First Response - Stephen Leather
Stephen Leather's latest novel comes at a time of heightened tensions following the terrorist attacks in Paris. Surely it's only a matter of time before something similar happens in London? Leather has come up with a worst-case scenario in First Response that ought to be a nightmare for anyone in the UK to read, but particularly anyone living or working in London. Nine suicide bombers have taken hostages in various locations across the city demanding the release of six ISIS prisoners from Belmarsh high security prison. It's almost inconceivable then, given that kind of situation and real-life parallels, that the novel could be anything but tense and frightening, but somehow Leather manages to completely mishandle it at every step. First of all, there are doubts about the likelihood of the situation described here. It's surely stretching credibility to believe that nine suicide bombers could slip under the radar of the security forces and almost simultaneously set thems...