Frontline #DrTonyRedmond #Frontline

Saving Lives in War, Disaster and Disease

By Dr Tony Redmond

Published by Harper North

300 pages ISBN 9780008449537

Publication date 16 September 2021

I was sent an uncorrected proof for review purposes.  Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Alice Murphy-Pyle for arranging this

From the blurb

How are life-or-death choices made in disaster zones?

What are the consequences of your action, or inaction?

How do you live with yourself if you want to help but can’t?

Whether in the aftermath of the Lockerbie bombing or Sierra Leone’s Ebola outbreak, or in warzones in Kosovo and Kashmir, Dr Tony Redmond has spent a lifetime putting himself in harm’s way to help others stricken by disaster in war, refugee crises, air crashes, earthquakes, typhoons, volcanoes and disease outbreaks.

Synopsis

This is an autobiography which centres on the work experiences of the author and mainly concentrates upon his outstanding contribution to medical relief at disasters, both natural and man-made.  In the preface there is a little about his upbringing, but he comes over as a private and modest man who is happier in letting his record of achievements speak for themselves.

My thoughts

Although there is only a little about the author away from his profession, we do get an idea of his overall motivations in the preface.  His family experienced grinding poverty and his parents worked hard just to survive.  As a young man his father travelled to the Argentina initially to be a priest but eventual sought work and adventure on the pampas.  No doubt the tales he recounted sowed the seeds of foreign adventures of a different sort.  I suspect that the main driving force was the poverty he experienced and had recounted to him.  Life remained tough in the immediate post war austerity and ration years, but the introduction of the welfare state did much to alleviate the grinding poverty and meant that when he contracted TB he was able to get proper treatment.  There was also still a spirit to help others within their relative poverty and a sense of being in it together.  Simple empathy and compassion for others will go a long way.

After an opening chapter on the Lockdown of 2020 the book runs through his experiences in chronological order, describing the crisis, what he found on the ground and how he was able to help.  In most cases he was able to assist in the organisation of relief delivery as well as medical procedures.

What we as readers will find hard to comprehend is the chaos on the ground as a great many well-meaning people congregate with a range of skills and back up support.  Through the progression of the book, we can see that protocols have been developed and the importance of organisational and logistical skill is understood.  However, the proliferation of NGOs, minor charities and celebrity foundations has added to the chaos as some feel the need to be seen to be there almost to the extent of competition.  His story of John Travolta and Scientologists flying into Haiti itself is an eye opener and the chapter title of Disaster Tourism is quite fitting. Almost all these people mean well it’s just they cannot see the impact they have on the smooth running of aid delivery.  There is duplication of purchasing, the wrong equipment being bought or supplied as well as waste and corruption at the point of delivery. Dispiriting to the donors hoping their charity donation will make a difference. Dr Redmond suggests supporting the major charities as they are best placed to make a meaningful difference, although some of these have recently been mired in scandal. There also appears to be a charity industry where CEOs are paid huge salaries and move from organisation-to-organisation mimicking ‘captains of industry’.

One aspect of care Dr Redmond is very clear on is that all patients are the same and should be treated so.  He recounts stories of some disaster relief medics who take less care in documentation, fail to obtain informed consent from patients or even trying new or risky procedures using the patients as medical guinea pigs to test their skills.  It would be easy to take the ‘something is better than nothing’ approach and sweep such failings under the carpet but he makes it clear that this neither morally nor ethically correct.  This attitude is to be applauded, the last century has shown that even men of medicine can drift into doing appalling things in the name of research.  Dr Redmond’s approach has been to give the best available care he can, within the prevailing circumstances, as if he were still in the UK, but also to mentor and train the local medical staff to leave a better hospital environment when he leaves.

The author has made great sacrifices to carry out this work.  Although he doesn’t dwell on it, large periods of time spent away from his family often in dangerous locations must have put great strain on him home life and he must have missed key family moments.  His health has also suffered greatly whilst deployed, suffering from heavy metal poisoning and damage to his vertebra which resulted in him eventually having to give up work on the ground and moving to desk-based work.  He seems to have borne this stoically, I guess having seen the suffering he has first-hand he has different reference points to most of us, though clearly he possesses great inner strength as well as bravery.

