Proof of Life

. .'This tense, atmospheric, totally believable thriller harks back to the golden age of espionage but is also about how well we really know our friends. Superb' THE SUNStroud is a former war photographer who left the frontline before his luck ran out. His closest friend and mentor, Vincent Raphael, was not so fortunate, and was killed in an explosion in Jordan.Six years later, Raphael is allegedly sighted in Istanbul. Reluctantly, Stroud is drawn back into a life that nearly destroyed him, and so begins a journey that takes him from the Balkans to the Netherlands, from Berlin to Paris, as he hunts down the truth of Raphael's death, or if - in fact - Raphael never existed at all . . .With his every move closely observed by Turkish Intelligence, Mossad, MI6 and Deuxieme Bureau, Stroud is on the trail of a revelation that will question everything he has ever believed . . .PRAISE FOR R. J. ELLORY'Thriller writing of the very highest order' GUARDIAN'In the top flight of crime writing' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH