Lendle

This fast paced novel enters the closely protected underworld of local and international car ringing gangs, intertwined with the dealings of the Police stolen vehicle squad, the car crime team, the accident investigation unit, and other specialised units. Two rival ringing gangs compete for total control of the business. Vincent "VIN" Jones and Tony "STAMP" Booker run the rival gangs, having once worked together, until a serious fall out. Events take a sinister turns after the involvement of an exiled con: George Burns, who has come back from enforced exile in Spain to try and retake control of the operations. Each gang has a highly organised and specialised team operating within, but there are also other gangs operating in the area in the often violent world of key burglary and car jacking. As many modern `keyless cars` are virtually useless without the high tech keys to operate them, gangs are resorting to violence to ensure they gain possession of the vehicle.Based largely on fact and actual events, the book follows the day to day dealings of the gangs, and the Police, including the highly involved and often complicated scams deployed to either steal or to ensure the outright possession of high value and in demand cars by any means.Car-jacking, key burglaries and other forms of violence are becoming common place in the theft of vehicles. To combat the high level of crime, the Police force is deploying specialist units, including the car crime team. Kitted out with powerful unmarked cars fitted with all the latest high tech equipment including ANPR camera’s (automatic number plate recognition), tracker systems and stingers, the team set out to catch the main culprits in the act. Supported by the Police Stolen vehicle squad, both are working towards apprehending those responsible. This becomes more difficult as the gangs are branching out into other criminal areas such as the hijacking of a fuel tanker and load interception. This brings the subject of tachograph analysis into the book, where the Police and Forensic Scientists utilise their skills in tachograph chart and digital data analysis, plotting the route taken by the vehicle and reconstructing vehicle movement. The Police also have another secret weapon: Lucy Allen is a Scenes of Crime Officer specialising in the Forensic retrieval of samples. DNA, blood, hair, saliva etc, in order to match to a database of known criminals. She is also dedicated to her job.This book relates the thrills and the dangers of high speed pursuits and violent confrontations, together with the inevitable loss of life when things go wrong. This part is dealt with by the Police Accident Investigation units: the methods used to investigate the accidents are accurate and based on fact.The novel travels the world tracking the movement of stolen vehicles and parts to places such as areas of the Old Russian Empire, South Africa and other countries where there is a ready market for stolen cars and vehicle parts. The international market is truly global, and for certain countries, vehicles are stolen in the UK and Europe to order, stripped, containerised and shipped to the awaiting countries for re-assembly or to be sold as parts.Things start to come undone when the carjack gang unknowingly turns over Vinny Jones and George Burns one night as they return from a casino, taking Vinny`s car and George Burns case which contains some very important and discriminating documentsThis book truly encompasses the violent and highly advanced stolen car market, placing the reader right in there with the action and the plot.