The most interesting part for me is the work of the armed forces in disaster relief.  As Dr Redmond is at pains to point out working with armed forces compromises humanitarian principles and he gives working with the Israeli Defence Force as an example.  The dilemma comes as armed forces often have the best means and ability to deliver aid in natural disasters.  Indeed, his back injury came in a Navy RIB as his team were carrying out medical relief on remote island whilst the Navy were pitching in with reconstruction work.  I appreciate the points he makes but it seems to me that the armed forces have untapped skills that could be a great resource to do good and show us in a positive light if harnessed in a way that doesn’t compromise the overall humanitarian effort.

The one thing that shines through is his humanity.  Here is a man who saw hardship in his formative years and has been determined to leave the world a better place than he found it as I am sure the legacy of what he has set up will bare testament.  This book gives an insight into the frustrations and some of the danger in medical disaster relief work but is ultimately uplifting. If this book inspires others to follow in his footsteps but with eyes opened to the problems and dangers involved then I’m sure he will be happier with that rather than fame.

Phosphate Rocks

By Fiona Erskine

Narrated by Robin Laing

Published by Sandstone Press https://sandstonepress.com/

218 pages ISBN 9781913207526 

Publication date 17 June 2021

I was lucky to receive an audiobook version from the author as a Twitter competition prize. 

From the blurb

As the old chemical works in Leith are demolished a long deceased body encrusted in phosphate rock is discovered. Seated at a card table he has ten objects laid out in front of him. Whose body is it? How did he die and what is the significance of the objects?

Synopsis

The Scottish Agricultural Industries (SAI) fertiliser factory on Leith docks was deemed no longer economically viable and so is in the process of being demolished.  The workmen discover a skull during their work and so the demolition is paused and the excavation of the body is passed on to the police.  The police find the body of a man which is encased in layer of phosphate dust which has hardened to rock preserving the shape of his body much like those discovered at Pompeii.  He is sat at a small card table and on the table are ten seemingly unrelated objects of no intrinsic value.

What can the objects (carved ebony elephant, small nutmeg grater, Aberdeen keyring, airhorn, Barbie doll, whisky bottle, bullet, oil can, sunglasses and brass washer) tell the investigators about the man and help to identify him.  They may be mystified but shift manager John is not.  He recognises each object, recounts the story behind it and slowly the truth emerges.

My thoughts

I guess I’m starting to get lucky with these Twitter prizes but as they say you have to be in it to win it.

Before I started listening to the book, I wasn’t sure what to make of it from the blurb, but when I discovered that it was set on Leith docks my interest was piqued.  I am an accountant, but the bulk of my career has been spent working in businesses that specialise in marine safety, so I have been on many dock estates in the country, albeit from the comfort of nice offices (mostly).  I can recall a short visit to Granton and visited Leith a few times just as the process of gentrification was taking hold, it being a very different place now to that mentioned in the book!

This lovely little book is difficult to pigeon-hole into a particular genre.  It partly reflects incidents from the years that the author spent working at the factory and the stories that she heard from the workers, but these have also been fictionalised into a novel form with the narrative from John.  These stories are then interspersed with details of the operation of a major chemical plant, explanations of the chemistry and the processes together with comments on industrial heritage.  Add to this there is the investigation to discover who the dead man is.  Somehow this is all pulled together into an intelligent and interesting story with humanity and affection. This warmth comes through in the unhurried narration style of Robin Laing who adds gentle Scottish accent to the mix.

The structure works well with each object being the catalyst to the telling of a story about an incident at the factory.  These are told with the warmth of fond memories albeit interspersed with some tragic outcomes.  How much truth and how much fiction is included within each one I could not tell so that is a measure of the credibility.  These incidents all tie back to the workings of the factory and so the operation is described often with attached history and then there is an explanation of the chemistry and science behind.  It’s not textbook style though, Fiona has kept it light without dumbing down and it is very readable.  It will not appeal to some, but if you find how its made style programmes on the documentary channels and like obscure facts then you are sure to find it fascinating stuff.

