Rags Daniels was born into a working class family, the second of four children, Salford 1944. Migrated South 1956. Wild and curious, he ran off to London where he met the majority of the characters he writes about. The swinging sixties and early seventies played a major roll in his insatiable thirst for adventure, and against a backdrop of mini-skirts, mod’s, rockers and Muhammad Ali, bore witness to an era of crazy fads, culminating in Britain’s first ever woman Prime Minister in 1979. And of whom Lord Acton said, ‘Absolute power corrupts absolutely, ’ and by the end of her era, Thatcher was case in point. And while the Nation paddled through rubbish, bodies unburied, strikes, power cuts, spiralling inflation, limited working weeks, abysmal production, etc, etc, the real money was going into the pockets of fraudulent corporate boards and City Yuppies.(Groomed to Kill), his first book was written against a backdrop of inner city poverty and tells of lad who became a government assassin.
Worked in Norway on timber frame construction where he met John Millen a naval architect who designed Pearl Harbour after the war. Became a ‘minder’ for his mother-in-law both on and off his motor yacht in which he and his wife toured the world. Returned home, attended Brunel University and passed I.O.C.W.(GB)inc, exams. Worked for Borough Architects Dept. Resigned, got married, built own house while running several companies. Constructed a steel mill in India and a tiger compound in Nepal for the World Wild Life Trust. Widowed. Returned to writing and investigative journalism…It is from his diaries of the 60’s and 70’s he wrote POLICY, creating a fictional account of one such tale of political intrigue, and one for which he was interviewed by MI6. His latest book Lallapaloosa is ready for publishing and is currently being scripted for the silver screen. He now resides with his son, an A level English teacher, and Roxzan, his 12 year old adopted daughter.
October 8, 1967, 'Che' Ernesto Guevara was executed... Or so the world believed.
Inspired by a true sequence of events, ’Lallapaloosa’ tells in flashback the story leading up to the betrayal and 'capture' of the worlds most famous revolutionary and master of disguise.
Original, fast moving, and atmospheric to the last whiff of a Partagas cigar, it begins thirty years after the event with a series of sinister murders against a fraternity of retired mercenaries who, having fought alongside 'Che' in the Congo, grouped for one last mission in the jungles of Bolivia. For thirty years, Richard Strang, thought he shared the worlds best kept secret with no one. Then one summer evening, the tap of a blind man's cane, and a nose for the toasted Cuban leaf, changed all that.
Book Review:
"October 8, 1967, 'Che' Ernesto Guevara was executed... Or so the world believed.
Inspired by a true sequence of events, 'Lallapaloosa' tells in flashback the story leading up to the betrayal and 'capture' of the worlds most famous revolutionary and master of disguise. Original, fast moving, and atmospheric to the last whiff of a Partagas cigar, it begins thirty years after the event with a series of sinister murders against a fraternity of retired mercenaries who, having fought alongside 'Che' in the Congo, grouped for one last mission in the jungles of Bolivia. For thirty years, Richard Strang, thought he shared the worlds best kept secret with no one. Then one summer evening, the tap of a blind man's cane, and a nose for the toasted Cuban leaf, changed all that."
That's a good summing up of one of the best nail-biting, can't-put-it-down thrillers I've read in some time. Who is killing this band of aging ex-mercenaries? Is it the blind man? Who is the young man who tried to do in Richard Strang? Who sent him? How are these killings related to this group of old friends related to what went on in the jungles of Bolivia so long ago? Author Rags Daniels takes his readers on a harrowing journey back to the intrigues of Bolivia during Guevara's time where danger and betrayal were as common as mosquitos, and intrigue and sex often intertwined like vines on a tree trunk.
I can hardly wait for his next book, Foxy Lady to appear. Said to be "bursting with insight into the seedy, sleazy world of political funding", it looks to be at least as much a page-turner as this one.
Rags shares a pivotal moment about the writing process for Lallapaloosa.
5.0 out of 5 stars A spellbinding, can't-put-it-down thriller, May 4, 2012
By
Inspired by a true sequence of events, 'Lallapaloosa' tells in flashback the story leading up to the betrayal and 'capture' of the worlds most famous revolutionary and master of disguise. Original, fast moving, and atmospheric to the last whiff of a Partagas cigar, it begins thirty years after the event with a series of sinister murders against a fraternity of retired mercenaries who, having fought alongside 'Che' in the Congo, grouped for one last mission in the jungles of Bolivia. For thirty years, Richard Strang, thought he shared the worlds best kept secret with no one. Then one summer evening, the tap of a blind man's cane, and a nose for the toasted Cuban leaf, changed all that."
That's a good summing up of one of the best nail-biting, can't-put-it-down thrillers I've read in some time. Who is killing this band of aging ex-mercenaries? Is it the blind man? Who is the young man who tried to do in Richard Strang? Who sent him? How are these killings related to this group of old friends related to what went on in the jungles of Bolivia so long ago? Author Rags Daniels takes his readers on a harrowing journey back to the intrigues of Bolivia during Guevara's time where danger and betrayal were as common as mosquitos, and intrigue and sex often intertwined like vines on a tree trunk.
I can hardly wait for his next book, Foxy Lady to appear. Said to be "bursting with insight into the seedy, sleazy world of political funding", it looks to be at least as much a page-turner as this one.
Rags shares a pivotal moment about the writing process for Lallapaloosa.
With the research, the diary pages and the Ché's campaign map, it took about twelve months to write. The main research was into Ché's beliefs. The character had to be correctly drawn to give credence to him. Note that the diary pages, taken from a German diary which he carried, go beyond the date he was allegedly executed on a CIA operatives orders, which lends doubt to his time of death.; (October 9th 1967).
The story was prompted by his missing body, which in 1997 body parts purporting to be Ché's, minus the hands, were found in an unmarked grave close to an air strip in Valle Grande. And still to this day, controversy rages and doubt remains if what was found really are Ché's remains.
Great to see you here, Rags, and to learn a bit more about your background. Fascinating stuff – nearly as exciting as the marvellous Lallapalooosa!
ReplyDeleteKeep on promoting – that's the way it works!
Another super-interesting review, Soooz. I enjoy them all and look forward to them.
ReplyDeleteHi Rags. A terrific write up Soooz, and well deserved.
ReplyDelete