Back to Back

Jamie d’Antioc

Published: 2009

Format: Hardback

Pages: 571

ISBN: 9780982563700

RRP: £14.99

Following the price rises in 1973, the race is on to finnd more oil and cash. English banker James Tangred and Cameron Russell, an intrepid wildcatter, set out to locate and tap the huge reserves of this black gold – rumored to lie beneath the deserts of a small Middle Eastern country. But as soon as they arrive they realize their mission is not going to be an easy one. Not only do they have to adapt to the whims and caprices of the Kerawani Prince, but they must vie for his favor against a Machiavellian Dutch trader already embedded in the very heart of the Royal Court.

Mia Blanken, the novel’s central character, with a volatile mixture of sexual allure and sharp business sense, has rapidly succeeded in becoming a big player in oil brokerage: when she sets her sights on something, or someone – she gets them. Blanken picks up the scent of black gold in New York, and she wants in. But her greed may well be her undoing when she decides to break the inviolable trading deal – the ‘back to back’ contract. With an international scope, from the deserts of Kerawan to the business centres of New York, London, Geneva, Paris and Houston, Back to Back reveals what really goes on behind the enigmatic façade of the oil trade; how millions are made and lost in minutes, to all intents and purposes, outside of governmental control.