It manages to cover a whole range of emotions within its pages.  There’s the humour with antics of the workmen before health and safety tightened its grip, seen by toilet trips, tannoy codes and real life whisky galore.  There’s camaraderie of the workers and shift manager doing his best to look after ‘his boys’ and the pitching in together.  Compassion is shown to the ‘Ladies of Leith’ who ply their trade amongst the sailors and dock workers, they are accepted as part and parcel of work on the dock and John does his best to keep an eye open for them and straighten them out when he can.  Sad moments are there too in the form of serious life changing injury and death.  Indeed, there is a melancholic feel as the novel is part testament to a dying factory in a failing sector of British Industry and the subsequent changes in the lives of the people there.  Coming from Hull I can empathise with this as our city suffered with the loss of fishing, but we are by no means alone as many places lost their industry base in steel, coal etc.

The characterisation is excellent for such a short book.  John is the kind of person we would want to look out for us at work and his interaction with the detective is well worked out as are his daily visits to the Italian café as a major part of his life after his wife passes away.  Within each object’s story, the characters are brought to life as its centre, the objects are the prompt for each person’s individual place in the narrative.

I loved Phosphate Rocks and already curious to see what comes next with this book being based so much on personal experience.  A fitting memorial to a factory, that dominated peoples lives in the city, and those who worked in it.

Red Traitor #OwenMatthews #RedTraitor

By Owen Matthews

Narrated by Mark Bramhall https://www.markbramhall.com/

Published by Bantam Press (Penguin) www.penguin.co.uk

336 pages ISBN 9781787634961

Publication date 29 July 2021

I was allowed access to an audio review copy on Net Galley.  Thanks to the author and publisher for organising this.

From the blurb

The year is 1962, and KGB Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vasin is searching for ghosts: for evidence of the long-rumoured existence of an American spy embedded at the highest echelons of Soviet power. But it’s while on this wild goose chase, a high-stakes espionage race against a rival State agency, that Vasin first hears whispers of an ominous top-secret undertaking: Operation Anadyr.

As tensions flare between Nikita Khrushchev and President Kennedy over Russian missiles hidden in Cuba, four Soviet submarines – each carrying tactical ballistic missiles armed with thermonuclear warheads – are ordered to make a covert run at the U.S. blockade in the Caribbean . . .

Synopsis

The first Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K19 already has a reputation for bad luck before its maiden voyage, with several deaths taking place during its construction.  After less than a year of service it develops a fault with its cooling system and nuclear disaster is only averted by jury-rigging a new cooling system.  This comes at a high cost though with 22 men ultimately killed through exposure to radioactive steam.  Deputy commander Vasili Arkhipov though physically unharmed is greatly affected by this experience.

The Soviets believe there is a mole operating at the top of the security services and Alexander Vasin is instructed to dig him out.

Due to a shortage of long range Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles the Soviet high command hatch a plan to negate this by installing missiles on the island of Cuba in the United States’ back yard.  They are of course discovered and the United States blockade Cuba; the Cuban Missile Crisis is born.

The Soviets attempt to breach the blockade with four traditional diesel-electric submarines each armed with 21 conventional torpedoes and 1 special weapon a nuclear tipped torpedo.  They are tracked down and submarine B59 is surrounded by 11 destroyers and a carrier of the US fleet who drop signalling depth charges to try to make it surface.  Effectively out of power Captain Savitsky of the B59 with the agreement of political officer Maslennikov could use the special weapon but Arkhipov who is only number two onboard but has overall control over the flotilla knows what carnage this will create.  Can he win the battle of wills onboard and thereby prevent a nuclear disaster?

My thoughts

I enjoy books in which real life figures are woven into a fictional narrative.  In recent years (the much missed) Philip Kerr was a master of this placing Bernie Gunther convincingly within the action of the German war machine.  This novel goes a step further in being more of a fictional dramatization of real events.

