POST WAR FAMILY ADVENTURE STORY.Set in 1947, The Secret's Holder tells the story of a Britain struggling to recover from the ravages of war. Black market racketeering is rife with vast sums of money involved at the expense of a nation struggling to supply its citizens with the everyday essentials to survive Ben Spencer, uncovers obvious discrepancies while going about his business in the Ministry of Information and decides to investigate. The Ministry was set up to see that all foodstuffs, fuel and other essential items were distributed fairly and evenly to everyone. However, his actions bring him and his family into direct conflict with the criminal gangs making vast profits from their black market activities, who become concerned for their lucrative business interests when Spencer begins his investigations and inflict terrible revenge attacks on his family, especially his 13 year old daughter Polly. Arson, bombings and brutal assaults on his daughter, wife and secretary force him to enlist the help of an ex military colleague to protect the family from this onslaught before someone is killed. Their is no let up in the assaults which become more and more severe as the gangsters become more desperate to protect their business interests. His daughter is abducted and severely beaten with him forced to watch, while is wife is viciously sexually assaulted. There seems no end to these attacks and only the heroics of the man assigned to protect his family, save Polly from certain death as the assaults on her get more brutal and intense. So traumatized is she by these actions against her, that her bodyguard has to remain by her side at all times for fear of further abduction and assaults. And Mrs Bottomley too is badly affected from her terrible treatment by the men in their attempts to silence her husband. Despite all this, Ben Spencer is determined in his efforts to bring those responsible to justice and continues to uncover widespread corruption and begins to wonder if Government may well be involved So begins a race against time to determine who the main players really are and where they might storing their vast supplies of stolen goods together with their details of distribution. There has to be a sophisticated and organised operation behind all this and Spencer is convinced that the culprits are controlled by those in high authority but knows this will be difficult, impossible almost to prove. His investigations lead to a complex web of organised criminal activities taking place from a tunnel complex beneath the South Downs where a vast consignment of illegal contraband is being stored ready for distribution. These tunnels were originally to be used in the event of a German invasion and were unknown to the public, so ideal for the black market racketeers to hide their goods. So, will Spencer be able to prove the involvement of government officials in all this? Will these criminal gangs kill his family before he is able to do so and what will be the after effects be on his daughter Polly of the brutal assaults on her by these ruthless gangs? She has 24 hour protection, yet still the gangsters seek her out for revenge. The Secret's Holder has a fast paced gritty story line, and mirrors perfectly the events immediately after the end of the war. It lays bare the difficulties and uncertainties facing the country at the time. This is historical fiction in detail, and whilst the story a fictional one, black market racketeering was very much a way of life during and after the war when criminals sought to take advantage of shortages of food, fuel and clothing. The country was effectively being held to ransom by organised criminal gangs and the government seemed powerless to do anything, or so it seemed.The Secret's Holder paints a vivid picture of what was happening and just how one man sought to bring those responsible to justice, despite the terrible ordeals he and his family had to suffer.
About the Author: The Author's first novel of four to date. Educated in the Midlands and spending most of his career in sales, the author began writing late in his life but is enjoying the experience. Currently writing the third book of a trilogy about a young girl who lives in an alternative reality which allows her to experience both the hardships of the Victorian era and the austere world we will occupy in the future. To date, his cold war conspiracy novels, The Traffic Light Syndrome and The Octopus Virus mirror perfectly the 50's and the 60's and give an insight into the world of today.