‘Fearless’ by M. W. Craven

Published by Constable,
29 June 2023.
ISBN: 978-0-349-13560-1 HB

Six years ago, Ben Keonig was in the Special Ops Group, their task was to hunt down the really, really bad criminals. A raid they went on resulted in Koenig killing the son of a very important man. Ben had to disappear.

Then suddenly out of the blue he is unexpectedly detained and held in a police cell. As there seems to be no real reason to keep him there he is about to be released when he is visited by an old friend of his, Mitchell Burridge who belongs to the United States Marshals Service. He tells him his daughter, Martha, has been missing for two months and he is at his wits end. He wants Ben to look into her disappearance, which he agrees to do.

They both seem convinced that she is dead, but Mitchell still wants him to find her one way or another and kill whoever is responsible.

Keonig suffers from a brain genetic disorder which ensures he feels no fear. He is therefore the ideal person to send on such a mission.

Meanwhile we learn of a man in a “yellow suit” who is keeping tags on them, he is really puzzled, what are they up to?  Keonig visits the campus where Martha was studying and finds all her papers have disappeared. What was in them? He assumes it led to her disappearance. He digs deeper and so begins a rough ride to find the truth behind a supposed climbing accident that she was investigating.

Not only now is he being hunted by the father of whoever’s son it was he killed six years ago, but also by the people behind the climbing cover up.

A further mystery involves the building of a solar energy plant in a very unlikely place by the survivor of the climbing accident.

Then a Mexican cartel becomes involved. Can it all be connected, and if so, how?

In his task to find solutions to the many questions Keonig leaves a trail of death and destruction in his wake a bit like a human tsunami. He cannot possibly come out unscathed, can he?

What an enthralling book, the real ultimate in fictional thriller entertainment. Intriguing to the final page. I couldn’t put it down. Really highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Tricia Chappell

M. W. Craven was born in Cumbria in 1968 but grew up in the North East. He trained for two years as an armourer before spending the next ten being paid to travel the world and drink ridiculous amounts of alcohol. In 1995, sick of writing postcards and having fun, he decided it might be time to do something a bit more sensible. And it doesn't get more sensible than doing a law degree. So, he did Social Work instead. Two years later he started working in Cumbria as a probation officer. Sixteen years later he took the plunge and became a full-time writer. Mike's first Washington Poe novel The Pupped Show, won the Gold Dagger for best novel in 2019.  The Botanist, published in 2022, the fifth book in the series won the Gold Dagger in 2022. He lives in Carlisle. Mike is a member of the Crime Writers' Association, the International Thriller Writers' Association, and the Mystery People Group.

http://www.mwcraven.com/

Tricia Chappell. I have a great love of books and reading, especially crime and thrillers. I play the occasional game of golf (when I am not reading). My great love is cruising especially to far flung places, when there are long days at sea for plenty more reading! I am really enjoying reviewing books and have found lots of great new authors.