‘Gilbert is a seasoned journalist specialising in writing about TV’
Here’s an agile, topical summer thriller that should keep you pinned to your sun-lounger for a couple of days. Childhood friends Max Draycott and Harry Kimber are London hedge-fund hustlers captivated by a new, more beguiling pursuit, acting as opportunistic fixers – “concierges” – for petrodollar playboys looking to snap up prime real estate or rare gems. Max has rescued Harry from failure, shame and penury in his former career as a journalist and both men are nursing inner demons rooted in the past.
A betrayal is already playing itself out behind the scenes of Harry’s mentorship as the pair set about buying a choice diamond for a Saudi billionaire. But their greed and drive to become glorified lackeys to the new global elite catapults them into a lethal storm after the stone is stolen.
Gilbert is a seasoned journalist specialising in writing about TV, and he brings to this, his first novel, an instinct for dramatic tempo, crisp exposition and thematic pertinence.
