Fair Game

This is the first Stephen Leather book I have experienced. Paul Thornton's reading is excellent showing a convincing range of voices to characterised Leather's people The story has many different and complex layers striding effortlessly from Balfast to London to North Africa and the Indian Ocean. My one reservation is the description of sexual violence. I cringed as the words rounded on the horrid specifics of rape ...I was tempted to end the reading though thankfully the writer used the situation to drive the story forward and the violence, whilst remaining horrid, was used as a part of the architecture holding the story together. However, good though the story is it not for the faint hearted.

This is the 8th in the Dan "Spider" Shepherd series centred around the work of a uncover British agent. I love Stephen Leather's books across the board but the Spider Shepherd series is probably my favourite. You don't have to have read any of the previous books before reading this one but I do feel a certain warmth towards many of the characters because at least half a dozen of them have appeared in previous books. The story is based around Shepherd working undercover to stop Somali pirates whilst his previous work in Ireland starts to catch up with him. It was a page turner for me and I've now moved straight on to "False Friends", the next in the series. Highly recommended if you like undercover military/espionage thrillers leaning towards an Andy McNab style at times.

Unrealistic romp. Engaging for the ears, though not the brain. Paul Thorley narrates brilliantly as ever. His style of presentation is so conversational that it is very easy to forget you are not there!

Actually I like S. Leather, listened to most of what Audible offers. This is by far the worst in the Spider Sheperd-series unless you really want to learn alot about cargo-ships in a droning lecture that seems to go on forever. The plot drags on competely predictable and the poorly developed parallel-plot comes to such a sudden end that you really have to ask yourself if the author didn't find the time to finish the book properly.

If you enjoyed other Stephen Leather novels, you'll like this one too. It's ably read by Paul Thornley, NOT Paul Thornton as it says on the website. Paul Thornley has narrated many of Stephen Leather's books and if anything, he does an even better job with this one. With previous novels, he had a tendency to pause a little too long at the end of a sentence when saying something like "... said Jack" but he doesn't do it with this book.