It's Always Darkest by Stephen C. Spencer

This is the first of the Paul Mallory series that I have read and I must say, if this is anything to go by, I will be reading the whole collection.
Good looking, Sports News Reporter, Paul Mallory, is in for a bumpy ride. When he lands a reporting job that he doesn't want for an over inflated wage, that entails travelling half way around the world to report on a sport he doesn't give a damn about, he's bound to be biting off more than he can chew. When he finally trips onto a story that might interest his new boss about Handball, it comes as some surprise when his interviewee is discovered decapitated and stabbed to death. Thrown into a situation he really didn't want to get into and surrounded with women who appear to rip off their clothes the moment they lay eyes on him, Paul Mallory is a man's man and a woman's fantasy.
Author, Stephen C. Spencer demonstrates great skill in story telling and intrigue weaving with this darkly comedic Bondesque thriller. Throughout the book, Spencer shows that he knows his stuff when it comes to detective genre fiction, embroidering original characters into elaborate scenarios that take you from one side of the world to the other. The reader is shuttled from Russia to Germany and Greece and back to the US at break neck speed, all the while exposed to the violent machinations of "The Chameleon", a baddie of spine chilling proportions, whose tactics are not for the faint hearted.
It's always darkest is a ripping good yarn, with a protagonist who will appeal to both sexes and a humour that tickles in all the right places, ensuring that darker elements of the story are perfectly balanced.
My only criticism would be that at times you get the sensation he's earning commission from product placement that doesn't necessarily add to the description, (Narzan Mineral Water is now a part of my vocabulary), but that triviality aside, I couldn't fault it. If you're looking to find out more about Connie Francis' music as well as take an enjoyable trip out of the day to day, check out It's Always Darkest; it will pick you up, throw you up into the air and keep you gulping for breath until the very end.
Heartily recommend.

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