Source: Review Copy
Publication: 28 February 2018 from Strident Press
Pp: 272
ISBN-13: 978-1910829189
The past is a dangerous place. Craig McIntyre s mere presence removes people s inhibitions and turns their darkest thoughts into actions. As Craig McIntyre tries to escape bounty hunters from the Dark Web, he discovers that his details are linked to a clandestine government project. Might it hold answers to his past as well as dangers for the present? Back on the run in North America, McIntyre hooks up with some unlikely allies. But can he trust them any more than those who want to use him to shape the future…and to further their personal ambitions? Have those behind Factor really given up on their pursuit of him? Or is McIntyre being reeled in with some politically toxic bait? McIntyre is the key to an explosive secret that could change mankind forever.
Deepest Wounds is thew third in the Craig McIntyre series and while it does work perfectly well as a stand-alone novel, I can’t help but feel that reading them in order is the logical thing to do, as there are recurring characters whose backstory you may want to understand.
Craig McIntyre is a man with many demons, not all of his own making, though heaven knows he doesn’t make life easy for himself. At the start of the book we are treated to a heart pumping scene which has our adrenaline rising even before we know who is in the room.
Our protagonist is ex-military, but not just ex-military, his mind is literally a killing machine. Why it got that way and who is responsible is something he spends his time trying to track down, but he has to be careful, so very careful, or things can go very wrong indeed.
Craig’s skill is something he can’t yet control and with his good friend, Charlie, bound to him for a through a set of disconcerting circumstances, he tries to get to the root of his issues. Constantly searching, always on the move, the pair are tracked where ever they travel and however careful they have been in trying to cover their movements. Someone has deep pockets and wants to know their every move.
Our protagonist is a well trained soldier, only with a switch in his head that he can’t control . A patriot, he is simultaneously dangerously lethal and yet messed up. He is loyal to Charlie, despite everything, because he knows that what Charlie did, he was the cause of.
The novel moves at a galloping pace with many high octane incidents along the way as Craig and Charlie latch onto the latest lead. As they travel, first across America and then finally across the Atlantic, they have embarked on a journey that may cost them more than the truth. Along the way they will meet some very intriguing characters who add colour and flavour to their thrilling ride.
It is on the Scottish coastline that they will finally come to understand the agenda that they have been following and there they will find themselves in a fight which will determine not just their lives and/or deaths, but also a bigger political destiny.
This is a series with a real difference. Fast paced, action packed it is a huge adrenaline ride, but it also paints a picture of two men locked together by circumstance who have no option but to pursue their quest to the bitter end, where ever that may lead.
Verdict: High octane thriller with a killer pitch.
About Gordon Brown
Gordon has been writing since his teens and has six crime thrillers published – his latest, Deepest Wounds, being the third in the Craig McIntyre series, is out now.
Gordon helped found Bloody Scotland – Scotland’s International Crime Writing Festival and lives in Scotland. He’s married with two children. Gordon once quit his job in London to fly across the Atlantic to be with his future wife. He has also delivered pizzas in Toronto, sold non alcoholic beer in the Middle East, launched a creativity training business called Brain Juice and floated a high tech company on the London Stock Exchange.
He almost had a toy launched by a major toy company, has an MBA, loves music, is a DJ on local radio, compered the main stage at a two-day music festival and was once booed by 49,000 people while on the pitch at a major football Cup Final.
Visit Gordon’s website – http://www.gordonjbrown.com/
Follow him on Twitter @GoJaBrown
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