TRADE OFF

Diana Palmer’s young son, Paul, is kidnapped. She should be able to rely on her husband to get him back safely and soon. He heads a discreet government department specialising in this kind of black transaction. What she doesn’t know yet is that the kidnapping wasn’t for money, but by a terrorist group based in the UK, and engineered to put pressure on her husband to secure the release of certain prisoners. But international politics, and the small matter of a dirty nuclear device being constructed somewhere, make Anthony’s department impotent to get the son back – even with a mole planted in the group. It’s down to Diana. She’s no superwoman, but this is her child – no contest. She extorts the help of Simon, ex-CIA, her (secret) ex-lover; reluctantly, he gives her the means of contacting Raven, the terrorist leader. Then the department mistakenly identifies Simon as a security risk, and he is arrested. Diana is utterly alone. She arranges a meeting with Raven, promising to reveal the identity of the hitherto unsuspected mole in exchange for a meeting with her son. In truth, she has no knowledge of the mole’s identity, and has other arrangements in mind. First, a break-in at a vet’s. The meeting with Raven is terrifying. The outcome for her seems imminent, and terminal, but she injects him with tranquilliser. Raven is her prisoner. The trade off: Raven for their son. The trade off is high action, and bloody. Diana is captured by the terrorists. Execution is inevitable. The mole arranges her escape – but she's chased by those who want her dead. This housewife has her son back in safety – but at what cost to herself?