A thrilling literary romp – Is there really such a thing as ‘accidental death’?

My latest novel Napoleon In The Wilderness is currently seeking publication from those that make that dark art their business…

If you’d like to receive a preview PDF of the manuscript for perusal or review, please email me via juleslandau@gmail.com and title your message ‘Napoleon’.

SYNOPSIS

 Napoleon In The Wilderness may be described as a fast-paced, supernatural crime thriller, with a layered subplot involving blackmail, art history, unrequited love and a sinister criminal conspiracy. 

 Ray Cohen is an art school drop-out struggling to find both his calling and his next rent cheque at the butt end of the 20^th century, neither can he embrace the spirit of pre-millennial optimism that seems to surround him in his shit-heel world of crumby digs and hand to mouth income. 

An upstairs neighbour, Simon, is a petty thief who has begun using Ray’s flat as a means of access to bring home stolen goods from the surrounding area, and the prospect of an upcoming birthday party promises to attract a host of other ne’er do wells into the house to make mischief. 

 Matters are made worse by the fact that Ray’s hope of an inheritance are under threat due to a set of compromising photographs, which lie in the hands of a sinister minor aristocrat and collector of erotica, Adrian Karswell. 

 This saucy set of sepia prints, threaten to change Great Aunt Nancy’s opinion of her favourite nephew, Ray, and as a result the sleazy Karswell has coerced our protagonist into running ever more bizarre criminal errands on his behalf. 

 Following the clandestine exchange of a historic piece of taxidermy in Hartlepool, Karswell is now set to send Ray on his most dangerous mission yet – to procure a set of ‘sensitive personal effects’ that once belonged to a deceased Hollywood bombshell, from an infamous Parisian fence.

 A trip to Paris at least offers Ray the chance to exploit Karswell in his own way, by bringing along his would-be girlfriend Georgie Carrington, who acts as both foil and mirror to Ray’s cynicism and hedonistic lifestyle. 

  Their week in the city of lights seems to be going smoothly, discounting the minor inconvenience of Ray’s previous job as Karswell’s errand boy making national news, and a subsequent bounty on his head…

 Ray and Georgie are exploiting a handsome expense account in a tasteful boutique hotel, albeit with a rather suspicious concierge, some strangely familiar artwork, and an uncanny drinks cabinet that is somewhat more than it seems… 

 However, any hope of romance is challenged as an increasing body count of ‘accidental deaths’ begin to follow in Ray’s wake, and the parasitic symbiosis between our unlikely hero and his tormentor Karswell, turns decidedly sour.