Book excerpt: The accidental killing of a poacher on an ex–British Army officer’s land embroils him in an insidious international conspiracy Roger Taine purchased the shooting rights on 450 acres of Dorset farmland in order to commune with nature and secure fresh game for his family’s dinner table. But during a fateful October rabbit hunt, Taine’s attempt to teach a lesson to a pair of suspected poachers takes a tragic, unexpected turn, leaving one man lying dead in the evening’s chill. Fearing a manslaughter charge and a possible prison sentence, the salesman and former British Army colonel panics, disposing of the body before returning home to await the inevitable arrival of police investigators. But they never come. Instead, Taine finds that his rash actions and their deadly unintended consequences have pulled him into the heart of an international conspiracy of espionage and terror. Suddenly Roger Taine is a man on the run, encountering death all along the way, in a race against time to prevent the rise of what may well be the greatest threat to the European continent since the fall of the Third Reich. A gripping tale of suspense, intrigue, and adventure, A Rough Shoot is a nonstop thrill ride with surprises waiting around every hairpin turn—a classic thriller in the Alfred Hitchcock vein that will keep readers riveted until the final word.