Last night I attended a reunion. They're not usually my scene, but this one was different. It was in the fire station in Southsea and it was members of my husband's former watch, Red Watch, who had come together to wish one of their colleagues good luck as he retires from full time service to take a job share with another fire fighter (a new innovation in the fire service in the UK) as a fireman. It was a moving experience to step inside the fire station again, I haven't been there for a few years, and to see again all the wonderful firemen my husband used to work with over the years of his career in the service cut short because of a knee injury. It was like being wrapped in a warm blanket. What struck me was the kindness, friendliness, humour, camaraderieship of those there. I shouldn't have been surprised because I have witnessed all of these traits for years along with these men's dedication and commitment to their work and their unquestioning bravery.
Southsea Fire Station was where I first overheard a conversation about several fire fighters from one watch contracting cancer and the concerns that this had been as a result of a shout they attended where unknowingly they had been exposed to dangerous chemicals. Nothing was ever investigated but this conversation stuck in my mind and became the basis for my thriller In Cold Daylight which was shortlisted for the World Book Day Prize in 2008 and voted by the public in an on line poll as one of their top three favourite novels.
In Cold Daylight is dedicated to my husband, Bob, Red Watch, and fire fighters everywhere, the true heroes. Guys I salute you and thank you. You do a great job and long may you continue to do so.
Before fire-fighter Jack Bartholomew can reveal the cause of his own – and his colleagues’ cancer- he is murdered and silenced forever. But in a cryptic message he orchestrated before his untimely death, he has left a trail of clues that will lead his best friend, Marine Artist, Adam Greene, into a labyrinth of lies, secrets and government conspiracy. By exposing a secret that has lain dormant for years Adam is forced to face his own dark secrets, and as the facts reveal themselves the prospects for his survival look bleak. But Adam knows there is no turning back; he has to get to the truth no matter what the cost, even if it means his life.
Southsea Fire Station was where I first overheard a conversation about several fire fighters from one watch contracting cancer and the concerns that this had been as a result of a shout they attended where unknowingly they had been exposed to dangerous chemicals. Nothing was ever investigated but this conversation stuck in my mind and became the basis for my thriller In Cold Daylight which was shortlisted for the World Book Day Prize in 2008 and voted by the public in an on line poll as one of their top three favourite novels.
In Cold Daylight is dedicated to my husband, Bob, Red Watch, and fire fighters everywhere, the true heroes. Guys I salute you and thank you. You do a great job and long may you continue to do so.
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| Taken in 2008 when In Cold Daylight was voted the third most popular novel in an on line poll, with some of the guys from Red Watch, Southsea. |
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