Not far from Heathrow Airport, a man falls from the sky and lands on a freshly detailed Porsche Targa, wasting both the car cleaning and the life of the victim. With no way to immediately identify the body, law enforcement and the media are left floundering for answers. Meanwhile, a British Airways flight bound for Boston departs from London exactly on time, but nothing goes according to plan after that for the overseas journey. The plane inexplicably plummets into the unforgiving waters of the Atlantic Ocean, leaving no survivors and little in the way of clues. In a rare collaboration, MI5 and MI6 are brought together to unravel the pair of deadly mysteries. These two bizarre incidents are related, and it’s up to the two usually uncooperative agencies to put aside differences and solve the case. Some of the nation’s most in-demand operatives, including Stephen Small, Prue Pimento, Olive Green and the vivacious Floriana Keggler, are looking into these shocking events, and the crimes don’t end with a giant Boeing and an unlucky airport employee dropping from above. Spies, double agents, corrupt individuals and greedy conspirators pile the suspense high as the plot thickens to the consistency of pea soup. The schemes and collusions won’t stop until they’ve reached the highest government offices on the planet.
Insensitive and irreverent in every conceivable manner, Sky Foil is a lighthearted spoof of the spy genre. Gerry Burke has an undemanding voice as he lets the humor flow freely in this excitement-laced story of murder, deceit and silliness. Humor is applied at every opportunity, leaving no pun uncovered and no joke untold. Sky Foil feels like a story out of another time, where everything rings with retro humor reminiscent of an era when fewer things pinged on the collective political-correctness radar. The plot, characters, setting and mindset all feel fashionably outmoded, but might cross a few lines for modern sensibilities. This doesn’t prevent readers, however, from enjoying an eclectic novel that vigorously pokes fun at politics, bureaucracy, international investigations, and just about everything else! Sure to ruffle a few feathers and garner some hearty laughs, Sky Foil is the shameless spy novel you didn’t know you were missing.
