The Stranger

A Times Thriller of the Year

by Simon Conway

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Pub Date 21 Jan 2021 | Archive Date 28 Jan 2021

Hodder & Stoughton | Hodder Paperbacks

General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers

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Description

'A brilliant and unpredictable climax' Times thriller of the year 2020

'Top echelon, adrenalin-pumping entertainment all the way' Irish Independent

'The sense of danger is deep and unsettling' Financial Times

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The new novel from the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award-winning author of A Loyal Spy

ISIS can't control him.

MI6 can't find him.

But he's coming...

Things change quickly in the world of espionage and clandestine operations. Jude Lyon of MI6 remembers the captured terrorist bomb-maker. He watched him being flown off to Syria, back when Syria was 'friendly'. No-one expected him to survive interrogation there.

Yet the man is alive and someone has broken him out of jail.

Bad news for the former foreign secretary who authorised his rendition. And Jude's boss Queen Bee who knew he wasn't a terrorist at all, but an innocent bystander. Now she calls Jude back from a dangerously enjoyable mission involving a Russian diplomat's wife.

He has a new job: close down this embarrassment. Fast.

But embarrassment is only the beginning. Someone is using the former prisoner to front a new and unspeakably terrifying campaign. Someone not even ISIS can control.

He is like a rumour, a myth, a whisper on the desert wind. But he is real and he is coming for us . . .

He is the genius known only as . . .

The Stranger.

From the corridors of Westminster to the refugee camps of Jordan, the back streets of East London to the badlands of Iraq, The Stranger is a nerve-shredding journey of suspense as Jude Lyon pieces together the shape of an implacable horror coming towards him - and a conspiracy of lies behind him.

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'Complex and detailed . . . Conway has concocted a credible, and wholly cynical, tale of dirt, death and double-dealing, of déraciné anti-heroes for whom perpetual conflict has become both lifeblood and poison' - The Times

'Simon Conway boldly illustrates the anarchy of "asymmetric warfare". . . our reward for grasping the complexities is an enhanced sense of the authenticity of Conway's personal experience and a conventionally stonking action climax' - Telegraph

'Incredibly well drawn characters, evocative descriptive passages, and a superbly balanced narrative structure - the twists are unexpected but convincing and the final extended sequence is truly nail-biting. Terrific!' - Misha Glenny, author of McMafia

Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9781529324327
PRICE	£8.99 (GBP)
PAGES	352

Additional Information

Average rating from 4 members

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Featured Reviews

Mark F, Reviewer

ISIS can’t stop him
M16 can’t find him
But he’s coming
Is how the blurb looks for this book, I must admit to thinking mmmmmm been there, read that but have to say was wrong and am glad didn’t give it the cold shoulder.
‘The Engineer’, the mastermind of terror is supposed to be gone forever, dead in Syria, imagine everyone’s horror when he is shown on video being broken out of a Syrian jail, everyone is back on full alert but what would happen if everyone had been fooled and the real threat was making his way to the UK?, planning the attacks of all attacks,known only as ‘The Stranger’ well Jude Lyons MI6 agent is tasked to find ‘ The Engineer’ and then ‘The Stranger’ and stop him before it’s too late, but unlike many book plots it doesn’t quite work out that way
Full of double crossers, blackmail, lies and dodgy characters this is a new take on this kind of story, new as the plot often doesn’t go as expected and new in the storytelling style, modern and chatty ( while at times still complex but understandable ) which I loved
My old workplace featured heavily in the ending and so I really could picture it all step by step and ended what has been a thrilling, scary, detailed, focused, tense and worryingly believable read
I look forward to more of Jude Lyons....ye I liked him!

5 Stars
10/10

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Greville W, Reviewer

An excellent spy thriller written by someone who is an expert in his field. The excitement was palpable and nonstop, the characters well drawn and the tradecraft descriptions accurate and detailed.

Well written with a credible plot this is a first class thriller.

Highly recommended.