Burden of Vengeance

Burden of Vengeance by Jack Hamilton is a Maisie Lockhart crime-thriller set between the UK and rural Japan. The novel follows investigative journalist Maisie as she becomes entangled in a dangerous missing-persons case that quickly escalates into a far-reaching criminal conspiracy. After surviving a traumatic event that left her permanently scarred, Maisie Lockhart has dedicated her life to exposing injustice. When a British geologist, Edward Walker, disappears in a remote Japanese village, Maisie travels to investigate. At the same time, the daughter of the billionaire he worked for is suspected to have been abducted, deepening the mystery. The village itself is unsettling: it has an unusually high number of disappearances and a disturbing display of lifelike scarecrows, hinting at something sinister beneath the surface. As Maisie digs deeper, she realises she is being hunted-not only by those behind the disappearances, but also by a menace from her past determined to silence her. Her investigation spirals into a fight for survival, revealing that this is no ordinary missing-persons case but a complex criminal conspiracy stretching far beyond the village.