Black Run by DL Marshall
From the moment John Tyler’s speeding car hurtles off the opening pages and on to the quays of La Rochelle, Black Run grabs the attention like a fire alarm and never lets up. Taking its cue from the novels of Alistair MacLean, but updated for the age of the action hero Jason Statham, it pits gunslinger Tyler against a gang of neo-fascists whose leader he has nabbed in the Alps.
What makes DL Marshall’s sequel to Anthrax Island stand out from the present crowd of ask-questions-later hardmen is his smartly observed use of settings. Black Run cuts between Tyler’s stake-out for the extraordinary rendition in the icy mountains and the subsequent pursuit by land and sea. His plan is to smuggle his target back to Britain via a rust bucket freighter, but the crew can’t be trusted and there’s stormy weather in the Bay of Biscay.
With the bad guys closing in as well, soon there’s double-crossing galore on the ocean wave, not least as the physically and psychically damaged Tyler has his own hidden agenda. Yet while the confrontations are near video-game relentless, Marshall confidently incorporates sufficient ingenuity and off-piste wit to temper the high body count. Fresh powder.
Canelo, 400pp; £8.99
Where God Does Not Walk by Luke McCallin
Luke McCallin’s stylishly written thrillers about Gregor Reinhardt, a German intelligence officer, have previously been set during the Second World War, notably in the Balkans. In Where God Does Not Walk, Reinhardt is taken back 25 years to his days as a callow lieutenant in the German trenches on the Western Front.
When a blast kills several well-connected officers at a mysterious meeting in a farmhouse, one of Reinhardt’s men is suspected of being the saboteur. Yet as Reinhardt looks deeper, it becomes clear that, with the war’s end near, plans are being made to blame defeat on a “stab in the back” by those who may come to power if the Kaiser’s regime falls. Witnesses begin to disappear as Reinhardt visits a château where soldiers are being treated for shell shock, and stubbornly tracks down Russian deserters.
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Like the conflict, his progress is at times a bit of a slog. However, shifting the action to Berlin and then the final Battle of Amiens makes the most of the unusual setting, and McCallin’s literary flair and depiction of camaraderie in war render this a novel with a decided touch of substance.
No Exit, 448pp; £18.99
The Insider by Matthew Richardson
Solomon Vine, former head of counterespionage at MI6, has been sidelined after the events of Matthew Richardson’s debut, My Name Is Nobody. Yet after an ex-oligarch is murdered in London, he’s called back into the fray to uncover the Russian mole among four high-flyers about to reach the top in Whitehall. So far, so le Carré, and indeed, for a young writer there are a perhaps surprising number of homages to classics of the spy genre. Vine, for instance, although rather more cerebral than James Bond, lives — as 007 did — in Wellington Square, Chelsea.
Although it takes him time to get into gear, Richardson has fun sending Vine along a trail that runs through the London Library and the Special Forces Club. However, the writing has yet to gain the necessary authority and the notion that Vine might work out the identity of the traitor from perfunctory interviews is unconvincing. There are some intriguing ideas here, at times well realised, but The Insider still has the feel of apprentice work. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spad.
Penguin, 352pp; £8.99
The Quiet People by Paul Cleave
Cameron and Lisa are a New Zealand couple who write crime novels together. These have done well, even if sales have dipped of late. Then one night their young son, Zach, who may be autistic and can be a bit of a handful, vanishes from his bedroom after threatening to run away. Evidence leads the police to become unsure that he has been kidnapped as first thought, and the media turns on Cameron. Old interviews about committing the perfect crime are dragged up and footage emerges of him losing his rag with his son at a park.
The reader knows from the start, however, that Zach is in the hands of a convicted paedophile. What is really compelling about The Quiet People is neither its neat twists nor the topical examination of mob rule, but Cleave’s portrait of Cameron as he goes rogue under pressure and tries to use his writer’s skills to save his son. Worth a shout.
Orenda, 300pp; £8.99
Hide by Nell Pattison
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Nothing says Christmas like a Boxing Day ramble with a side order of murder. Among a group of seven nature lovers exploring an isolated snowy nature reserve in Lincolnshire during the festive season are Lauren and her deaf sister, Emily. Fostered as children, they have recently been reunited, although not all is sweetness and light between them. Others in the gang, of course, have their own secrets, including fusty twitcher Alec, who may know a few of them. It’s not long before he’s found shot dead and the surviving six need to decide whether it’s better to stay together with a killer in their midst or strike out for safety alone. There’s a touch of Agatha Christie to Hide, and if Nell Pattison’s writing doesn’t always give life to the individual voices of the characters, her humour is crisp and even and the plotting as keen as an axe in the skull. Perfect for your mother-in-law.
Avon, 368pp: £7.99
