Following on from her outstanding first book in the series, THE LAST EXILE, Seymour's likeable hero, Paul Tallis, has been sent undercover to Turkey by MI5 who are employing him on a contract basis.

In an Istanbul cafe, he meets with a British crime reporter, Morello, whom he knows from his base in Birmingham. They discuss a mutual acquaintance, who is now a senior policeman. Morello is talking, when suddenly Paul feels an uncomfortable sixth sense and is immediately put on full alert. A motorcyclist approaches carrying a pillion passenger, who suddenly raises a gun and fires several shots into Morello, before he speeds off. Paul is afraid that the shooter made an identification error and should have hit him...

Subsequently, Paul is detained by the Turkish police, who suspect him of involvement in his friend's murder. Fortunately, he escapes and when he returns to the UK, he is obliged to go undercover into a criminal gang who are using the recent national terrorist threats as a cover for carrying out criminal activity. He has to get close to a Birmingham crime boss known as Johnny Kennedy and a whole sequence of events occurs in Birmingham, which help to explain the earlier shooting in Turkey.

Paul's father dies and he has to make arrangements for his older brother to be released from prison for the day to attend the funeral. There is real animosity between the brothers which is explained in the earlier book. The story rushes on to a magnificent conclusion.

The author has a real gift for blending the action sequences with the mundane, domestic details of Paul. We learn he lives in a run down bungalow and drives a tatty car. He is always been told off by his mother for not getting a sensible job and a nice girlfriend!

E V Seymour is an outstanding new author and this book is an extremely readable example of her work. A real page turner. It has everything: excitement, suspense, and romance. I eagerly await to read the next instalment of her hero.

On the cover of my copy it says "forget Bond, forget Bourne, meet Paul Tallis". Why not indeed? I think this author is just superb. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I did.

Terry Halligan, England
August 2009