Submarine warfare and disasters has provided rich pickings for makers of film and television fiction but capturing the tension and claustrophobia onboard in print is a different matter.  A 300+ page story based solely on a submarine would be a taxing and difficult read.  The introduction of the mole hunt into the plot to add to the submarine incidents breaks up this narrative and gives it some variety.

The plot unfolds from the point of view of the Soviets, which is always a refreshing change.  It is clearly meticulously researched as can be seen by the comprehensive Authors’ notes section at the end of the book.  He manages to balance the telling of tense story, that has an authentic feel to it, without denigrating the memories of those involved, in some cases by introducing fictional characters to avoid doing so.  However, it remains a work of fiction though and reads like a traditional espionage story rather than a Cold War history book.

The pacing of the plot varies as there is much to fit in with the K19 disaster and the mole hunt before it concentrates on the B59 incident where the intensity is ratcheted up which overall works out just about right.  The author does a great job in building up the tension especially as we already know that nuclear disaster was averted.  It has been said many times before that this was the closest the world came to all out nuclear war and after listening to this and doing some careful background reading, prompted by the author notes, I can well believe it. 

The subsequent assassination of JFK and the thousands of conspiracy theory books and television programmes have overwhelmed the Cuban Missile Crisis as a historical incident.  Yes, there have been books and films covering the incident before (including a documentary ‘The Man Who Saved  the World’ about Arkhipov) but it feels as if it is now just relegated to a footnote of history like the Bag of Pigs invasion as part of the JFK story.  Arkhipov was clearly a very honourable and brave man to risk his career and life by making the decision which could have sent him to the gulag.  Thankfully he made the right call thereby saving the lives of many and is rightly recognised in the western world.

The narration style of Mark Bramhall is level and somewhat understated which is perfect for the subject matter.  His Russian pronunciations, to this non speaker, seemed genuine and he didn’t fall into the trap of sinister Russian comedy accents.  Sometimes less is more really does apply. As a listener to a great many audiobooks this is one narrator I will keep an eye open for.

This was an enjoyable read and a fitting testament to a brave man. One for Cold War espionage fans.

The Midnight Lock

By Jeffery Deaver

Published by Harper Collins

448 pages ISBN 9780008303846

Publication date 25 November 2021

I was allowed access to a pdf review copy on Net Galley.  Thanks to the author and publisher for organising this.

From the blurb

A killer without limits
He comes into your home at night. He watches you as you sleep. He waits. 
 
A city in turmoil
He calls himself ‘The Locksmith’. No door can keep him out. No security system can catch him. And now he’s about to kill. 

 A race against time to stop him
Nobody in New York is safe. Now it’s up to Lincoln Rhyme to untangle the web of evidence and catch him.

 But with Lincoln under investigation himself, and tension in the city at boiling point, time is running out…

Synopsis

Lincoln Rhyme is in court acting as expert witness in the prosecution of Viktor Antony Buryak a man who is a broker of information to the criminal underworld.  Lincoln is uncharacteristically evasive, and the Defending Council is able to discredit his testimony.  This results in the case being lost.

There is a new adversary for him in town in the guise of ‘The Locksmith’ who is an expert lockpicker.  So far, he has broken into women’s apartments whilst they have been asleep but he has made his presence felt by moving objects, eating or drinking and by leaving his ‘calling card’ a page torn from a newspaper with a message written in their lipstick.  These home invasions have been disturbing but so far there has been no physical harm, the fear is of escalation to rape or even murder.

The newspaper leads to the Whittaker Media Group a group full of tabloid excess run by a dysfunctional family.  The patriarch and major shareholder has had a change of heart though and is in the process of winding up the Group’s businesses and reinvesting the proceeds into a better journalism centre.  There’s certainly need for it to counter the rise of fake news and a conspiracy theorist blogger Verum who is warning of ‘The Hidden’.

