The avenger

A seasoned intelligence officer with a taste for quiet cafés and river canoes, Mike Brixan spends his days untangling diplomatic riddles across Europe. When a routine assignment in Berlin is abruptly halted, he is thrust into a far darker pursuit: a string of gruesome murders marked by severed heads, each victim a fugitive who slipped through justice’s net. The cryptic note that lands on his desk points to a shadowy figure known only as “The Head‑Hunter,” a killer whose methodical cruelty has gone unchecked for years.

Brixan’s keen mind and unflappable demeanor make him the perfect, if reluctant, choice for the secret investigation. As he follows the trail from the quiet hedgerows of Esher to the bustling corridors of Whitehall, he must balance the delicate politics of the Foreign Office with the raw urgency of a crime scene. The early stages of the case promise a tense mix of espionage, forensic puzzles, and a hunt that forces him to confront both his superstitions and the stark reality of a murderer operating under the radar of both police and government.