After the events that took place in No Way To Die, it would be fair to say that Joe Dempsey has earned himself a bit of a break. A few days R&R, feet up, quiet life … that kind of thing. And as he’s visiting London to take his place as Godfather to the twin sons of his best friend, Barrister, Michael Devlin, and his partner, journalist Sarah Truman, that’s exactly what he’s going to get. How much trouble could he possibly get in just doing that? … Well, based on the heart pounding opening to The Shadow Network, and the fact that Tony Kent doesn’t allow his protagonists all that much by way of down time (luckily for us), the answer to that question was always going to be ‘loads’.

To be fair to Dempsey and Devlin, it’s not the christening that is going to put them in harms way, but as news arrives that one of Michael’s friends is caught up in a suspected terrorist incident in The Hague, neither will rest until they have found him and brought him home, whatever his fate. it’s a decision that is going to see both men face one of the biggest fights of their lives, against a foe with all the might, myth and mystery of Keyser Soze. Could Dempsey have finally met his match? How do you defeat a man of legend, someone that no-one knows truly exists?

Well – if you read, The Shadow Network, you will find out. Jam packed with tension and action from the off, this book had me in its thrall immediately and did not let me go until I read that very last page. A tale of corruption, conspiracy and bloody brilliant misdirection, this is a tale which will have Tony Kent fans chuckling with glee. Not for the fate of our favoured protagonists – if you think that Dempsey has been through the ringer before, you ain’t seen nothing yet, trust me. This is a situation that is going to push him, And Michael, to their very limits, and with the very person they are up against being little more than a ghost, it’s a battle that will be very hard to win. But it makes for one heck of a read and had me powering through the pages, long after I should have been heading to bed. Exactly what I want in a book. Great fight scenes, a lot of mystery and a whole host of suspicious characters and people of dubious intent that kept me completely on edge.

I do love the characters in this series. Tony Kent has created two very different people in Joe Dempsey and Michael Devlin, but they compliment each other perfectly. Whilst Michael may not be as skilled as his friend, he can hold his own in the battle stakes, and he has somewhat of a past of his own, which fans of the series will understand. We haven’t seen him in a few stories now, so it was great to be back in his sphere, even if, to a degree, he still played a slightly lesser role than Dempsey. But then again, danger and action are Dempsey’s life, so when it comes to taking down the bad guys, he was always going to play a significant role. And it was really good to see his team on the other side of the Atlantic playing a very key role in the action too. Led by Eden Grace, they are faced with protecting a key figure in the whole plot, without really knowing who it is they would be defending them against. I really like Eden and seeing her in this situation, guided by Dempsey to a degree but ultimately having to use her own intuition and skills to defeat an unknown foe was great to see. As readers we know a trifle more about who we can, or cant ,trust, but not everything.

This book is packed with action, suspense and conspiracy. Drawing on some very recent current affairs and life events, this is one of those books which really does have a strange ring of truth about it. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility, I guess. Would explain a lot as well. There were moments in the book that really made me smile, for reasons I can’t state here, but it certainly resonated. But most of all, I just loved getting lost in the action, that kind of feeling where you find yourself slowly leaning forward in your chair as the action picks up and the tension starts to sky rocket. With this kind of tale, where the bad guy will literally use any means necessary to get what they want, and where weaknesses are expose and exploited, it was so hard to know who trust, and that makes for a really intense read. And I loved it. The ending – surprising, but not. The promise the author has left us with for what may be yet to come … So absolutely perfect. Loaded with threat, leaving me apprehensive but also really excited. I cannot wait. But I will have to I guess. (Boooooo).

God I’ve missed these guys. Most definitely recommended.