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Direct Action

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Direct Action

By: Stephen Leather
Narrated by: Paul Thornley
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Across Britain, violent criminals are walking free – cases derailed by sharp-suited defence lawyers and soft-touch judges – and public fury is reaching breaking point.

Into that anger step the New Crusaders, a shadowy group that hunts down offenders who have slipped through the net and delivers their own brand of punishment live across social media to millions of cheering followers. To some, they're heroes. To the government, they're terrorists.

Dan 'Spider' Shepherd of MI5 is tasked with bringing them down. But as Shepherd digs deeper, he uncovers a far more dangerous truth: the New Crusaders aren't driven by justice. They're being steered by hidden forces with an agenda that has nothing to do with punishment – and everything to do with tearing the country apart.

If Shepherd fails, it won't just be the rule of law that collapses.

It will be the country itself.

©2026 Stephen Leather (P)2026 Ulverscroft Audio Crime Fiction Espionage Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Rage Crusade
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Hostile Territory By: Stephen Leather
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the spider shepherd series are the best I love to listen to them whilst driving my truck

direct action

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Another gripping thriller from the master storyteller Stephen Leather. Direct Action is a topical, fast-paced listen packed with tension, action, and suspense from beginning to end. With not only Spider Shepherd it was great to meet up with Razor and Lex from previous stories once again.
As always, Paul Thornley delivers a superb narration, bringing the characters and story to life with his excellent performance. A perfect pairing of author and narrator, highly recommended.

Spider strikes again!

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Stephen Leather always releases highly topical books with incredible speed. He is the most dynamic thriller writer on the market, and the range of his work is extraordinary. It's great to see more from Spider Shepherd, but can we also see Nightingale return?

Paul Thornley is, by a league, the best male narrator on Audible, and perfect for Leather's books.

Superb Leather and Thornley combination again

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I always enjoy Stephen's books, not just the Spider Shepherd series. The narration is always excellent and well paced. You always know what to expect with this series, but that's not a bad thing, and each book is full of action and drama.
I did find this a bit preachy at times with a lot of exposition on the problems of immigration. the bad guys giving regular rants and other characters discussing the problems repeatedly. Occasionally characters explored the issue from different standpoints but it felt very one sided and became tedious

spider back in action

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I love this series - the stories are always taut and potentially realistic. The characters are interesting and Spider is a great protagonist. Thoroughly recommended

Topical new Spider Shepherd thriller

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