North of Northwest Cape

Richard-Warren Strong

Description

1967, Australia. On December 17th, Harold Holt, Prime minister, went for a swim on Cheviot Beach. He was never seen again. On December 19th, he was officially declared dead. Heart attack? Suicide? Abduction by pocket submarines? All we know for sure is that he disappeared beneath the waves, in spite of the intensive searching. Staunch supporter of the Vietnam War and the US President Lyndon Johnson's policy, said to be also a spy for the Chinese and Japanese government, he was a “security risk”. According to the memoirs of the inevitable Jack Straughan, the British secret services were involved. The private eye William Bliggs, alias “Chauncy”, reopens the case… With this new investigation led by his favourite characters, Richard-Warren Strong explores the diverse theories of the famous and mysterious disappearance of the Australian politician. Ramifications beyond suspicion, international background and several reading levels give his last thriller an amazing power of addiction.

Informations

• Publié par: publibook
• Nombre de lectures: 58
• EAN13: 9782748352566
• Langue: Français

Extrait

North of Northwest Cape

By the same author

La Cible oblique, 2002 L’Adieu des Sherpas, 2002 The Spirit of Old Jack K, 2003 Contes de fin de millénaire, 2003 The Expatriate’s Game, 2003 Overlanders, 2004 Les Images du 3 juillet, 2005 Mayday, 2005 Just passing through, and Why we lost the referendum for a republic, 2006 Quinze ans, cela suffit !, 2006 The Legacy of Moondyne Joe, 2009

Richard-Warren Strong North of Northwest Cape Publibook

Retrouvez notre catalogue sur le site des Éditions Publibook: http://www.publibook.com Ce texte publié par les Éditions Publibook est protégé par les lois et traités internationaux relatifs aux droits d’auteur. Son impression sur papier est strictement réservée à l’acquéreur et limitée à son usage personnel. Toute autre reproduction ou copie, par quelque procédé que ce soit, constituerait une contrefaçon et serait passible des sanctions prévues par les textes susvisés et notamment le Code français de la propriété intellectuelle et les conventions internationales en vigueur sur la protection des droits d’auteur. Éditions Publibook 14, rue des Volontaires 75015 PARIS – France Tél.: [phone] IDDN.FR.010.0114804.000.R.P.2010.030.40000 Cet ouvrage a fait l’objet d’une première publication aux Éditions Publibook en 2010

Acknowledgments This story is pure fiction. The main characters (Chauncy, Raymond, Edna…) are totally fictive and any correspondence with real people would be coincidental. Jack Straughan is also a fictive character, though based in part on two real people. So, of course, his book of mem- oirs “The Adventures of Jack Straughan” does not exist (yet). Maybe I will write it some day. And, like many au- thors, I have dug freely into my own experience to construct these characters. I have referred to some historical facts, in particular the mysterious disappearance of Harold Holt. Whenever use- ful or necessary for the story, I have made reference to books on Australian (and British) history and politics. I have also visited some Internet web sites for source mate- rial, in particular Wikipedia (for information on the biographies of Harold Holt and Raymond Chandler) and used search engines for information on G. D. Simmons and Anthony Grey. I have also made frequent references to the novel by Patrick White, “A Fringe of Leaves”. Finally, I would like to dedicate this book to “Chester”, the person who once said (behind my back) that I spoke too much about things I knew very little about. Clearly he was quite right, and it was my real vocation to write fic- tion. (And not to try to teach anyone anything, least of all English!)

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On the way back I actually go into the Harold Holt base and ride around inside it He was the Prime Minister who disappeared at sea mysteriously around 68 while surfing at Portsea Menzies then Holt then Gorton then someone else, W.C. Wentworth probably, becomes head of the Liberal Party But it’s Whitlam who wins the next election with the slogan “It’s time!” Use-by-date exceeded (like the British monarchy in Australia?) The Harold Holt conspiracy There were no dirty tricks involved according to a well versed character residing at the backpacker’s hostel in Wollongong. A heart attack while swimming, but the body was never recovered. One theory says he was taken by a Chinese submarine. No body guards for the Prime Minis- ter, and no safety equipment. It all seems strange, nevertheless. But he was not opposed to Australian par- ticipation in the Vietnam War, says my informer. I evoke the case of Robert Maxwell, who also disappeared at sea, supposed to have been done away with by the British Spe- cial Forces. From “Passing through Eastern Australia”

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