The Survivor

My thoughts about Simon Conway’s The Survivor, it never for once became documentary-ish. The realism was beautifully balanced with a simplicity to make the contents not only understandable and palatable but also superbly entertaining. Simon Conway’s writing is packed with breathtaking suspense where it’s needed and he’s kept it sharp and crisp to add that realistic. Simon Conway’s The Survivor has all the elements to fully blow it into a chest-thumping and adrenaline rushing patriotic spy thriller. Writer Simon Conway complete’s the Jude Lyon’s trilogy in a spectacular way, that will blow your mind, which had started with the first book The Stranger. Simon Conway’s The Survivor begins with Jude Lyon of MI6 has narrowly foiled the traitor Fowle’s plot to level London, but the public are demanding answers. Answers the government doesn’t have.As the country reels, a new populist political figure carves a stratospheric trajectory – but is he all he seems? In Moscow the President is furious. The world now knows the destructive power of the programme his people had been developing, and as the Russians scramble to understand how it got into Fowle’s hands, they start to worry that perhaps it could be used against them . But Jude Lyon has just one question on his mind:
Guy Fowle is missing, with nothing left to lose, So what is he planning next. Seething with political machinations, burning with blood-thumping action, and featuring the best returning MI6 operative since James Bond The Survivor brings the espionage novel crashing into the modern day. Simon Conway’s tensed espionage thriller, will have you hooked until the end. Writer Simon Conway comes to the point at the very start of the opening sequence of the book and prepares you about what to expect. The sequences that lead to the hair-raising finale and the impactful winding up astonishes you beyond words. the whole, Simon Conway’s The Survivor is an earnest and honest effort, a terrific thriller, with several poignant moments and episodes that leave a stunning impact. I would like to say a big thank you to writer Simon Conway, for kindly inviting me to read his breathtaking thriller on NetGalley. Which I’ve been a fan of ever since I had read the first book.

Simon Conway brings back his charm of full-fledged espionage narratives that capture the essentials along with some bonus nuggets to stand out in a sea of spy thrillers. The Survivor is a work of art.
Set after the devastating events of The Saboteur where London fell into chaos, MI6 agent Jude Lyon is on the trail of traitor Guy Fowle who escaped with a weapon that lays waste to entire infrastructures with the touch of a button, courtesy of Russian hackers. With raging fervors of unrest back home, Jude puts his life on the line once more to finally track down Fowle and stop him. He teams up with his former lover, Yulia Ermolaeva, who works parallel to Jude in investigating Fowle’s breach into the weapons system with the volatile backing of the Russian president who seems to be losing his grip on power because of recent events. Before the story’s over, you’re going to see a lot more destruction and chaos and as much as you want to see Jude get the upper hand, Fowle just may be a tad bit too unhinged for Jude to defeat on his own.
There’s so much to love in this exhilarating twists-filled narrative that constantly maneuvers at light-speed pacing. Conway packs a multitude of characters and subplots working in tandem to advance a singular agenda in clever unsuspecting ways. Politics, spycraft, raw bitter human emotions, all shine their impacts in a build-up that pays off big time with a no-holds-barred showdown between Lyon and Fowle that is unflinchingly brutal and unfiltered in its energy.
The Survivor is a masterful concoction of grounded espionage with crisp action that’s crafted at the right moment with the right tools. Jude Lyon is the definite love-child of James Bond and Jason Bourne, one who sets a tremendously high bar to top.

Full review on https://www.bestthrillerbooks.com/kashif-hussain

The Survivor completes a Trilogy of books by Simon Conway starting with The Stranger which introduced Jude Lyon an MI6 agent and Guy Fowle a psychopathic terrorist trained by the UK agencies. Fowle now has Grom to use against the world and he has already targeted London with wide spread destructive and crippling attacks on banking and infrastructure,

Fowle is now widening his ambition for further carnage. Jude seems always one step behind Fowle as he unleashes further terror aimed at crippling the UK population and Government whilst evading all efforts to contain, capture or eliminate him.

Jude and Yulia chase the Grom creators which take them to the Congo where they gain further information from Angry Bear the captive hacker who fled after the attacks on London. Angry Bear has information which may help them stop Fowle. Jude and Yulia interogate Angry Bear at the US Base and then she is flown to the USA. Yulia follows the lead to Russia whilst Jude flys back to London to liase with MI5 and onto Bagdad.

The events unfold at a very fast pace as Jude meets up with Kirsty and his sister Tamara in London as information leads them to believe Fowle is back in the UK planning further attacks.

The new charismatic Prime Minister Lee Chapeux wants Jude on his side but is he all he seems?

Russia postures and Yulia gets closer to the Grom servers but will they all be quick enough to stop Fowle before his band of unknown sleeper terrorists level London and decimate the population?

As tension rises and defences are raised at 10 Downing Street, Fowle takes Kirsty for bait in his trap for eliminating Jude. Fowle uses his sleepers to gain access to 10 Downing Street to directly target the PM.

Who can survive this?

Simon Conway's plot has been well spun with well rounded characters and events are pacey. Easily matches and surpasses several action thriller books which have been made into films. This book should be made into film or the three books made into a series.

Well worth the read and 5 stars to Simon Conway for The Survivor which is a masterful absorbing book ending the trilogy. Can there be a fourth book?

My thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advance copy of the Survivor by Simon Conway for my honest review.

Eddy Weatherill

*4.5 stars*

MI6 agent Jude Lyon has foiled Guy Fowle’s horrific plot to cause utter devastation in London. Although there was much damage caused by these events, Fowle didn’t achieve his ultimate aim. Unfortunately that won’t be the end of it, and the British public are furious with the present government and in the wake of that fury, Lee Chapeaux takes advantage of a weak government and runs a campaign as ‘man of the people’ which allows him to snatch the position of Prime Minister. However, is the new Prime Minister all he makes out to be, or does he have his own agenda?

Gosh this is so authentic and frighteningly current that you have to remind yourself that this spy thriller wasn’t written this very week! The author’s military background makes the storyline even more plausible. The plotting was excellent and the pace just breathtaking. Highly recommended!

Jude Lyon of MI6 has narrowly foiled the traitor Fowle's plot to level London, but the public are demanding answers. As the country reels, a new populist political figure carves a stratospheric trajectory - but is he all he seems? In Moscow the President is furious. The world now knows the destructive power of the programme his people had been developing, and as the Russians scramble to understand how it got into Fowle's hands, they start to worry that perhaps it could be used against them . But Jude Lyon has just one question on his mind: Guy Fowle is missing, with nothing left to lose.
The third book in the trilogy & another edge of the seat read. I loved everything about it. The character development was spot on, the pace so good. I luckily began this early in the day as I read it in two sittings & found it very hard to put down. The author is very talented & I highly recommend this thriller
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

Simon Conway's thrillers are highly entertaining and thought provoking at the same time as they always made left me wondering what is fiction and if fiction could become reality.
This is the third in the Jude Lyon trilogy and kept on the edge till the end as it's a fast paced and complex story.
Mr Conway is a talented storyteller and I loved the plot and character development.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine