. A chance encounter provides a few weeks work, but intrigue and deception ensue, weaving an inextricable web of deceit. Trapped by the far-reaching tentacles of organised crime, and possessing secrets that will shake the very walls of the Kremlin, is there any escape?

“There are tales, myth some might say, told of a ghost-like people able to spirit away the ill-fated.”