Illicit Trade

Illicit Trade
244 Pages
ISBN 978-1603815895

Two poor Kenyan men visiting the U.S. are found dead, one in jail, one on the street. Both used forged UN documents to enter the country. Valentin Vermeulen's superiors have no interest in the plight of undocumented immigrants, but they want him to stop the fraud. The clues take Vermeulen from New York City to Newark, where he riles a woman known as The Broker, then to Vienna.

Earle Jackson, a small-time hustler and the last person to speak with one of the dead Kenyans, has taken the man's passport and money. He also finds a note listing an address in Newark, where his efforts to cash in on the situation go awry. Fleeing for his life, Jackson flies to Nairobi using the dead man's passport. Vermeulen and Jackson have chanced upon a criminal network more extensive and vicious than either could have imagined. To survive, Vermeulen must do more than sever a few links. He must find the mastermind at the top. Book 2 in the Valentin Vermeulen Thriller series.

Michael Niemann

About Michael Niemann (Ashland, Oregon Author)

Michael Niemann

Michael Niemann grew up in a small town in Germany, ten kilometers from the Dutch border. Crossing that border often at a young age sparked in him a curiosity about the larger world. He studied political science at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität in Bonn and international studies at the University of Denver. During his academic career he focused his work on southern Africa and frequently spent time in the region.

His first fiction publication was the story "Africa Always Needs Guns," which appeared in the 2012 Mystery Writers of America anthology "Vengeance," edited by Lee Child. Valentin Vermeulen, his protagonist, first appeared in that story. This story is now available as a Kindle Single.

Since then, Valentin Vermeulen has appeared in two novels, "Legitimate Business" and "Illicit Trade," and two more stories, "Big Dreams Cost Too Much" and "Some Kind of Justice." The next Vermeulen novel "Illegal Holdings" will come on March 1, 2018.

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