Tony J. Forder

In this book 1 of a 2 book series, Mike Lynch has the misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He leaves the motorway due to a traffic jam, then being rather lost pulls in at a layby to nip into bushes for a call of nature. When he comes back out, a man is shooting another in a gang-style execution and then fires at Mike. As another car is nearer, Mike jumps in and drives away, not discovering until he shakes off pursuit that he has two passengers hiding in the rear passenger foot well: the murdered man's young daughter and her nanny.

The story becomes a suspenseful chase as they try to stay ahead of pursuers, since Mike realises early on that the murderer is associated with the police. There are a lot of shoot outs and a shocking murder (no spoilers). Through it, Mike gradually becomes the heroic figure he was far from being at the start, where he was a graphic designer whose business wasn't doing very well. He is forced to revive skills from his ex-marine background and also an old friendship with a comrade from those times.

Most of the story is from Mike's first person narration, but it does switch around to other characters to show what is happening amongst Mike's foes in the meantime. These other viewpoints reveal that he has become mixed up in a very high-level conspiracy and cover-up, and it's hard to see at times how he can possibly survive, although the fact that there is a book two does reassure the reader on that score.

This was a page-turning read, and the only reason I've given it 3 stars is, for me, the characters were mostly one dimensional and some were not that believable. I don't usually read chase thrillers and I'm probably not the right readership for this.

** Received on a free offer from the author in return for an unbiased review. **… (meer)