The Lavender Protocol: Before July Fades

Gustave Salinger is a former British intelligence officer who has hit rock bottom. Having lost his job and sunk into destitution, his only company in a dreary London flat is a Balkan peony he has named Ivanka. Cornered by debts and facing an eviction notice that inexorably expires on 31 July, Gustave is convinced his end is near.

However, fate—in the form of his ruthless old mentor, Seamus Cover—has other plans. Accompanied by a clumsy but brilliant rookie named Skiple, Seamus drags Gustave back into the murky world of espionage. To free him from his debts, they decide to fake his death by blowing his flat to pieces, taking Ivanka with them.

What begins as a lucrative assignment to investigate Yara-Zahra Mukriyani, the Kurdish fiancée of a paranoid aristocrat's son, quickly spirals out of control. When their noble client is kidnapped by a lethal former KGB agent known as Fludshman, this team of misfits must cross the globe to avert an international crisis.

Story Highlights:

Unconventional action: From hijacking a commercial flight to Libya using a plastic bottle and basic chemistry, to storming a fortress in Tripoli disguised as pest controllers.

Black humour and social commentary: A narrative steeped in sarcasm about modern decadence, state bureaucracy and the absurd hypocrisy of high society.

An escape to freedom: A journey proving that people like them don't retire, but they can find redemption and a new life on the shores of Greece.

Main Characters:

Gustave Salinger: The protagonist and narrator; a forcibly retired, cynical and impoverished spy who must recover his lethal instinct.

Seamus Cover: A veteran Irish-American handler, pragmatic and unscrupulous.

Johannes Skiple: A young rookie agent with great technological skills, but a dangerous emotional weakness.

Yara-Zahra Mukriyani: An intelligent and fierce Kurdish woman who goes from being the target of the mission to an indispensable ally.

Ivanka: A Balkan peony plant that accompanies the team throughout their perilous international mission.

A fast-paced novel written by Sarah McCulay. It is a story about disappearing off the map and discovering that, sometimes, you have to lose everything to start living.