Tag: thriller

#BookReview #Ad Resurrection by David Gilman @AriesFiction

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ResurrectionAbout the Book

Somewhere in the Sahara, on the desolate border between Sudan and Chad, a P51 Mustang with long-range drop tanks slowly emerges from the dunes. Inside, the skeletalized remains of a man missing for three decades. His flying jacket bears no insignia, a worn leather attache case lies by his side, held securely by a manacle around his left wrist.

Inside a document men will kill for. Die for. The sands of time have shifted, and whoever finds that aircraft finds information that could expose the most valuable spy the UK intelligence service has ever known. The British, the French, and the Russians are on the trail. And so is Raglan.

Format: eARC (402 pages)              Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 5th January 2023 Genre: Thriller

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My Review

If you’re seeking a book that puts the ‘thrill’ into ‘thrilling’ then look no further than Resurrection, the third in the series featuring ex-French Foreign Legionnaire Dan Raglan. (Click on the titles to read my reviews of the previous books in the series – The Englishman and Betrayal.)

The striking prologue and the first section of the story which follows is set in a part of Africa, the border between Sudan and Chad, whose turbulent history I knew very little about. And I knew even less about Russian involvement in the area including the activities of the Wagner Group, a private military contractor with close links to the Kremlin, who, as the BBC recently reported, are now active in Ukraine. It’s one of the many things about the book that makes it feel so bang up-to-date.

At the same time as Raglan is engaged on his dangerous recovery mission in the desert – one which has a link to his own past – the hunt is on for a double agent at the heart of a nation’s intelligence service. We could be in John lé Carre territory except that the nation in question is Russia. A fanatical patriotism means the character leading the clandestine search will stop at nothing to unmask the traitor.

The book’s short chapters, that often end with a killer last sentence, keep you turning the pages and the level of technical detail is superb. Having read the book I’m now confident (well, almost) that I could fly a monoplane, ascertain the right dose of antivenom serum to administer, survive alone in the desert for several days, escape drowning in an icy river and assess the relative merits of using 7.62mm or 5.56mm rounds in a Special Operations Combat Assault rifle.

A number of characters return from previous books, including Raglan’s friend and former comrade, Serge ‘Bird’ Sokol, and my potential rival for Raglan’s affections, Colonel Elena Sorokina of Moscow CID. At one point she observes, ‘You cause me much trouble, Englishman. I ask myself why I let you. The answer is not clear to me.’ Well, it’s as clear as day to me.

Ruthless villains, fascinating locations, fist fights and fire fights, car chases, intrigue and a mystery from the past. Oh, and a seemingly indestructible hero. What’s not to like?

Resurrection is another absolutely gripping, action-packed page turner that takes you from the unforgiving Sahara desert to the dangerous ‘Shanghai slums’ area of Moscow, all at whirlwind pace.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus via NetGalley.

In three words: Pacy, compelling, intriguing

Try something similar: No Way To Die by Tony Kent

David GilmanAbout the Author

David Gilman has enjoyed many careers, including paratrooper, firefighter, and photographer. An award-winning author and screenwriter, he is the author of the critically acclaimed Master of War series of historical novels, and was shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for The Last Horseman. He was longlisted for the same prize for The Englishman, the first book featuring ex-French Foreign Legionnaire Dan Raglan.  David lives in Devon. (Photo: Twitter profile)

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#BlogTour #BookReview The Coming Darkness by Greg Mosse

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Blog Tour Banner Week 1Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for The Coming Darkness by Greg Mosse which is published tomorrow. My thanks to Sofia at Midas PR for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Moonflower Books for my proof copy. Do check out the reviews by my tour buddies for today, Jo at JaffaReadsToo and Jackie at Jackie’s Reading Corner.

The Coming DarknessAbout the Book

Paris, 2037. Alexandre Lamarque of the French external security service is hunting for eco-terrorists. Experience has taught him there is no one he can trust – not his secretive lover Mariam, not even his old mentor, Professor Fayard, the man at the centre of the web. He is ready to give up. But he can’t.

In search of the truth, Alex must follow the trail through an ominous spiral of events, from a string of brutal child murders to a chaotic coup in North Africa. He rapidly finds himself in a heart-thumping race against chaos and destruction. He could be the world’s only hope of preventing THE COMING DARKNESS…

Format: Hardback (390 pages)              Publisher: Moonflower Books
Publication date: 10th November 2022 Genre: Thriller

Find The Coming Darkness on Goodreads

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My Review

The Coming Darkness is set just far enough in the future for things to feel different – the use of advanced technology such as holoscreens and comm-watches – but just close enough to be scary. There’s a dystopian feel to the world we’re introduced to, a world in which surveillence cameras are everywhere, some parents have their children micro-chipped in order to keep tabs on them and there are nightly curfews in some cities. Actually, maybe apocalyptic is a better description. It’s a glimpse into a future where environmental degradation has caused desertification of some areas of the world, resulting in poverty, mass migration and inequality. Add to this the threat of deadly transgenic viruses and you have the stuff of nightmares.

Trying to bring some order to this disordered world is Alexandre Lamarque, a government agent who has becoming increasingly disillusioned with the actions he is asked to carry out. (Like Van Der Valk of the 1970s crime series, he lives on a boat.) But Alex possesses an unique intuitive ability that means his bosses don’t want to let him go. ‘The young man had a kind of sixth sense, an ability to envision possible futures, like a chess Grandmaster anticipating countless iterations of cause and effect.’ Alex can sense that ‘something’ is coming – an absence, a darkness – but he doesn’t know quite what it is, when it will happen or from where it will come.  The thrill of the book is accompanying Alex on the journey to find out. In the process, he will come up against those who embrace a twisted, destructive and nihilistic ideology, and wonder if there’s anyone he can truly rely on.

The short chapters keep the pace and the tension high. The occasional switches to events involving other, sometimes unnamed, characters keep the reader guessing. And there are some terrific action scenes, such as the extraction of an influential political figure from a sealed compound during an attempted coup, that have a real cinematic quality. I also loved that in this high-tech future some of the key breakthroughs depend on the use of ‘outdated’ analogue technology and there’s still a role for an ejector seat.

According to his author biography, Greg has long had an ambition to write ‘a powerful thriller’. Well, it’s job done as far as I’m concerned because The Coming Darkness has everything I look for in a political thriller: interesting characters, an intricate plot, a constant sense of jeopardy and plenty of surprises. And is that a tantalising suggestion at the end of the book that there could be a follow-up? I do hope so.

In three words: Clever, fast-paced, compelling

Try something similar: Sleep When You’re Dead by Jude O’Reilly

Greg MosseAbout the Author

Greg’s first career was in theatre as an actor, director and writer. He has lived and worked in Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Madrid, mostly as a translator and interpreter for a variety of international organisations. In 2015 he returned to theatre, writing and producing 25 plays and musicals, plus four short films. He took advantage of 2020’s lockdown to fulfil a long-term ambition to sit quietly and write a powerful thriller. (Photo: Twitter profile)

Connect with Greg
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