Shortlisted for the 2020 Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger award
Newly qualified offshore medic, Danny Verity, arrives on the Cuillin Alpha oil platform shortly before a storm damages the satellite system, severing the crew’s only mode of communication to the mainland.
Storm or sabotage?
Danny is forced to perform emergency surgery on an injured crewmate, whose accident he suspects was the result of sabotage. The man dies, a member of the crew disappears, and yet another is attacked.
Enter the Pied Piper, whose sinister announcements carry his threats through the entire platform.
While the North Sea rages around them, emotions and suspicions run high.
Danny knows he’s the only one who can stop the saboteur. But will the crew trust him?
With no way of calling in help and unable to risk escaping on the lifeboats, everyone aboard the oil platform is trapped. So is the killer… and Danny is determined to smoke him out.
Chris Blackwater is a writer and chartered engineer from Leeds, England. His first novel Emergency Drill, book 1 in the Danny Verity, PI series, set on a North Sea oil platform, was shortlisted for the 2020 CWA Debut Dagger Award. His short stories have appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies including contributions to the much-missed Mad Scientist Journal.
Book two in the series, Dead Crude, is set in Orkney. Apart from Danny Verity, it features other characters who survived Emergency Drill. He is working on a third book in the series, called Head Hunting.
Chris began writing to entertain himself whilst working on offshore oil platforms and remote power stations. His career has taken him all over the world to unusual locations and introduced him to some remarkable characters. In recent years Chris has gradually drifted down to the south coast of England where he spends his spare time learning to sail and play the flute, though not at the same time.
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My thoughts: this is a fast paced, explosive (although not literally) thriller set on a North Sea oil platform. Danny is the new medic on crew – he didn’t expect it to be this eventful.
Starting with the death of another crew member, a series of sabotage events terrify the whole platform and cut them off from the mainland, unable to get help.
Danny joins forces with some of the others on the platform to unmask the Pied Piper claiming responsibility for the incidents, and stop them before anyone else gets killed. But with supplies running low and the power almost out, time is in short supply.
Danny is an interesting protagonist – a former Military Police Officer turned medic, he has skills and experience he tries to put into use during this terrifying case. He has to rely on people he doesn’t know very well, especially Gemma, who acts as his sidekick and insider, while hiding out after almost being killed.
Using his own experiences, which hopefully wasn’t as traumatic, the author sets up this new series of high octane thrillers with a bang.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 
Thank you so much for kicking off the tour today x
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Thanks for the great review. Some of the events in the book are based on my experiences, but I have recovered from the trauma, thanks!
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