However, before Lincoln and his team can make much progress a decision with monumental implications is made.  The mayor with an eye on poll ratings cannot risk further humiliation so he decides that the NYPD can no longer use external consultants, including Lincoln.  His team are reassigned, and his townhouse operations are closed.  Catching The Locksmith has suddenly got a whole lot harder…

My thoughts

Mr Deaver goes back to his best known and most loved character Lincoln Rhyme.  This (if I can count properly) is the fifteenth book in the series, which has also spawned a successful Hollywood movie and more recently a television series, which is still running strong.

What is the enduring appeal of the character?  From my point of view, I think it’s that a seemingly vulnerable man, a quadriplegic, can thrive and save the day purely through his intelligence and inventiveness.  The antipodal of the all-action hero.  His character and situation have developed over the series and even though he can be insufferable the interactions with his team and outsiders are well thought out.  I guess it’s not true that nobody likes a ‘smart ass’.  The forensic science sub-genre of crime fiction is also very popular, particularly on television, and with further developments there is always plenty new to be incorporated.

Lincoln was originally portrayed as a man considering suicide who rediscovers his zest for life, even in his restricted capacity, through his work as a consultant.  He has then had a resurgence in his inner strength, his strength of character, so to see him being portrayed as fallible and even incompetent at the start of the book is an interesting shift.  Lincoln truly is a man who lives for his work.

The plot is multi-strand and gets a little bit convoluted but is adroitly pulled together at the end.  It keeps a fairly keen pace throughout and the reader doesn’t get chance to get bored.  There are plenty of action pieces where a major character is in trouble, but these of course are defused.  With the main character being confined to a wheelchair the author regularly relies upon surprise intervention which is then explained after the event.  As he cannot fight his way out of trouble he must think ahead and recognise trouble in advance and while the surprise intervention eventually stops becoming a surprise the other option would make for a boring read.  There are also twists and false dawns aplenty, with the identity of The Locksmith apparently revealed more than once before it becomes clear who it really is.

This is a book for modern times though, touching on current themes like fake news, conspiracy theories and over exposure on social media, but these provide a backdrop rather than a specific theme.  Much is about the power of familial relationships both good and bad and the desire for redemption.

The science can be a fascinating part of the story and the skill of the author is that of including enough to interest but not to get tedious.  Whether it is all genuine I have no idea, some of it does seem to be a little bit far-fetched (autopsying a fly?) but we must remember it is fiction after all.  The other slightly silly bit is the use of the nom de guerre by the criminals, but of course this is America where master criminals and serial killers must have a snappy moniker.  This is something Great Britain has generally avoided although real life killer Stephen Griffiths did famously give his name as The Crossbow Cannibal in his magistrates’ court appearance.

Enjoyable escapist stuff that delivers just what the reader expects, I’ve no doubt this will keep his legion of fans happy.

Deep Cover

By Leigh Russell https://leighrussell.co.uk/

Published by No Exit Press (Oldcastle Books) https://noexit.co.uk/index1.php?imprint=1

320 pages ISBN 9780857304650

Publication date 24 August 2021

I was allowed access to a pdf review copy on Net Galley.  Thanks to the author and publisher for organising this.

From the blurb

When a sex worker dies in suspicious circumstances in York, Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel struggles to remain focused on the murder investigation: she is distracted by her worries about her colleague and life partner, Ian Peterson, who has disappeared. As Geraldine becomes close to her new DS, Matthew, she is unaware that Ian is working undercover in London, trying to identify a criminal gang who have been targeting her.

As a second victim is discovered in York, and Ian’s life is threatened by a psychopath the tension mounts. If he fails in his mission, both he and Geraldine may die…

Synopsis

DI Geraldine Steel is separated from her life-partner and colleague Ian.  On a personal level she feels let down by him because his actions mean she can no longer see her sister who is now living under a new identity, so she buries herself in work.  She is also upset because he has left without a word of goodbye or forwarding details.  Nobody is sure where he is, but rumour has it he is in London working undercover.

Ian has gone under cover, deep cover, to infiltrate one of the capital’s major criminal gangs.  He is after more than just ‘collars’ though.  He hopes to use the infiltration to his advantage to get word to the drug dealer who blighted Geraldine’s sister’s life and warn him off.  That way he believes that the sisters can contact each other again and his relationship with Geraldine reconciled and their love healed.

