Nobody Walks: Mick Herron

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Tom Beattany, a former MI5 undercover agent, has walked away from his former life after the death of his wife, but when he learns his son Liam has died in odd circumstances he’s drawn back in to the criminal underworld of London. He was in France for a reason – leaving behind an old life (the one where he neglected his wife and son), but never really finding another. Herron has created a cast of unforgettable characters and woven a plot of intrigue that will delight readers, and is a must for fans of thrillers, espionage and well plotted mysteries.

But more than a few people are interested to hear Bettany is back in town, from incarcerated mob bosses to those in the highest echelons of MI5. Especially appreciated were the subtle clues to what is really going on dropped throughout the book.Which is why he is fascinating, this book is addictive and the plot moves seamlessly even when it seemed confusing at the beginning. But there are too many details, blatant and hidden, in every sentence that if missed by the reader will lessen the impact of its ending.

Set in the same fictional London as his ‘Slough House’ series, Mick Herron now introduces Tom Bettany, an ex-spook with a violent past and only one thing to live for – avenging his son’s death. JK Coes first appears in The List, and then in this, before finally appearing as one of the slow horses in Real Tigers. Fans of the Jackson Lamb series will be pleased to know that this story is set in the same universe, with at least six names known from that series playing roles or rating mentions here, one of whom comprehensively proves that the fate meted out to them in a later book is absolutely a just desert, if insufficiently punitive. Bald with a variety of wigs, she dresses fashionably and gives off the vibe of a sweet, if ugly, grandmother. Suspicion lands on Vincent Driscoll, Liam's rather odd games-designer boss, and this raises a red flag for MI5.

Tom Bettany is almost a le Carré-esque character with his deep complexity, his existentialist crisis of identity, and his ultimate fate.

Although he had given his testimony behind a screen, there were many in the McGarry clan who would be quite pleased to get their hands on Bettany for betraying them.BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. This is a grim, grim story, without any of the humour that lightens the main Slough House series, or the of-the-moment political commentary that makes those books so relevant. I'd gladly read more about Tom Bettany, but he may have burned all his London bridges by the end of this one.