Mark Elley

Precious Package Mark Elley

In late May, 1971, Canadian John Doyle and his new wife Susan entered the customs area of London's Gatwick Airport, unaware that their long anticipated hitchhiking vacation in the British Isles was going to morph into a roller-coaster ride of intrigue and death. Due to John's involvement in thwarting a major drug gang two years earlier in Canada, the Doyles are asked to assist 'the Yard' and Customs and Excise in an undercover operation. They were conscripted to stop the transfer of stolen diamonds smuggled in 'precious packages' from Antwerp to North America. The ride takes them into the ruthless world of diamond thieves and the Provisional IRA as the ensuing plot twists and turns, rolling their life upside down. Their journey takes them across the scenic countryside of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland meeting a vast array of characters along the way. Some prove dangerous and life threatening and some become new allies aiding their mission. "Precious Package" dives into the pool of tensions between the PIRA and the British government, of good versus evil and the evolving relationship of a young couple as they hitch hike their way into the midst of theft, kidnapping and killings. In the middle of the novel John is contemplating what had happened to them so far. "What had begun as a simple backpacking hitch hiking experience throughout the British Isles and on the Continent had turned into an undercover escapade burrowing deep into the dark world of diamond thieves, smugglers, international terrorists and kidnappers. Susan had experienced mobs and kidnappings, ferry crossings with horrible seas and an escape that demonstrated the Titanic courage of a woman of conviction. I had confronted angry mobs and individuals, stolen an amount of diamonds equivalent to the National Gross Product of some third world country, watched as two men fired on us and were gunned down and killed before my eyes and faced the prospect that my bride might be gone forever."