The Passenger

James Collard and his son Nick are flying from Frankfurt to New York for Christmas in 1988. Collard (in part because of a last-minute work meeting, in part because a strange old man told him not to get on the plane) gets off in London. Later that night he learns that the plane has exploded over Lockerbie. Initially concerned to discover whether his son made the flight, Collard gets dragged into the mystery of who put the bomb on the plane, and whether a legendary old spook called James Jesus Angleton - who died three years before - was somehow involved.... 'The mother of all conspiracy theories?' The Times James Collard and his son Nick are on flight 103, from Frankfurt to London, then going onto New York just before Christmas in 1988. James leaves the plane after the first leg in London, leaving his son Nick to fly onto New York alone. Later that night he learns that the plane has exploded over Lockerbie. A distraught James gets dragged into the investigation, especially when it starts to seem like Nick might have been involved. James is soon involved in a web of spies, deceit and plots and he searches desperately for news of his son... Chris Petit weaves an extraordinary story of conspiracy and intrigue in this brilliant novel about the Lockerbie bombing. ? '?An impressive tour-de-force of historical, political and criminal skullduggery, a kaleidoscopic collage of conspiracy and betrayal' Guardian