"Tom builds an ingenious labyrinth of plot, suspense and cunning twists with the canny eye of a master story-teller in his thrilling best-seller of an island nation caught in a deadly web of corruption, intrigue, betrayal and revenge! - Hansen Lee Ibani slaves and the Scottish highlander exiles who freed them find fulfillment living together on a mid-Atlantic island paradise until the discovery of oil in their offshore waters by their 'tartan' descendants two hundred years later induces a bankrupt Scottish government led by the unscrupulous Veronica Pigeon to claim sovereignty and plan a coup. The threat compels the islands' President Romelu to enlist the help of British intelligence agent Charles Ledingham and triggers a cat-and-mouse battle of political wits and will with ex-IRA chief Adrian Gorse and a race to find his secret weapons horde. As the day of the islands' 'Glorious Twelfth' celebration draws near, kidnap, drugs, personal vendettas and two back-from-the-dead assassins further confuse the conflict and fates are decided in dramatic fashion in a finale of stunning turns where only the most devious prevail. But who will that be? Will Romelu succeed in protecting the integrity, freedom and new-found oil wealth of his 'tartan' people? Or will the 'black gold' bring only despair? Can any one adversary outfox all the others - and live to tell the tale? Set against a historical backdrop of slavery and salvation and the hopes and dreams of a mixed-race people living in harmony but threatened by a modern world where greed and flawed ideologies rule, Lukaku's Black Gold is an imagination-bending adventure chock-full of vivid characters pursuing their respective destinies only as honestly as circumstance permits. The novel is a sequel to The Boy From Broughty Ferry with several characters' roles from that work reprised, but it is equally written, and intended to be enjoyed, as a stand-alone read in its own right. "Tom builds an ingenious labyrinth of plot, suspense and cunning twists with the canny eye of a master story-teller!" - Hansen Lee