Ridley Kane is a spy for the CIA who is tasked with entering areas secretly that no one else can and doing whatever is necessary to eliminate targets. There are parts of the world that are the most dangerous, and one of those is the area where Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan meet, where violence is the only answer. Entering to get a source out who has vital information, Kane comes face to face with the Locust, a man who wants to bring the world to the edge of extinction.

This one has been much anticipated by readers. The author is Terry Hayes, who worked with George Miller and wrote Mad Max 2. He has extensive film credits as a screenwriter, including work on Dead Calm, Bangkok Hilton and From Hell. Ten years ago, his novel I Am Pilgrim came out, and was a much loved book. (I haven’t read it) When word came that another novel from this author was coming, fans of that book were very excited. And only more so when the publication date kept getting pushed back and delayed.

The book, however, is a little confounding. Firstly, as described above, the book starts as a straight CIA type thriller, and you think you know what territory you are in. The writing here is very tight and the first section feels almost like it could be it’s own novel. As the book goes on from there, though, and especially in the last sections, the book suddenly changes not only tone, but genre, shifting from a world we know and understand to being science fiction. And in some ways, not the most convincing science fiction too. I think if you’re going to shift like this, in any kind of narrative form, you need to have some foreshadowing that doesn’t give things away, but warns the reader that the story world can shift. This would be almost impossible to achieve well in the modern day, spy thriller, CIA genre because that’s the kind of story world that does not allow for the fantastical or outlandish. It’s not fully achieved here. It’s such an odd choice that the author makes, I am left wondering how and why this book is the way it is. Is there an interesting story there?

I do wonder if going in knowing that that last section is a different genre would change how much you enjoy the book? What comes up until that point is a really action packed thriller, with gun fights and suspense and tension, and some really excellent writing. There’s no denying that Terry Hayes is an excellent writer.

At almost 800 pages, the book is long, and though often compelling and page turning, that last part of the book feels uneven and not fully realised, but there are some great things in this book. It’s made me definitely want to read I Am Pilgrim and re-watch Dead Calm. Hopefully, it won’t be another decade til his next book.

Read It If: you loved the authors previous book, or if you like unusual but propulsive reads. It may be an odd duck, in the spy genre, but there is good stuff here.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC of this book for review.