In The Fish Kisser, a megalomaniac becomes determined to exact revenge on the Western world through a devious plot of global cyber-warfare. He enlists his own agents to track down and kidnap the experts and educated elite that can help him accomplish the unthinkable. With a series of staged deaths and disappearances, he sets his plan in motion.

When the hired henchmen target Roger LeClarc, an English computer expert with a dark secret of his own, the hunters become the hunted. English detective David Bliss, who chased and was chased around the English countryside in Missing: Presumed Dead, teams up with Dutch detective Yolanda Pieters to solve this improbable affair. Fighting internal politics, stumbling upon government cover-ups, and even battling Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard, together they chase a trail of blood, intrigue, and romance across Europe to Iraq in a desperate search for the kidnapped specialists. Fans of the David Bliss character will not be disappointed as James Hawkins turns the action up several notches.

James Hawkins was a police commander in the U.K. for 20 years and a Canadian private investigator for a further 8 years. He was also director of education at the Canadian Institute for Environmental Investigations. His debut novel, Missing: Presumed Dead (2001), was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel.

James Hawkins' profile page

"a suspenseful tale of high level intrigue and low level shenanigansBondian in tone and global in implications."

Nanaimo Daily News

"Hawkins ties all the threads together and keeps the tension crackling for 440 pages."

Star Phoenix (Saskatoon, SK)