Review: The best Purkiss yet
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 26, 2013
An assassination at the highest level means that no-one can be trusted, so Purkiss, as the perennial outsider, is brought in to investigate. As usual, personal ghosts are stirred up along with the larger spectres of Iraq, Guantánamo Bay and black-site interrogations. All the main characters are well-drawn and convincing, without the occasional hints of stock villainy from the earlier books. Stevens' plot, as always, is satisfyingly intricate and cracks along at a terrific pace towards rather more twists than one. Purkiss himself, who was upstaged by a schizophrenic musician in Delivering Caliban, is allowed to unfreeze a bit and, if not to come to terms with past betrayals, then at least to confront them in a more constructive way. This is the best of the Purkiss thrillers so far, which means it's very good indeed.