The Casino of Atonement The clandestine, illegal SPSCG operation initiated by MI5 against the IRA takes on a new, even more murderous direction. Their counterpart in Spain, CESID is in a race against time to prevent ETA from bombing the popular tourist resorts along the Costa Blanca. Jonathan Amersbey, Alistair MacLeod and Iñaki Antón remain ensnared; entangled in the labyrinth of intrigue, and struggle to liberate themselves from the ruthless conspiracies of governments and terrorist alike. Belfast, Barcelona, Bilbao, Benidorm, Berlin when the wall is breached in 1989 to the Costa Blanca and the tiny village of Tighnabruaich on the west coast of Scotland. These are the locations that provide the backdrop for nail-biting action and suspense in this, the final chapter of The Karma Killings trilogy. In the initial planning of the novels, and to illustrate my thoughts, I decided that it would be interesting to follow the paths of three young boys whose only connection is that they are born on the same day. They all begin life in similar circumstances in that poverty is not an issue, but family circumstances and environment definitely marks them all as different from each other. The most conventional of the three is Alistair MacLeod, son of a hard working couple of hoteliers. He is probably the most conservative, conventional young guy of the three, just trying to live a normal life. Happy, pretty girlfriend; no problems in the family; socially sound and so on. The guy next door so to speak. Jonathan Amersbey however is dysfunctional from an early age. He is suffering from parental indifference and neglect from overly ambitious Royal Navy parents. Shunted about from one private boarding school to another makes him into a rebellious loner. The last of the three is Spanish, Iñaki Antón, born into a wealthy Basque country industrialist. Good family, good student, environmentalist, with a great future ahead of him; that is until the GAL secret police come after him after an anti-nuclear rally. The second of my background themes is how the manipulation and influences of adults, criminal organisations, terrorists, politicians and even governments interfere with the three youngsters´ future destiny. The most profound of these is how the young Iñaki is hounded out of Spain only to fall into the nest of republican nationalism in Ireland. Meanwhile, Jonathan Amersbey´s miserable existence is brightened up by meeting and being inspired by an equally rebellious young Welsh girl who introduces him into the world of dissent and protest of the peace campers at the nuclear submarine base at Faslane in Scotland. Alistair MacLeod´s life up to this point is still happily predictable and comfortable, ensconced in the family hotel business. We come on to the third theme; that of the actions of two distinct, but related terrorist organisations; In Britain and Ireland, the IRA, and the Basque ETA organisation in Spain. The British and Spanish governments have to counter the terrorist threat, often by illegal methods. This is how and when the lives of the three young men cross in a seemingly never ending juxtaposition of coincidences. Iñaki Antón is the conduit for these associations, but he is as much a victim as the other two. The only real difference being is that his indoctrination and manipulation has been much more intense and violent than Jonathan or the innocent and clean living Alistair. Those of us whose lives have never really been affected more by terrorism other than observing the horror from a distance through the medium of television, or having to endure the queues in the `ratonera´ of airport security, should be thankful that our families have remained untouched by the insidious nature of `the cause´, for whatever reason that cause is founded upon. However, as far as my story goes, it is all based on fiction that uses locations, events and imaginary characters. I hope you enjoyed the ride! Norman MacRitchie Reeley