Warning: I’m not messing around when I use “spoiler” as the modifier for “synopsis.”  This synopsis contains damn near every detail about every plot turn and every element you were hoping would surprise you when you thought about reading the book in the first place.

It’s a free country.  Read on if you want.

Personal note: I hate writing these things.  If you would like to contribute one for a book that I haven’t yet written up, by all means, contact me.

If you find any errors in this, please contact me. No error too small!

Now that the ground rules are established and all of that’s out of the way, let’s get on with…

The Black Ice Score

Parker returns to his hotel room in New York to find three guys going through his luggage and Claire tied up in the bathroom. They leave after warning him not to get involved. He has no idea what they are talking about. Later that day, he receives a phone call from a man named Hoskins. Puzzled about what is going on, he meets Hoskins in the hotel bar but learns little. This meeting is interrupted by a phone call–Claire is in the hotel room with some men and asks him to come up.

These four are from the tiny African nation of Dhaba; their leader, Gonor, is a UN dignitary. They offer him $25,000 to design a heist and teach them how to pull it off. It turns out that Dhaba’s current president, Colonel Lubudi, has stolen most of the diamonds that back up Dhaba’s currency, and they need to steal them back. They also inform him that the three men who approached him earlier were supporters of General Goma, a puppet of the former white leaders of Dhaba.

Claire is immediately smitten with the men, especially Gonor. She also thinks it’s a good cause. Parker doesn’t do good causes, however, and refuses the men on the basis that too many people know about the loot: in addition to Hoskins, whom the men had approached first before deciding he was unfit for the job, the jewels are heavily guarded, plus Parker had deduced that at least one of the men in the group is a traitor.

Parker and Claire haul off to Miami to avoid further involvement in the situation. However, it isn’t long before Parker is approached again. The Dhabans have sought to prove that they are not as amateurish as they might seem on first blush by following Parker and removing the traitor from their midst. This causes Parker to reconsider, and he takes the job.

The diamonds are hidden in a small Dhaban museum in New York, which is open by appointment only. It is guarded by the Kasempa family, relatives of Colonel Lubudi, who are safeguarding the wealth until the Colonel can come to America to join them. They are living in an apartment on the fifth floor that was originally built for a full-time curator who was never hired.

After being briefed on the museum’s setup by the Dhabans, Parker is again approached by Hoskins, this time at gunpoint. Parker overpowers Hoskins and instructs him to stay away by holding him out a window and threatening to drop him.

Parker and Formutesca, one of the Dhabans, pretend to be city water workers in order to get access to the building next door to the museum. Using a ladder, they cross to the museum roof and figure out how to open the top of the elevator shaft.

After seeing to it that the Dhabans have armed themselves properly, Parker returns to his hotel room to again find someone inside, one of the men from the beginning of the novel. His name is Marten, and he tells Parker that they have kidnapped Claire and that she will only be returned to him if he spills the beans on how the robbery will be conducted.

We next move to Claire, who is being held prisoner by Jock Daask. Daask is quite smitten with Claire, and begins to worry about her safety when his partners suggest that he rape her.

Meanwhile, Formutesca and Manado, another one of the Dhabans, break into the museum. Things go well, and they grab the diamonds and murder the Kasempa family. Gonor waits in a van outside, but begins to worry when he notices someone else watching the front of the museum from a car. He gets out to investigate, and gets shot by Hoskins. Hoskins hides the body under his car and waits for Formutesca and Manado to exit. When they do, he fires too early, hitting Manado but missing Formutesca. This is when Parker reappears.

Parker shoots and kills Hoskins. Formutesca and Parker move Manado into the museum, where Parker informs Formutesca that Manado will soon die unless he gets medical attention. Fortunately for Manado, this faction’s candidate for president, Major Indindu, is a doctor. He comes to the museum and ministers to Manado as Parker explains what happened.

Parker had deduced that the faction that kidnapped Claire planned to kill him, so playing along would not help him or Claire. Consequently, he made up a fake plan to buy the Dhabans some time so that General Goma’s faction wouldn’t show up before five. Parker asks Indindu and Formutesca to help him. Indindu will not, but Formutesca agrees.
When Goma’s people show up at five, Parker and Formutesca take them out, but Marten gets away. However, they manage to take Daask prisoner. He agrees to take them to where Claire is hidden.

They are ambushed by Marten. Daask is killed and Formutesca is injured, but Parker manages to take out Marten and rescue Claire.

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