Tag: NetGalley

Book Review – The Predicament by William Boyd

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About the Book

Front cover of The Predicament by William Boyd

Gabriel Dax, travel writer and accidental spy, is back in the shadows. Unable to resist the allure of his MI6 handler, Faith Green, he has returned to a life of secrets and subterfuge. Dax is sent to Guatemala under the guise of covering a tinderbox presidential election, where the ruthless decisions of the Mafia provoke pitch-black warfare in collusion with the CIA.

As political turmoil erupts, Gabriel’s reluctant involvement deepens. His escape plan leads him to West Berlin, where he uncovers a chilling realisation: there is a plot to assassinate magnetic young President John F. Kennedy. In a race against time, Gabriel must navigate deceit and danger, knowing that the stakes have never been higher . . .

Format: Hardcover (272 pages) Publisher: Viking
Publication date: 4th September 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction, Thriller

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My Review

Gabriel Dax is certainly in a predicament. He’s in thrall to Faith Green, the head of the MI6 section known as ‘the termite hunters’ charged with rooting out traitors within the service. He finds her alluring but something of an enigma. Indeed he refers to her as ‘the Sphinx of the Institute of Developmental Studies’, the cover name for her section.

Does she feel the same way about him? Sometimes he thinks the answer is yes, at other times he wonders if he’s just being manipulated because his travel writing provides useful cover for trips abroad and opens doors that might otherwise be closed. Such is the case when he’s sent to Guatamala to interview an influential presidential candidate. His last interview with a similar figure didn’t end well, and this time is no different.

So enmeshed in the secret world of espionage has Gabriel become that he’s found himself in the dubious position of posing as a double agent for the Russians, acting as decoy for a British triple agent. The only upside is the Russians are generous with money enabling him to move to the countryside in the hope of finding some peace and quiet to work on his latest book. Some hope…

Gabriel is someone you can’t help rooting for even though he often makes foolish blunders and lets his fascination with Faith lead him into all sorts of dangerous situations. Having said that, Faith is facing her own challenges just at the moment. To quote Shakespeare, ‘When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions’ because a problem Gabriel encountered on his previous mission, which he thought he’d put to bed permanently, resurfaces (literally), he’s being sued for plagiarism and his ex-girlfriend Lorraine is keen to rekindle their relationship. His only respite from his problems is his sessions with his therapist, Dr Katrina Haas.

The book has all the hallmarks of an espionage thriller with Gabriel forced to adopt the sort of spycraft you’d find in a John lé Carre novel, including how to lose someone trying to follow you. He’s also given a quick lesson in how to kill using only the contents of your pockets, such as a notebook or set of keys. The prospect of finding himself in a dangerous situation involving some very nasty people is never far away.

From Guatemala the action moves to West Berlin (don’t worry, there are connections) and sees Gabriel become involved in frantic attempts to disrupt a plot to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. You might be thinking, we all know JFK wasn’t assassinated in Berlin so where’s the tension? But of course Gabriel doesn’t know that. His frenzied efforts to spot a face in the crowd, a face only he has seen, and then the sudden realisation that everyone is on the wrong track is absolutely gripping even if it does have strong ‘The Day of the Jackal’ vibes.

The Predicament is a thoroughly enjoyable, stylish spy thriller with a great sense of time and place.

I received a review copy courtesy of Viking via NetGalley.

In three words: Intriguing, entertaining, well-crafted
Try something similar: The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth

About the Author

Author William Boyd

William Boyd was born in 1952 in Accra, Ghana, and grew up there and in Nigeria. He is the author of sixteen highly acclaimed, bestselling novels and five collections of stories. Any Human Heart was longlisted for the Booker Prize and adapted into a TV series with Channel 4. In 2005, Boyd was awarded the CBE. He is married and divides his time between London and south-west France. (Photo: Goodreads author page/Bio: Publisher author page)

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Book Review – The Blazing Sea by Tim Hodkinson

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About the Book

Front cover of The Blazing Sea by Tim Hodkinson

Einar and the Wolf Coats have angered most of the kings of Northern Europe. With England no refuge, their only solution is to set sail across the Whale Road.

A chance encounter with a slave trader leads them to Muslim Spain, but what starts as a joyous homecoming for one of the crew ends in the Caliph’s infamous dungeons.

The Mediterranean proves a perilous sea. Byzantine warships roam, armed with liquid fire that can torch man and ship alike. Viking mercenaries and pirate lords alike spill blood for gold or glory.

With a chance to retake his stolen kingdom of Orkney, Einar must first save an innocent life… and risk his own and those of his crew once more.

Format: Paperback (320 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 11th September 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

The Blazing Sea is the eighth book in the Whale Road Chronicles featuring the adventures of Icelander Einar Unnsson and the fearsome band of warriors known as the Wolf Coats. (In case you’re wondering, the ‘whale-road’ is a very old poetic term for the sea.) I first discovered this series when I read book four, The Serpent King, and I regret that since then I’ve only managed to fit in one further book in the series, Eye of the Raven. Some day I hope I’ll find the time to go back to the beginning.

As the book opens, Einar and the Wolf Coats are far from their homeland, in the unfamiliar territory of the Mediterranean hoping to turn a ship full of slaves into gold. For Einar, it would provide the means to return home with enough troops to reclaim his kingdom. For the others, well, there’d be beer and women for a start. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned after a particularly dangerous run-in with a vessel equipped with the devastating incendiary weapon, ‘Greek fire’. Suddenly the slaves are gone and with it the fortune they’d hoped for. Now a gruesome fate awaits them unless they agree to take on a dangerous mission on behalf of the Byzantine Empire.

To achieve their objective they must penetrate a pirate stronghold on the island of Frumentaria (the Spanish island of Formentera). The pirate camp is protected by strong defences, both natural and man-made. What’s more they have managed to find the means of creating Greek fire, supposedly a closely guarded secret of the Byzantine Empire. With that guarding the harbour, no ship can hope to enter. It’s going to take courage and cunning to infiltrate the camp from the landward side. But as Einar knows sometimes a small band of men, even heavily outnumbered, can achieve what an army cannot.

As before, the action comes thick and fast. The pace really accelerates towards the end of the book as Einar and the Wolf Coats navigate one tricky situation after another with a combination of guile, daring, epic fighting ability and, not least, luck. All the Wolf Coats possess different skills whether that’s stealth, acute hearing or eyesight, expert seamanship or fearsome ability with an axe. One of my favourite characters is Affreca, the sole female member of the Wolf Coats, who is an incomparable archer and the secret (or perhaps not so secret by now) object of Einar’s affections.

As always the author’s knowledge of the period really comes through in the authentic detail of everything from weaponry to social and religious customs. There are particularly vivid descriptions of the city of Constantinople, which is a world away in size and sophistication from anything Einar and the Wolf Coats have ever seen.

Fans of the series will be pleased to learn The Blazing Sea contains all the full-on action of previous books. Nevertheless, by the end of the story, things will have changed forever for the Wolf Coats. Maybe a new quest awaits . . .

I received a review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus via NetGalley.

In three words: Action-packed, authentic, exciting
Try something similar: A Day of Reckoning by Matthew Harffy

About the Author

Tim Hodkinson grew up in Northern Ireland where the rugged coast and call of the Atlantic ocean led to a lifelong fascination with Vikings and a degree in Medieval English and Old Norse Literature. Tim’s more recent writing heroes include Ben Kane, Giles Kristian, Bernard Cornwell, George R.R. Martin and Lee Child. After several years in the USA, Tim has returned to Northern Ireland, where he lives with his wife and children.  (Photo: X profile )

Connect with Tim
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