Black Rain, English edition

Chapter One


Manaus, Brazil

Danielle Laidlaw sat alone on the terrace of a small café overlooking the great river. In the heat-induced calm of a sweltering afternoon she watched the sun paint traces of gold on the river s surface. It was a mesmerizing and hypnotic sight, and one she d gazed at for too long.

She turned her attention to the café, looking past the tables and their bright yellow umbrellas to what she could see of the café s interior. In the heat of the afternoon the place was all but empty. Certainly there was no sign of the man she was waiting on, a man who was running atypically late.

With quick hands, she retrieved her BlackBerry, checked for any messages and then typed a none-too-subtle text. It read: Where the hell are you?

Before she could press send, she caught sight of him, speaking to a waiter in the café s foyer.

She spotted his silver hair first, and then his craggy face as he turned in her direction. He walked toward her, as nattily dressed as always, today in dark slacks, a button-down shirt and a navy blue dinner jacket. She wondered how he could wear such clothes in the heat of central Brazil, but then Arnold Moore didn t do compromise very well, not even with the vagaries of nature.

You re late, she said. Did you have trouble finding this place?

He pursed his lips as if the suggestion itself was ludicrous. Of course not, he said. I simply asked where one might find a brooding, dark-haired woman angrily checking her BlackBerry a hundred times a minute. Surprisingly, only seven different people pointed me in your direction.

As she smiled at his barb, Danielle sensed the eyes of the waitstaff upon them. It happened more often than not. She was thirty-one, tall and fit with high cheekbones and glossy chestnut hair, and he was twice her age, gray and refined, almost continental in his bearing. People who saw them together commonly gawked, assuming her to be his mistress or trophy wife or perhaps, less cynically,

Graham Brown was born in Chicago. He is a pilot and an attorney. He lives with his wife, Tracey, in Tucson, Arizona, where he is currently at work on his second novel for Bantam Dell, a sequel to Black Rain.

"Black Rain is an adventure that's not only a terrific read, but is smart, intelligent, and poised to shake up the whole thriller community.  Every copy should come with a bucket of popcorn and a John Williams soundtrack to play in the background.  Loved it." Linwood Barclay, author of Fear the Worst

"Black Rain sizzles with tension and twists that both entertain and magnetize.  The plot envelopes the reader into a brilliantly conceived world, full of strange and amazing things.  Graham Brown is an exciting new talent, a writer we're going to be hearing a lot from in the years ahead.  I can't wait." Steve Berry, author of The Paris Vendetta