Debt A Novel of the London Underworld

Johnny Frank has just been released from prison, and intends to have his payback. After convincing his betrayer, ruthless Jim Buckley, that he's on the up-and-up, the incentive of an imaginary haul of diamonds -- along with a more immediate cash sweetener -- is enough to secure an invitation to his home. Once there, Johnny subtly begins to spread suspicion. Johnny plays the first of his hands; he makes the Buckleys an offer they've been waiting for -- a cut of the proceeds if they help him recover his stash. What the Buckleys don't know is that this is part of Johnny's plan to destroy their family. But plans go awry when Buckley's son, Marc, is taken hostage, and his ransom is the same bogus stash. Pretending to be moved by their pleas, Johnny goes to London -- accompanied, despite his protests, by Marc's wife, the confident Simone -- to meet the kidnappers' demands. At first, Simone is appalled by the cold-blooded gangster Johnny Frank. But when the two grow unexpectedly close, Johnny feels obligated to break the bad news to Simone: he can't find Marc. Johnny and Simone put the pieces together and set out together for some dual payback in this endlessly entertaining tale from London's mean streets.Kray, Roberta is the author of 'Debt A Novel of the London Underworld', published 2006 under ISBN 9780786716999 and ISBN 0786716991.