Review: The spy police is here to stay with John Purkiss
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 2, 2013
Stevens is a great weaver of stories.In the second John Purkiss novel he starts by narrating unconnected stories each of which is a quality thriller on its own.Then ,like the master craftsman that he is, weaves these stories one into the other and a first class thriller is born which is even better than its component stories.John Purkiss the new hero is evolving to become an archetype character of spy thrillers like George Smiley of Le Carre or Harry Palmer and Bernard Samson of Len Deighton.He is a loner like Reacher of Lee Child but fully integrated into Society and with a Mission,essentially a very skilled operative and a decent person,who left the official S.I.S to work from the margins against agents gone rogue.The basis of the Purkiss novels is the concept that in a Service they trains its employees to deceive,spy,steal and subvert,some may use these skills against the interests of the Service or for personal gain.Hence the need of policing the spies by a spy who is better than most.John Purkiss as created by the author fits the role perfectly and plausibly.The plot is both original and sophisticated.As it is described elsewhere in this page,all I write is that it is very well thought out with unexpected reversals and emerging situations that keep the tension high throughout the book with an exciting finale.A sign of its quality is that the author uses violent scenes only when required and justified by the story,basing the thrills mainly in his fine narrative talentThe characters are adequately sketched ,the prose is of high quality and the dialogues fit.Like all virtuosos that their every performance is better than the previous one,this novel is better than the first that was already very good.This innovative thinking man's thriller will become a Classic because it created a genre of its own.Waiting for the next oneDVK