Hot Air - by Geoff Nelder

Erica is a nine-to-five office temp with flaming red hair, emerald eyes, and black lipstick. The highlights of her day usually include coffee meetings and intoxicated fumblings. An adventurer at heart, she hires a hot-air balloon ride for she and her boyfriend, complete with a champagne lunch.

While in the air, she witnesses an unsavory crime happening on the ground below. The perpetrators spot the balloon, and begin shooting at it, hitting the pilot and killing him. Somehow, Erica and Paul manage to land the balloon but their troubles are not over. They are tracked down and abducted by a gang engaged in human trafficking, and taken to an island in the Mediterranean. Erica soon adapts to gangland ways and uses her charms to escape. Along the way, her life shifts from bored office temp to a feisty Lara Croft now living on adrenaline and dangerous men. She is chased by a rogue named Dean, who is annoyed by Erica but falling for her at the same time.

Hot Air is a contemporary crime novel and a winner of both the Wuacademia Silver Award in 2007 and Prix d'Or (Gold) 2008 for best unpublished novel.

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