Books/Den Of Snakes
Den Of Snakes
A fast-paced & gritty action crime thriller with British gangsters
- Thriller
- Historical Fiction
Marbella, 1985. Sun, money, violence — and one very bad place to find your brother.
Eddie Lawson is broke, estranged from his family, and running out of road.
A former paratrooper and Falklands veteran, Eddie has done plenty of things he regrets. But he has always kept one promise to his dying mother:
Never become a criminal.
Desperate for money and with nowhere else to turn, he hitchhikes across Spain to find Charlie — the older brother he has not seen in ten years.
Charlie is living the Marbella dream: a luxury villa, fast cars, lavish parties, and a crew of sunburned British villains pretending the past cannot catch them.
But the money is running out.
The police are closing in.
And Charlie has one last dangerous plan.
Now Eddie is trapped between blood loyalty and the promise that still haunts him. Help his brother, and he risks being dragged into the criminal underworld. Walk away, and he may lose the last family connection he has left.
On Spain’s infamous Costa del Crime, temptation comes with a suntan, a smile, and a loaded gun.
Gritty, violent, darkly funny, and packed with British gangster swagger, Den Of Snakes is a sun-soaked action crime thriller about brothers, betrayal, and the price of crossing the line.
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Reader reviews
A classic Costa crime thriller
Rowan J
After stumbling across the first book from this author I gave this one a try, and am glad I did! It really evokes the image of the mid-80's in southern Spain and all the glitz, glamour & gangsters. Like films such as Sexy Beast or The Business? You will love this thriller. There are a few twists along the way which keep the pages turning, and a terrific cast of characters to root for (or not!). Looking forward to the next one, Mr Vargas!
A Rollercoaster ride never to be forgotten.
Geoff Atkins
Okay, okay. I got this book because it was being offered free on Facebook. I must confess I had not heard of the author. Also being an ex pat in Spain and stuck in the Eighties, I was curious to dip in the proverbial toe. Instead of a mere ripple I was literally swept away by the undertow. Fast-paced and clever there was never a moment when I thought “Naah, I know exactly what’s gonna happen next”. You hear the characters’ voices in your head together with the suggested eighties tracks accompanying some of the scenes. I found myself, especially towards the end, gripping my ipad and saying “You are KIDDING me!!”. Read it. I’m off to get the debut. As the Lawsons would say “It’s a no-brainier, bruv. Innit?” 😉
This book has more twists than a bag of pretzels.
Andrew Visser
Well written, great pace, interesting characters. You can really imagine what it was like on the Costa back in the day.
Pacy thriller. Loved it!
MP
I had to get this after reading 'Six Hard Days in Andalusia'. Action-packed. I consumed this book with a pace matching the plot. ...Now I want to know how Rosalita likes her eggs in the morning - a follow up book on Eddie's next chapter please Vargas.
1980s Costa Del Sol perhaps as you never saw it before
Mrs K. Bryan.
I was excited to see that Vargas had a new book out after waiting patiently since his first, Six Hard Days In Andalusia. And it was worth the wait. Set before Six Hard Days it casts more light on some of the characters we met there whilst having a great story which certainly could be read as a stand alone without having read Six Hard Days. As Vargas' second book his style has developed but his capacity to transport you to scene of the action remains and with lively dialogue, which would fit well in a movie, the action moves at a good pace. There are twists and turns a plenty and I was left guessing till the end. There is certainly scope for this series to either return to the present day or go even further back and I look forward to seeing where Vargas leads us next.
My era in Spain
Jack
Great story, and well researched for the time in which it set. Very good.
Very well-written, vibrant action thriller in the 80s Costa del Sol
Vlad Modorcea
After action-packed and vibrant debut Six Hard Days in Andalusia, Damian strikes again. I enjoyed Den of Snakes even more, liked the characters and the typical British cultural vibe around each of them, brilliantly illustrated by very well-written dialogues. The action is well-balanced and gripping, thumbs up for a well-rounded and fun-packed literary experience!
Brit gangsters on the Costa Del Sol!
Amazon customer
The second book from Señor Vargas and it's a belter! Twists and turns you won't see coming, a gangster story set on the 1980s Costa Del Sol. The cars you remember, the guns of the era, the settings described in believable detail. The clothes! I loved it and couldn't put it down. I'm hoping for a sequel, maybe set in the 90s and a Netflix series!
Another great read
Rob James
Having read the previous book by the author I thought I'd give this one a try as well. It is a prequel to the first book but you don't need to have read the first book to follow it. This one is set in the 80's and Mr Vargas manages to successfully capture the whole 80's feel really well. It is another well written easy to read jaunt through various crime capers between Spain and England with a host of well thought out characters and plot twists. Looking forward to reading more from the author. Thumbs up.
The reign in Spain.
Lagoon
Music, hair styles, cars, even office presentation materials(remember life before Keynote?), Den of Snakes brings the 80s crashing back in style. The south of Spain was regularly referred to as the Costa del crime, and for good reason. The great train robbers, the Brinks-Mat gang, Ronnie Knight and any number of East London gangsters enjoyed the uneasy sense of invulnerability that the lack of a Spanish extradition treaty with the UK afforded them. Thinking they were untouchable though was folly. Charlie Wilson, one of the great train robbers, was shot in the garden of his villa near Marbella by a young man almost certainly completing a contract. With such a glut of criminals in a relatively small area, it is no wonder that dirty money was everywhere you turned. The bar you drank at, the hotel you slept in, the villa you bought. Drug smuggling was at an industrial scale and with corrupt local mayors happy to line their own pockets to wave through construction projects that would come down in a strong breeze, it is little wonder that Spain was dubbed “ the bit of Europe that fell off the back of a lorry”.
Action storytelling at its best
Drew Johnson
Having read Damian’s earlier work a few years ago I was eager to see if he could follow it up with something as equally gripping and enjoyable. I shouldn’t have doubted him. Den of Snakes has more twists and turns in it than the Monaco Grand Prix and at times it reaches speeds only an F1 driver could relate to. The characters here leap off the pages at you and the action is relentless at times, culminating in a tumultuous climax. Although the setting is Marbella in the mid 80s, as I only live down the road and read the local newspapers, I don’t think it’s probably changed much since then and could easily have been written as a current storyline, more’s the pity - thankfully there’s a mountain range separating me from that part of the Costa and I am happy to give it a wide berth at times. Fellow residents will no doubt nod knowingly! Can’t wait to read Damian’s next thriller…
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