Foreword
Chris Austin made one mistake in an otherwise brilliant career. He risked the livelihood of those close and dear to him in his personal and business life, and he risked funds entrusted to him by his company’s clients when an American, Robert Lindon entered his life.
Bob Lindon described to him a financial scheme which, with powerful logic, produced an opportunity for very, very large amounts of money to be made available. So vast was the amount, and so certain of the success of the scheme, Chris became totally pre-occupied with it. Bob Lindon’s reassurance that Chris’s actions were fully protected by funds already under the American’s control in the States effectively countered a feeling that there might be any problem. Chris and, to a lesser but nonetheless significant extent, his friends, had before them a vision of a whole new and exciting future coming to reality. It was, indeed, the stuff that dreams are made of.
Dreams, though, can become nightmares, and when Bob Lindon failed to honour his promises the reality of life for Chris Austin and many others became that nightmare. Brave efforts were made to recover or to replace the £1 million or so lost through following Bob Lindon’s advice but these efforts served only to increase the vulnerability of those making them. Vulnerability, not only to the inevitable actions of the authorities but also to the sinister implications of their beginning to learn more about the reasons for Bob Lindon’s failure and the type of people involved in the background than those people desired to become known. Gradually, support for Chris by his colleagues petered out and finally, reluctantly, in early 1985, he too had to give up. His career ruined, his physical reserves depleted and his dreams shattered, he stood alone to face the consequences.
This story commences a couple of years later, when Chris Austin walks away from a London court and experiences a freedom of a sort that had evaded him for so long. The events of the past, though, still haunt him, as does a determination to discover the truth about Bob Lindon.
A dramatic sequence of events results in old associations being renewed. Complex twists of motives and emotions emerge as the loyalty of once-close friends comes into question.
The unpredictability and unusual appearance of a little-known race in the Slav mountain lands brings starkness to an already tense atmosphere and in another part of that country English and Greek are silenced, stunned by the moving tones of a small town folk singer.
Other feelings, friendships and fears will be found as the story unfolds. A story that is credible, because it is based largely on fact, yet incredible, because it is not easy to believe that such things could happen. A story that will shock with the violence of some, yet calm at the care shown by others. A story where sensations are vivid but senses still reel. A story that attacks the emotions then tends its wounds. A story with few explanations because only a few of the people still exist.
