“A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, but perhaps there is a key”, was Winston Churchill’s famous take on Russia in World War II.
A rather less significant — but nonetheless intriguing — set of questions has been thrown up in recent days by the publication of a new shipping-based thriller, The Ocean Dove.
Breathless
The breathless blurb put out by Troubadour's UK self-publishing imprint Matador, conjures up a tale of skulduggery on the high seas, after the ship Danske Prince apparently sinks in the Indian Ocean with a deadly cargo.
“Only one man doubts it. But Dan Brooks is new to the security services and his face doesn't fit,” the puff continues. “A fast-paced thriller about a shockingly possible new kind of terrorist attack. As we guard our land and air, could devastation come from the seas?”
Airport thriller?
Yet the mystery doesn’t stop with the story, which appears ready to rival any airport-bookshop schlock thriller.
Even author Carlos Luxul is hiding behind a pseudonym, just to heighten the intrigue, presumably in case potential readers had already turned the page.
Publicist Ben Cameron said Luxul derived the plot from “his in-depth knowledge of global shipping”, having “worked for many years at the top of the shipping and logistics industry”.
Bin Laden angle
Just to add spice, Luxul added a comment himself — or is it herself?
“Along the way I've met presidents and ministers, war criminals and cannibals, scrambled a country's navy and air force, and done business with the Bin Ladens — the entirely respectable multi-billion Saudi Binladin Group, not the founder's wayward 17th son.”
Shipping has already produced novels such as former PR man John Guy’s The Reluctant Pirate, and Marine Money’s Matt McCleery with The Shipping Man.
Neither of them felt the need to hide in the shadows.
The only contact for Luxul on all social media feeds is an email — info@carlosluxul.com — where someone called Lottie Smith will field enquiries over foreign and film rights.
Cameron told TradeWinds that Luxul wants to keep his identity secret because he works in the industry and wants to keep his writing identity separate from his work.
But, intriguingly, Cameron added: “Beyond that I cannot say. Other than that, he has worked for and with major companies that you will know well — and he still does...”
So, who can unmask Carlos Luxul? Tips please to news@tradewindsnews.com.
