Until a few years ago, no Western publisher dared say a word against Isis, the Muslim terrorist extremists infamous for taking umbridge and reacting violently. No longer. Isis is now targeted by the media and by novelists with impunity.
Not that they've stopped committing their barbaric atrocities, the abject fear of them has lessened. Not least for the reason that counterterrorism worldwide is infiltrating them and thwarting their nefarious plans. Yet Isis is far from finished.
One way Isis has struck back is by recruiting white Muslims into its ranks, the British variety predominantly. Born and educated in the UK, but bred in mosques, it's difficult to profile them. One way is to keep track of those who travel abroad. When away for months, they may have been trained.
Two Brit authors have latched onto this. Indeed, there is a literary rivalry between their fictitious heros: Stephen Keather's Dan "Spifer" Shepherd and Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp, Isis' worst nightmares.
In Tall Order, Spider, as MI5's top operative, has been given the mission to find and dispatch the arch-Isis faction leader who calls himself Saladin. His group contains mostly Brits, young men led by older Pakistani officers. Fanatics all, they mean to commit mayhem in the civilised countries.
Locating Saladin & Co takes up most of the story. Spider isn't above using strong-arm methods to get information. Ultimately, with the assistance of the CIA's Dean Martin, the baddies are found holed up in the caves of Afghanistan. The SAS 22nd Regiment is summoned to take them out.
The subplot has to do with a problem at the top of M15, its boss sent packing because he killed the man who murdered her gay husband. What can Charlotte Button (an ongoing character like Spider) say or do to get back in?
The standard penultimate chapter is a slam-bang climax. As in Flynn's plots, Isis bites the dust.
Leather and Flynn are both top-notch scriveners. Readers admire their unstable protagonists. Alas, if Isis peruses their writings, its probably gnashing its teeth and muttering: "Just you wait."
Damaged by Martina Cole Headline paperback 419pp Available at Asia Books and leading bookshops, 325 baht
Exit the hero
This reviewer can't help noticing the amount of hype publishers use to sell their books. Not that the authors object. Crime thrillers are the prime example. New York Times best-seller is the requisite for all. Master of Suspense applies to more than one scrivener. So does "a compelling page-turner". And "the writer is at the top of his/her form".
Women writers are likely to be the Queen of Crime. The Queen of Mysteries. The Mistress of the Surprise Ending. The First Lady of the Murder Story. Not to mention "brilliant", "dazzling", "the book of the year", etc. How can you pass it by?
Martina Cole gets Queen of British Crime Fiction. Truth be told, she deserves it. Twenty-five books, one for each year she picked up the quill, several have been filmed, televised, staged. Millions of fans. Her niche in the genre is that she pictures crime through the eyes of the criminal.
Yet Cole doesn't play down the role of the cops, Indeed, her literary creation DCI Kate Burrows is as popular as LaPlante's Jean Tennyson a generation ago. Hardened by experience, it's a wonder that she wed underworld boss -- now ex-boss -- Patrick Kelly.
Retired now and living happily ever after, her successor is DCI Annie Carr. Who surprisingly asks Kate to assist on a case. Young high-school girls are being murdered. Their joint investigation is the plot of Damaged.
It's a toughie because no strangers are about. The killer is one of their own. Yet not a suspect in sight. The minor plot is a family problem.
Patrick's son Joseph is having an affair. Because his wife Bella, mother of their two children, is frigid. His mistress enjoys sex as much as he does. Divorce is likely.
I'm not supposed to give away the ending. Suffice to say the perp is caught. Well, not caught exactly, as he's hung himself. As for Bella, do you think it likely that she'll defrost?
It appears that DCI Kate Nurrows has all but faded from the series featuring her. The author allows that she's trying hard to create another protagonist her readers will go for.
