Trojan by Alan McDermott

I’ve read several of this author’s previous works, all of which featured Tom Gray, an ex-SAS soldier, as their protagonist. I’ve reviewed them all positively, as they’re without exception, excellent titles. Trojan is the author’s first standalone title, featuring characters which appeared in the earlier novels, but with Tom Gray absent. Instead, Andrew Harvey and Sarah Thompson of MI5 take centre stage.

As with Alan’s previous novels, the plot of Trojan is very topical, dealing with an ISIS inspired terror plot aimed at mass casualties in the UK. It also addresses the European Union’s refugee crisis and the risk therein of terrorists infiltrating our borders by hiding amongst genuine asylum seekers. It is important to note here, that Alan makes clear in an author’s note at the start of the book that the novel is not intended as an anti-immigrant rant. But the fact is that there is a potential security threat in such large numbers of people crossing international borders, while criminals and terrorists will try to take advantage of any perceived vulnerabilities.

The earlier novels, which featured Tom Gray at the fore, were by nature a little more action packed than Trojan. That is to expected, seeing as Gray is former special forces. Harvey and Thompson are more cerebral, investigators rather than fighters, and this novel reflects that. There is still action in Trojan, but the novel is more of a procedural, following their efforts to unearth the nature of the terrorist threat, locate the perpetrators, track them down and effect their arrests.

Trojan works on its own terms and the fact that it is less action packed than Alan’s previous titles is not a criticism. Indeed, in some ways I preferred this to his earlier titles. That doesn’t mean that I don’t look forward to the return of Tom Gray; I will snap up the next title in that series as soon as it hits the shelves, but I would also like to see Alan write more in this vein

Highly recommended, 5 out of 5 stars.