Meanwhile Geraldine is investigating the mysterious death of a sex worker who is found in woods near York.  Initial suspicions are that she has murdered but the forensics prove this was not in situ, so she had clearly been moved.  But why?  A second victim is then discovered on waste ground, but she is not a sex worker.  Geraldine wonders if they can be connected and the investigation is widened.

My thoughts

I have read the first few in the Geraldine Steel series but must confess that I haven’t picked one up for some time.  We are so lucky to have a seemingly endless choice of great books to read and we cannot read them all.  Looking at the author’s catalogue it is clear she is very prolific and I know she has a large following, so now seemed a good time to revisit the series to see how it has developed.

Geraldine has moved up North to York which is an interesting choice of location.  I’m sure there must be a crime author who bases their character in York, but I can’t immediately think of one and the city is not the obvious setting for a gritty procedural set in Yorkshire.  It would make a great setting though with the 2,000+ years of history and picturesque views, though they are not drawn out in this episode.

The plot is two distinct strands and investigations which don’t bisect.  The multi-strand approach is increasingly common and the skill of the author is put to test pulling all the loose ends together into a cogent story.  ‘Deep Cover’, is effectively two novellas running alongside each other like an episode of ‘The Bill’ but in which both are concluded by the epilogue.

Geraldine’s investigation into the death of a sex worker is a nicely put together story of unintended consequences.  I think we enjoy the schadenfreude aspect of someone making a bad choice and then by trying to make things better succeeding in digging themselves in deeper and things getting progressively worse for themselves.  Thomas is not a particularly likeable character so is fair game, perhaps if he had been a little more likeable then it may have been a little more challenging for the reader. It’s also a bold writer who lets the reader know who is responsible for the crime and as able to continue to engage their interest. 

Ian’s investigation was more unconventional.  The motivation for him to go undercover to contact the drug dealer to warn him off didn’t ring true to me.  The undercover aspects were fine, but it just felt as if it was a little bit rushed; Ian played his cards to the crime boss almost straightway which didn’t feel right.  Credit for trying this sub-genre though.

Both threads were good, but I was left feeling that they were both a little bit short changed and perhaps would have been better served as full stand-alone novels.  More could have been made of the pressure Thomas was under and ultimately his breakdown into temporary madness under all the pressure.  Similarly, more could have been made of the danger that Ian was in and the steps he needed to take to stay safe.  This would have made both themes darker, and it was noticeable that there was little by way of real violence.  I assume that this is a case of the author understanding their audience and me reading too many noirs and gritty Northern stories. 

The main characters, Geraldine and Ian, are already well developed and likeable enough.  The writing is unfussy and the plot certainly doesn’t dawdle.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I’m sure Leigh’s many fans will love it and after all it is giving readers what they want that translates into sales.  I will be following the progress of Geraldine Steel and I won’t wait quite so long next time.

The Late Train to Gipsy Hill

By Alan Johnson https://alanjohnsonbooks.co.uk/

Published by Headline Publishing Group (a Hachette UK company) https://www.headline.co.uk/

341 pages ISBN 9781472286123

Publication date 2 September 2021

I was provided with a review copy from the publisher, many thanks to Caitlin Raynor for organising this.

From the blurb

Gary Nelson has a routine for the commute to his rather dull job in the city. Each day, he watches transfixed as a beautiful woman on the train applies her make up in a ritual he now knows by heart. He’s never dared to strike up a conversation . . . but maybe one day.

Then one evening, on the late train to Gipsy Hill, the woman who has beguiled him for so long, invites him to take the empty seat beside her. Fiddling with her mascara, she holds up her mirror and Gary reads the words ‘HELP ME’ scrawled in sticky black letters on the glass.

