Marked Man

By Mel Stein

To the world of football, Mark Rossetti is a dead man

Banned ten years ago for a crime he didn’t commit, he struggles to make a living as a private investigator. By contrast, Rossetti’s old club, Hertsmere, is on the brink of the big time. Led by its star player, the magical Mickey Wayne, it’s in the top half of the Premiership and within striking distance of FA Cup glory.

But despite its match success Hertsmere is in a financial crisis and, for chairman David Sinclair, Wayne is the difference between winning – or losing for good. As the FA Cup semi-final draws nearer the pressure to sell his best player reaches fever-pitch. If he can only hang on to Wayne till after the match, the club just may be saved. But then, days before the big event, the unpredictable star vanishes.

For Mark Rossetti the world of football beckons again. But this time the rules are different – can he find Mickey Wayne before someone else does?

Written with the authority of an author who, as Paul Gascoigne’s personal business manager, knows the game from the inside, Marked Man is a page-turning thriller and a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the business that is football.

Mel Stein was born in London and has two children, boys aged five and three, both of whom are fully paid-up members of the Newcastle United Supporters Club. His main interest is Newcastle United but in his spare time, he is a partner in a firm of Westminster solicitors. His other novels include Danger Zone.