An excellent twisty thriller, with some sharp writing, which is perfect for fans of mysteries and thrillers. This well written tale is set between England and Europe and has a strong lead character in Lea, an MI6 agent who is living a life of deceit with her husband. The plotting is far fetched, but hugely enjoyable, revolving around espionage and national security. A perfect read to immerse yourself in and one which I found very interesting.

I have been a big fan of this author since the early days of the Carl Logan, Enemy trilogy, and have devoured and loved every book since. Better known for this and his other series, he does occasionally throw in the odd stand alone, of which this is a cracking example... So, we start with Lea who is waiting for a meeting which goes horribly wrong. We then cut to Lea's construction worker husband Callum who thought he was married to a corporate consultant, who he met when he was abroad on a rugby tour and she was at a conference. They dated, got married, and have been happy ever since. Until the day the police turn up and inform him not only that Lea is dead, but she was killed whilst on a job in a different country to the one he thought she was in, whilst riding a motorbike which he didn't know she could do. He is still reeling from this when, on arriving home, he walks into some rather interesting visitors, who tell him a very different story about his wife... that Lea was an MI6 agent and that they believe that he could be the key to getting some important missing sensitive information. And so begins a cat and mouse game, as Callum tries to get his head around what in the heck is going on, at the same time as trying to find out what Lea hid and where, all the time not knowing who to trust... It's all things thrilling and exciting, and with a healthy dollop of intrigue which kept me guessing all the way through. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to believe that you could take an average Joe and credibly insert him into this world but the author has done an absolutely first rate job taking constriction worker Callum, who isn't the brightest and also suffers from dyslexia, and make him feel real as he chases around Europe, dodging the bad guys... In fact, by the end of the book I was pretty sad to have to say goodbye to him, and I do hope that maybe, just maybe, we might see more of him and one of the other characters (spoilers prevent me from naming them) in future books. The story is extremely well plotted and that plot ably executed with twists and turns aplenty. As we follow the story in the present, there are flashbacks to various points in Lea's working life and Lea and Callum's private life which add colour and clarity and which also progresses the narrative. It's action packed pretty much all the way through, with only scant respite for the reader in the form of the odd quieter moment. Ramping up all the way to the wholly satisfying conclusion. All in all, a cracking addition to an already impressive back catalogue. If this is your genre book, and you are not familiar with the author, please do go check him out. You won't regret it.

This is a fabulous standalone book by this author, and I have to say it is another brilliant action-packed, fast-paced, by the seat of your pants thriller. Callum has been married to Lea for only a few years. She works for a company that involves her travelling a lot. She was in Europe, but something went wrong, and she died. The thing is that he didn't know exactly what she really did, or that Lea was not her real name. Instead, she worked for the British Government, and she was a spy. The story is addictive, and the author doesn't hang about. He is straight into the action, and soon thrusts Callum headfirst into a world he knows nothing about. While grieving for his wife, trying to get his head around the lies, trying to understand what they had together, he is also now in the run. In a world of lies, spies, corruption, deception, and danger, Callum has a hard time understanding the truth or even coming close to understanding. Everyone he meets is after something that Lea left for him. Her own investigation led to her death. There is no hanging around for Callum; the author literally throws him to the wolves as he blindly searches for the truth. Coming to terms with loss is one thing, but not knowing the woman he loved as well as he thought is something else. Luckily, the author has equipped Callum, who is an ex-rugby player, still fit, and can hold his own. It does give him some chance of lasting long enough to find the truth. I really enjoyed this book, it gave different aspects of government agencies, how they work not so well together and how corruption affects people, the security and the nation. Throwing in an undercover agent with a civilian is a good twist, but then involving him further was great reading. Far-fetched, well, yes, but it worked really well and made for exciting, nerve-jangling reading. This is an ideal for fans of explosive thrillers, espionage and thrillers and one I would definitely recommend.