The Hijacked Torpedo (The Curtis Adventures, #1) / The Curtis Adventures (ePub)

The Hijacked Torpedo is the first book in the Curtis Adventures.

Yupah, a young Thai girl, is delivered to some fishermen in part payment for her father's debts. She is repeatedly raped and abused by the Skipper and his two sons who are deeply involved in the drug trade. It is clear that Yupah's life means nothing to them and that, once she no longer satisfies them, they will kill her or sell her to a brothel. She lives only for the hope of revenge.

On the other side of the world, a Russian naval exercise off Murmansk has gone horribly wrong and the Kursk lies broken on the seabed, after an apparent torpedo malfunction. RN and USN submarines observe the frantic but ineffective rescue attempts, as does a Chinese submarine in the area. But then the Chinese decide to play a more active role. A deadly underwater battle ensues as the USN decides to get involved.

A report of the proceedings is prepared by a most unlikely participant, one who decides to pass the report to the British SIS but only via Jason Curtis, an individual selected at random. Jason, along with his wife, Pornthip, is about to take a tour of Morocco and several European Countries.

Jason collects the report in Morocco and delivers it to Vauxhall Cross but then finds that plans are in hand to eliminate him and Pornthip, apparently at the behest of the CIA. The danger increases when Jason receives a second report. He sends it to a friend in Bangkok and then uses it as a bargaining chip to persuade the SIS to assist with their escape from the UK. Initially, they take refuge in Hong Kong where they split up. Jason to return to Thailand by junk, Pornthip to follow him using a false passport. Before she can, she is abducted and faced with rape and torture unless she divulges information that she does not have.

Unaware of Pornthip's plight, Jason is having his own problems, he had transferred to a Thai fishing boat and discoveredthat the crew intend to kill him but only after they have enjoyed a lengthy interrogation.

Having been locked in her cabin overnight whilst the drugs are exchanged for cash, Yupah emerges to discover that there is a new passenger on the boat, a farang. Is it possible that she, at last, has an ally to aid in her revenge?

Eventually, Jason and Pornthip are reunited and arrive in Bangkok where Jason recovers the second report and passes it on to the SIS. Their little adventure is over until Jason discovers a third report waiting for him. It is now very clear why several governments would be prepared to kill to safeguard the contents of the reports.

But the major threat, when it comes, comes from an individual, not from a government. Jason and Pornthip are once more facing a most unpleasant death once more. They are saved by the intervention of their German Shepherd and the timely arrival of the CIA.