By James Swallow

Bonnier Zaffre, out now

By chance Marc Dane survives when the rest of his elite SIS team is lost – but can he continue to do so when forces from all sides are ranged against him?

Remember the first Mission: Impossible film? Where the whole IMF team is wiped out, and only one person survives? Well, what if that person wasn’t incredibly capable Ethan Hunt, but instead, the guy who was in the van monitoring progress? Would that person have been able to take out all the bad guys?

That’s the premise for the first of Jim Swallow’s Marc Dane thrillers. Dane isn’t an everyman thrown into the situation, by any means – he’s trained, and has various skills, but he’s not been on the front line using and honing them. He’s capable, but doubts his capabilities; his mental strength is put to the test. He’s also the character with whom we spend the majority of this book, and as readers, Swallow ensures that we can empathise with him, even if we wouldn’t have the abilities to do what he does. (A second important strand follows another key player but I won’t spoil that element.)

I know Swallow’s work primarily from his Star Trek novels, which have combined a strong knowledge of the universe with a natural storyteller’s love of plot and characterisation, and he brings all those facets to bear here. Swallow acknowledges the work of Ian Fleming and Tom Clancy in his afterword, and both authors’ love of (or at least propensity for using) brand names for verisimilitude is matched here.

There are plenty of familiar tropes – backstabbing, double crossing, internal politics and “a mole” all feature – but it’s the way in which Swallow blends them that makes this such an enjoyable read. (And for those US readers concerned that elements of his finale have been “borrowed” from another source – Swallow’s book came out in the UK a full two years before the final season of Shooter.)

Verdict: An excellent start to a new spy series – worth seeking out. 9/10

Paul Simpson