From that moment, Gary’s life is turned on its head. He finds himself on the run from the Russian mafia, the FSB and even the Metropolitan Police – all because of what because this mysterious young woman may have witnessed. In the race to find out the truth, Gary discovers that there is a lot more to her than meets the eye…

Synopsis

Unlucky in love Gary is besotted by a young woman he sees on the train every day. He thinks she doesn’t notice him but he’s wrong, she does, and it is him she looks to for help.  Together they go on the run escaping the clutches of murderous Russians and the police.

Gary falls in love with beautiful and resourceful young woman, but everything is not as it seems.  How many London hotel waitresses have a gun and know how to use it?  Arina takes the lead, Gary follows, and they both save each other from impending danger.

They arrange to ‘come in from the cold’ back where it all started at the Strand Hotel, but it proves to be a case of best laid plans of mice and men…

My thoughts

Two modern publishing phenomenon I have so far avoided is the celebrity fiction writer and the superstar subcontractor.  The reasons are clear why publishers like them, sales volume.  The celebrity’s fanbase and the mentorship of the fledgling writer by the best-selling author’s effectively working to underwrite the costs of publication for the big players in the business and naturally some will prove to be very lucrative.  They’ve always struck me as somewhat exploitative of either the loyal reader or the writer who does the bulk of the work before the fairy dust is sprinkled on it.  Perhaps I’m too much of an embittered cynic; Richard’s Osman’s novels are getting rave reviews so perhaps its time for me to drop my irrational prejudices.

Alan Johnson is probably best known as a Labour Home Secretary and MP in my hometown of Hull but before that he had a tough childhood, then worked in the Post Office climbing his way up the ranks of the Union movement.  All of this he has laid out in three award winning volumes of autobiography (which I haven’t read) so he can clearly write non-fiction which is a good start.

In the publicity he sets out his lifelong love of books and how he wrote stories and poems in Grammar School and had the inevitable rejection slips from publishers, so we can see he has a history of wanting to write.  The first tip given is write about what you know about, and Mr Johnson has put together a crime novel with a central espionage theme and based it on the areas he knows best, London where he was born and spent his formative years.

The plot is set in 2015 and centres upon the poisoning of two Russian nationals, one deliberate and one seemingly by accident.  Yes, there was a bit of it about a few years ago and a previously unlikely fondness for Salisbury Cathedral amongst members of the FSB.  In one instance the poison is polonium-210 administered in coffee the modern poison that leaves radioactive traces all over.  The other poison is a throwback to the Twentieth Century, thallium, administered in a switched water bottle.  Not sure if this is a nod to probably the most modern poisoner Graham Young (the tea-cup poisoner) who used thallium, if it is then in the words of Peckham’s favourite son ‘chapeau’ old boy.

The style is like modern take on the crime classics he read as a boy and reads well and skips along nicely.  There’s a chase scene loved by thrillers of the 20’s and 30’s such as Buchans ‘The Thirty-Nine Steps’, though this one only extends to Aylesbury where Gary’s mother lives. Mr Johnson clearly loves his cricket and trains, and these are nicely woven into the plot along with a Parcel Force van.  The final set piece fits in with this and is underplayed by modern standards with the minimum of violence.  There is even a ‘drawing room reveal’ but instead of Poirot explaining how he cracked the impossible case it’s Detective Superintendent Mangan explaining to Gary the machinations behind the plot. 

The characters are nicely drawn; the Russians ruthless, Arina mysterious, Gary and his mum likeable and Mangan the sort of cop we would want in our case if we were in Gary’s shoes.

It is, however, a little bit clunky in parts, comparing a decorators use of sugar soap in preparation to that of applying make up and Knuckles’ coming out are miss steps that spring to mind.  He also includes some modern cultural references on music, but I suspect he would be more comfortable discussing the Beatles with Hunter Davies (the self-appointed seventh Beatle who provides a quote of the back).  This doesn’t detract from enjoyment though and I’m sure some readers wouldn’t give it a second thought.  I chuckled at the ‘The Spy Who Came in from Accounts Payable’ jibe but it was a little short of the wit and sparkle to raise it from a good read to a great read.

In the end I enjoyed it more than I was expecting, it’s a competently written first novel in the style of a mid-twentieth century crime story but updated with a modern plot twist.