Why does a wealthy Scottish financier set up a drugs deal with the IRA? Jeopardise his career, endanger his family and lover by tangling with the East End underworld and a ruthless mercenary? The motive is simple: revenge for a cold-blooded act of murder. His adversary is a dangerous gangland boss whose connections stretch from the Highlands to London and beyond. More than a match for a newcomer, especially when his plans contain a fatal flaw which will be discovered only when it is much too late ...
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'Compelling' -- Glasgow Herald 'Leather can dispense high-adrenaline plotting but never at the expense of remembering that his characters are humans rather than Action Man dolls' -- Sunday Express 'Reading Stephen Leather at leisure is always a pleasure.' -- Ireland on Sunday 'Stephen Leather should be nestling in your bookshelves alongside Frederick Forsyth and Jack Higgins' -- Daily Mail 'This is an aggressively topical novel but a genuinely thrilling one, too.' -- Daily Telegraph on COLD KILL 'Leather is an intelligent thriller writer' -- Daily Mail 'A grand finale that'll have readers on edge' -- Literary Review on COLD KILL 'As tough as British thrillers get ... gripping' -- Irish Independent on HARD LANDING 'A riveting read' -- Sunday Life, Belfast on SOFT TARGET 'As high-tech and as world-class as the thriller genre gets' -- Express on Sunday on THE BOMBMAKER 'There's a new breed of British crime writer giving the genre a much-needed shake-up - and Stephen Leather is at the forefront ... the sheer impetus of his storytelling is damned hard to resist.' -- Daily Express on COLD KILL
About the Author
Stephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Before that, he was employed as a biochemist for ICI, shovelled limestone in a quarry, worked as a baker, a petrol pump attendant, a barman, and worked for the Inland Revenue. He began writing full-time in 1992. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. You can find out more from his website, www.stephenleather.com.
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More About the Author
Stephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Before that, he was employed as a biochemist for ICI, shovelled limestone in a quarry, worked as a baker, a petrol pump attendant, a barman, and worked for the Inland Revenue. He began writing full time in 1992. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. You can find out more from his website, www.stephenleather.com.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Don't try this at home,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Pay Off (Stephen Leather Thrillers) (Paperback)
The lesson of Stephen Leather's PAY OFF is that revenge, rather than being a dish best eaten cold, is perhaps best not consumed at all.
As I sat down to write this review, I realized that the author didn't give a name to his novel's hero. I've flipped back through the pages to ensure that I didn't miss something; I apparently didn't, so let's call him "Mac" because he's a Scotsman. Mac, a co-partner of Scottish Corporate Advisors, is a financier with a grudge. His father had managed an investment trust, Scottish Commercial Overseas Trust, until it was hijacked by Ronnie Laing and and Alan Kyle, the former a vicious drug dealer and the latter a specialist in hostile corporate acquisitions. During the SCOT takeover, Mac's mother died in an auto accident, perhaps arranged by Laing as a warning to her husband. In any case, the day after losing control of his company, Mac's despondent father blew his own brains out with a shotgun. Mac wants revenge, and plans an intricate sting that will frame Laing and Kyle for the theft of a large cocaine shipment from the IRA, an outfit you don't want to annoy. To that end, Mac enlists the help of a high-end courtesan, a car thief, an ex-SAS mercenary, and a driver who once worked for Laing. But the best laid plans oft go awry, and by the time Mac is dumping bodies into a Highland loch, events have spun out of control. Don't try this at home. This is only my third Leather thriller, with five more on the shelf to read. So far, the protagonists have been nominally law-abiding citizens forced by circumstance to the far side of the law. PAY OFF, at 240 paperbacked pages, is relatively short. While perhaps offering lo-carb plot and character development, this thriller met expectations for concept and action. However, as an otherwise honest Brit, Mac's knowledge of criminal activities, which allows him to set up the scam, seemed unseemingly comprehensive. I mean, I wouldn't know where to start. Perhaps Mac read too many crime novels. The book suggests one authored early in Leather's writing career, and perhaps kept on the shelf until it was needed to meet a publisher's deadline. However, it's a good and quick read for a plane trip or day at the beach.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
the pay off,
By A Customer
This review is from: Pay Off (Hardcover)
all fans of stephen leather will enjoy this book as usual his caracters shine . but it will seem a little short
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