📖 Blog Tour ~ Black Gold by Rob Starr

 

Just Once Publishing 
10 July 2025

Kiara Fox #2

Thanks to Midas Campaigns for the book and invitation to the blog tour

After the sudden death of her husband, fraud investigator Kiara Fox is thrown into a high-stakes case that pulls her halfway across the world.

In South Africa, oil tankers are mysteriously arriving at port with far less cargo than when they left – leaving the insurance company boss Tyrone haemorrhaging money. Despite her grief, Kiara can’t turn down the opportunity to help him work out what is happening as she knows this case could secure her family’s future.

At the heart of the problem is Adesco Oil, a family-run empire. CEO Gavin Adriaanse wants to transform the company into an eco-friendly powerhouse, but his brother Tony will stop at nothing to protect the family’s wealth. Tensions are rising, especially with the launch of Neptune, a revolutionary new oil rig poised to change the industry forever.

But when Kiara arrives, the case becomes far more dangerous than she ever anticipated. As she digs deeper, she uncovers a web of corporate deceit, betrayal, and espionage – both within Tyrone’s insurance company and Adesco Oil. With powerful enemies lurking in every shadow, Kiara realises that someone is willing to kill to keep the truth buried. The closer she gets to the heart of the conspiracy, the more deadly the game becomes.

In a race against time, Kiara must navigate a world where profit meets power and uncovering the truth could cost her everything.

📖 My Review ..

I first came across Kiara Fox in The First Widow and was impressed by this feisty young woman who doesn’t pull any punches and who is determined to seek out the bad guys even though it puts her in grave danger. This second novel, Black Gold is another high octane thriller which sees Kiara, in her role as fraud investigator, take on a chillingly complex case, one which takes her right into the heart of South Africa, and to the Johannesburg offices of an insurance company which is being defrauded out of millions of dollars in insurance claims. Add into the mix an oil producing company who are about to launch their biggest ever project and a set of truly awful villains who will stop at nothing to get their hands on millions of dollars and you have all the right ingredients for an action packed thriller.

The story certainly gets off to a cracking good start, I especially enjoyed how we were given background into the  insider world of the oil company as well as discovering more about those nefarious characters whose main aim was to extort money. There’s never a dull moment once Kiera gets started on a case, she’s definitely a bit of a maverick, getting drawn into danger seems to be her trademark so I usually find that I’m turning the pages quicker and quicker hoping that she’s going to be ok especially when the tension gets especially tight. There are twists and turns aplenty and more than enough action which kept me turning the pages, saying just another chapter…

The story is well written and researched with a fascinating cast of characters, quite a few not at all likeable and prone to violence but thankfully, Kiara’s tenacity shines throughout and I’m hoping that she gets to chase the bad guys soon in another thrilling story.

Rob has co-written two full-length musicals and written two plays, all of which have been staged. Rob write a book about his English Channel swim in 2012 called From Starr to Starrfish, which was published in 2013. Rob lives in Brighton with his wife Sharon and their three children. Rob’s passion is open water swimming and he swims every morning throughout the year from the Palace Pier in Brighton. This is Rob’s second novel.

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