It’s now 2017, and to screech you on two wheels into the New Year give NOMAD a try. I wasn’t sure at first because I felt I had probably read this scenario before, but believe me, you’ll brace yourself as Swallow takes the turns of the plot at such a high speed it will take your breath away. Bedtime? Forget it. This is one you won’t put down until it’s finished. We need a new strong character in this genre, and fresh for the New Year, Marc Dane is one.
I like the well paced writing, the tight plotting, the sheer bravura of Swallow’s concept which is so up to the minute it’s worrying. He loved writing this, surely, and it shows. What’s it about? Here ya go.
Nomad is an espionage thriller for the digital age, an age I’m still trying to grapple with, but my grandchildren swim amongst with great aplomb. With hints of Ludlum, Fleming and Clancy it is sharper, the era is fascinating, the plausibility frightening.
It’s set in a Post-WikiLeaks world where private military contractors, terror cells and corporations wield as much power as national intelligence agencies…
Marc Dane is a MI6 field agent at home behind a computer screen, one step away from the action. But an attack on his team leaves Marc as the only survivor – a survivor convinced that there are one or more traitors inside MI6. What’s he to do? Head into the front line, and leave the screen behind of course.
Typically, the traitors are clever, and the evidence seems to point towards Marc as the perpetrator of the attack. Accused of betraying his country, he must race against time to clear his name. So far, this has been done by others, but it’s the era in which it is set, and the scope of the scenario which makes it unputdownable.
With his team gone Marc is forced to rely on the elusive Rubicon group and their operative Lucy Keyes. Ex US Army, Lucy also knows what it’s like to be an outsider, and she’s got the skills that Marc is sorely lacking. It’s a race against time. When will the terrorist attack occur, the one he is certain will take place. And who will stop it? It comes down to Lucy and Marc.
Buy it, it’s good.
Next week, we will be publishing James Swallow’s A Day in the Life. Don’t miss it.
Published by Zaffre. paperback, £7.99