This is
an intriguing thriller from a former Met Police counter terror cop. David
worked on the investigation into the 7/7 bombings and uses this as the starting
block for his novel.
The main
character, DI Jake Flannagan, is a maverick cop with a failed marriage and a
fondness for the drink. This might not sound unusual; plenty of crime fiction
protagonists could fit such a description, but the author imbues Flannagan with
a pitiful self-loathing that at times is difficult to read. For Flannagan
doesn’t just drink, he also tends to end up in bed with random women he’s met
in bars and clubs, meaningless cold sex which send him into spirals of guilt.
The
maverick element of DI Flannagan’s character is also differentiated from the
usual tropes of crime fiction by the author’s knowledge of UK police
procedure. Too often in crime fiction,
the hero or heroine singlehandedly saves the day; the rest of the police
force/security or intelligence services, seemingly sitting around without a
clue. The author deftly avoids this mistake by grounding his protagonist’s
actions within a solid bedrock of real police work. So we’re introduced to the
HOLMES computer system and the various investigative actions that it tasks the
investigations teams to do. While Flannagan does go off and do his own thing,
he does so within the confines of the wider investigation, a much more
realistic proposition that one finds in many novels of this kind.
While
the novel is fiction, a fascinating element is what I suspect to be it’s
factual basis. For example the tension between the Security Service, better
known as MI5, and the police. Flannagan bemoans the Security Service for
keeping information to themselves and for throwing money at informants regardless
of performance; the police apparently only paying when an informant provides
information, rather than keeping them on retainer. This chimes with other
accounts I’ve read of the relationship between the two services. Then there are
elements that are simply fascinating and a real eye-opener. Who knew, for
example, that the Blackheath Tea Hut is renowned amongst gangland as being a
place where, thanks to the flat topography, police surveillance can easily be
spotted?
Returning
to the plot of the novel itself, and without giving spoilers, the story
revolves around who organised the London bombings and why. Was it al Qaeda or
was there some unexpected hidden hand? It might be tempting to dismiss such
thoughts as conspiracy theory, but again, without giving away spoilers, this is
no Dan Brownesque illuminati/freemason nonsense. Rather the novel suggests some
frighteningly plausible and intriguing possibilities.
All in
all this is a brilliant novel and an assured debut. My only fear is that having
tackled 7/7, the case the author worked on in his police career, he’ll feel
that he’s got the writing bug out of his system and put away the word
processor. I hope not because I would love to meet DI Flannagan again.
