THE BIG SALE IS ON! TELL ME MORE
Greg Richards lectures in leisure studies at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. He is co-ordinator of the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS) and has led a number of EU projects in the fields of tourism education, cultural tourism, sustainable tourism, tourism employment, conference tourism and ICT in tourism. His main research interest is cultural tourism. Anne-Mette Hjalager is an independent consultant and contract researcher based in the Science Park in Aarhus, Denmark. Over the past ten years she worked intensively with and for the tourism industry, and she has keenly pursued labour market and innovation issues. She also advises the Danish government and the EU in policy planning for tourism.
Brian Haig is uniquely qualified to write novels not just about life in the American army, but the singular legal conundrums it generates. Son of former US Secretary of State Alexander Haig, he was virtually born and bred in the army and after serving for 22 years he left to study law. He writes about what he knows, with wit, vivacity and a natural ability to combine complex information with fast-moving action. In this successor to Secret Sanction, Major Sean Drummond, Haig's fictitious alter ego, is enjoying a well-earned rest in Bermuda when he's abruptly summoned to South Korea to act as co-counsel in the defence of a gay officer accused of the brutal murder of a young 'Katusa' - Korean Augmentee to the US army. But not any run-of-the-mill Katusa. This one is Lee No Tae, son of Lee Jung Kim, the rich and powerful Defence Minister of the South Korean armed forces and a national hero. South Korea is America's ally against the predatory armies of North Korea; any kind of upset in that part of the world could light the match that fired the tinder of international strife. It could hardly be a more delicate situation. Homosexuality in Korea is regarded as a disgrace to the family and Lee No Tae's family is unaware of his proclivities, so the news of his death, and the manner of it, comes as a huge shock, especially when the autopsy reveals that three American soldiers were almost certainly involved. As if all this is not bad enough, for Sean Drummond there is another unpleasant surprise: the leader of the defence team with whom he must work is his greatest rival and antagonist from his student days, the tiny but fiery Katherine Carson, who has since become celebrated as an advocate for the gay community. She rouses not only Drummond's fighting spirit, but, disturbingly, other emotions he doesn't like to contemplate. The more the team delves into the complexities of the situation the more menacing it becomes, not only for themselves, but on a world-wide scale that freezes the blood. Brian Haig brilliantly captures the atmosphere of army life as well as the legal predicament and its diplomatic implications. The dialogue is appropriately robust and earthy, the shifting affiliations of the team add to the stress, and the suspense is unrelenting. Second novels often disappoint. Not this one. (Kirkus UK)
