Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for A Fatal Game by Nicholas Searle. My thanks to Ellie Hudson at Penguin for the invitation to join and for the review copy!
Author : Nicholas Searle
Title : A Fatal Game
Pages : 245
Publisher : Viking
Publication date : July 4, 2019
| ABOUT THE BOOK |
A terrorist attack has just hit a busy railway station. Jake Winter was the British intelligence officer in charge of stopping the attack and now his career, and his conscience, are in freefall . . .
Jake’s next anti-terror operation has to be a success. He has got himself a new source – a young British Asian man, Rashid, recently returned, apparently disillusioned, from battle, who he hopes is the key to foiling the next attack and to getting Jake to the leader of the network. But is Rashid really working for British intelligence, or has Jake put his faith in the wrong man once again?
| MY THOUGHTS |
Who isn’t fascinated by the world of spooks? These men and women, whose jobs are steeped in mystery so much that they aren’t even allowed to talk about it, spend their days in ways we know nothing about. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing. After all, there is a lot of stuff going on out there in the world and none of it is particularly good. Ignorance is bliss?
In A Fatal Game, we meet Jake Winter. Jake is a spy for the British Intelligence Service but things are about to come crashing down around him. The story starts with a terrorist attack on a busy railway station. Jake was in charge of stopping this attack but his asset seems to have played him for a fool. While an enquiry into this terrorist attack is ongoing, Jake’s job doesn’t just stop. He’s found another source, who’s part of yet another terrorist cell. But can this young man be trusted or will history repeat itself?
This is one tense ride and you’re never really quite sure how it will all end, which seems fitting because neither do the characters in this story. I thoroughly enjoyed the way Nicholas Searle tackled this intriguing tale from various angles. The reader follows Jake and his partner as they meet with the source, we are also introduced to the members of the terrorist cell, we follow the preparations from the armed forces, the political games behind the scenes and the enquiry into the railway station attack which makes you feel like a member of the audience, desperate for answers while all the while feeling none will be forthcoming. All these points of view really place the reader right in the centre of all the action.
What a compelling read this is. Full of fascinating characters, deceit, the games some people play and never quite knowing what will happen, A Fatal Game feels horribly realistic, utterly believable and somewhat frightening. If anything it has left me with the utmost admiration for spies all over the world, in awe of the responsibility they face every single day and the knowledge that it isn’t at all as glamorous as it looks on tv. It may be short at a mere 245 pages but it packs quite a punch and it held my attention throughout, right up until the quite dramatic conclusion. A Fatal Game is a well-plotted spy thriller that will undoubtedly appeal to fans of the genre.
A Fatal Game is available to buy!
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Other retailers : Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Waterstones | Wordery
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |
Nicholas Searle is the author of three novels. His first novel, The Good Liar, was a Sunday Times bestseller and was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger for the best debut crime novel. In November 2019, the major Warner Bros film adaption, starring Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen, will be on general release.
Before becoming a writer, Nicholas worked in British intelligence for more than twenty-five years.
He lives in Yorkshire.
Novel Deelights 