Ken Smith was born in London, England. He moved to South Africa with his parents and, after travelling with his best buddy to Europe, Canada and America, attended university and practised law in South Africa for many years. For some years, he also practised law as a barrister in New Zealand. Throughout his life, his first love has been writing creatively, and he has now retired from practising law to become a full-time writer. He is a Ngaio Marsh Award nominee for Best First Novel: Crime. Unfortunately, his wife and younger brother recently passed away so he now shares an apartment in New Zealand with his spoilt rotten Tibetan Spaniel. In the past, he enjoyed sailing and long-distance running, but that has been replaced by daily walks with his demanding canine.
The Informer is about a girl named Holly, whose life shifts when she faces an assault in her hometown, New Zealand. Filled with rage and thirst for revenge, Holly kills her attacker on the day when he’s released from jail. She then flees her country on a false passport, and during her flight to Dubai, she meets a charismatic stranger, Ahmad, who completely transforms her life. During her stay in Dubai, Holly is approached by an FBI agent, Jim Sloane, who asks her to spy on Ahmad for him, as Ahmad is suspected of being a terrorist by the FBI. Holly accepts the task, but soon she becomes emotionally invested in Ahmad and his cause. Holly finds herself stuck between love, loyalty and her conscience. Trained in militant camps and completing her different missions, Holly is drawn into plots that lead towards the events surrounding 9/11 – she falls deeper into extremism. Completing her every mission successfully, Holly soon realises that her every decision has a consequence. This story is a powerful warning about how traumas and manipulation can make someone choose a path they never imagined they would go.
Constable Singh looked up. Above the noise of the old photocopying machine, he yelled, "WOW! THEY REALLY ARE PURSUING YOU!" Michael frowned, deep in thought. "I never saw it that way," he mused. Glancing towards Singh, he nodded to himself as the loose threads of what had been happening began interweaving in his brain. Whilst con-artist Dick Willoughby is in gaol, he hires some evil helpers to wreak revenge on former lawyer Michael and his lover Claire for bringing Dick's lucrative criminal activities crashing to a halt. The two are followed whilst they sail their forty-five-foot catamaran across the Indian Ocean from Durban, South Africa, to Mauritius. Michael, with Claire by his side, will be followed again, this time from Dublin, Ireland. Will they escape Dick's paid assassins?
