The Scholar of Extortion by
Reg Gadney
pbk out December 04
(Faber)
at £6.99
There is something perversely comforting about a master-criminal, especially the
international variety. A serial killer may be living just round the corner, but the international
master-criminal, with or without a white Persian cat, is removed from the everyday story of
everyday folk. One is really not very likely to meet him or her – at least, I hope not. And if I
do have the misfortune to bump into one I sincerely hope it's not Klaas-Pieter Terajima,
the eponymous Scholar of Extortion, with his strange way with fingernails (his own rather
than other people's, unlike the more common or garden criminal).
Hong Kong Police Inspector Winston Lim, expert on marine terrorism, is involved in a
helicopter crash while out on a mission; he is rescued but then murdered. His death is put
down to the crash but those in the know – well, they know. Enter Alan Rosslyn, sometime
special investigations officer for HM Customs & Excise and now Reg Gadney's series
Private Investigator. Rosslyn had known Winston Lim well, and promised to look after his
daughter Mei in the event of anything happening to Winston; but the self-contained Mei
rejects his help and it becomes apparent that she has some connection with the master-
criminal himself.
Klaas-Pieter Terajima, of Dutch/Japanese parentage, has a splendid array of occupations
to his credit – merchant seaman, helicopter pilot, pharmacist, anaesthetist and physician.
He is able to put any or all of these career choices to good use as he pursues his chosen
course(s): controlling Chinese syndicates, extortion, murder, marine terrorism – to name
but a few. A master of disguise, he is everywhere and, it seems, everybody. He is also an
incredibly nasty man who enjoys doing incredibly nasty things to people.
Rosslyn, an experienced investigator, is well aware of the dangers of tackling such a
versatile opponent. Yet he is a curious mix of the very astute and the slightly dull-witted,
dismissing as unimportant apparent coincidences which have the reader jumping up and
down and screaming "Yes, it does matter, you fool!" Seriously hampered in his work by
officials on both sides of the world, Rosslyn cannot be sure who is to be trusted; and of
those who are, a woefully large number become part of the extremely high body count.
Although in general rather formulaic, this is a novel to be enjoyed by anybody who likes a
fast-paced plot with corkscrew twists and turns, together with imaginative characters and
plenty of action scenes. Hero and heroine live to fight another day – but what about the
master-criminal? Ah, that would be telling.
The Scholar of Extortion by
Reg Gadney
