MACREADY BELIEVED DEAD STOP PROJECT IN BALANCE STOP PLEASE COME STOP said the cable which reached the respectable Fenchurch Street office of Cranstoun and Macready, Importers and Exporters. Plain words, but enough to baffle David Cranstoun, since his partner, Jim MacReady, was not supposed to be anywhere near Kabul, the project was a complete mystery, and the signature, "e;Coldstrom"e;, rang no bells. Impulsively, David gets on the next plane to Afghanistan - and finds himself in the midst of an intrigue that involves the three nations that surround Afghanistan - China, Russia and Pakistan - and a beautiful woman. It will also lead to a terrifying trek through some of the most unforgiving mountains on the planet. Cranstoun learns a lot about himself, about the murky ruthlessness of international politics and about the sheer savagery of the great ice mountains of the Hindu Kush. 'One of Scotland's most prolific and respected writers' The Times