Review: The ultimate conspiracy?
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 24, 2013
This book is a genuine thriller, it is visual in nature, and could well be lifted directly into a two episode TV miniseries. It is first person, and follows Thomas Gunn, who was once in the Special Forces, and starts with a wounded Thomas Gunn escaping with Julie in a helicopter. We then have to go back to find out how they got there. Thomas' father was murdered, and Thomas reluctantly takes over his father's company Gunn Enterprises, and before long he finds out that his father had started a venture in Northern Ireland, which got something like 2.75 billion in government grants, there is no accounting, and nobody, not even the Fraud Squad, cares, so Thomas has to unravel everything himself. What follows is a thrill a minute, and the most outrageous conspiracy ever. Whatever Thomas does, he bangs against a conspirator! What I liked above all else is the action scenes are realistic, and apart from Thomas' ability to recover from wounds, this might well be the best realistic thriller I have seen for some time. The author was apparently in the Parachute Regiment, which explains the realism. There are negatives; Thomas could have planned better, however, that is picky. I also found the writing to be somewhat clunky at times, and editing in some places would not have gone astray. For example, there was one sentence where he had a sore arm because a bullet went through his upper right arm. There are a number of better ways to put that. If you read it quickly, this is definitely worth 5 stars; the awkward writing in places is why I pulled it back to 4. But watch Clarke. Once he sorts things out a little better, he will be a great thriller writer.