‘Nobody’s Hero’ by M.W. Craven

Published by Constable,
10 October 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-40871760-8 HB

Ben Koenig has a condition which makes it impossible for him to feel fear. He has been through intense training to discover what someone who has this complaint is capable of, his handler is Jen Draper and they are given many government contracts.

At London’s Speaker’s Corner a homeless looking woman kills two pickpockets and seems to abduct another woman – or was she rescuing her? The police are baffled, the killer seems to have vanished into thin air.

Later the “homeless” woman is identified as a person Ben Keonig had been instructed to make seem to disappear ten years ago.

His knowledge and expertise are needed to discover why she has resurfaced. He is based in the US. and is called in by the highest authorities dealing with top security, who send him to London with Draper.

Once there they are taken to the US. Embassy and told about the discovery of a supposed plot to bring disaster to the U. S. A. It seems to be connected to the woman who Koenig made disappear all those years ago and it has the title of Acacia Avenue Protocol. No one has any idea what it actually means.

So begins Koenig and Draper’s task of discovering what heinous crime is planned. As Keonig gets deeper and deeper into the plot, he realises how devastating it is. Part of it concerns finding out what possible cargo can a small boat be carrying that seems to be the centre of it all. He also discovers it’s all well and good not feeling fear, but it does lead him into a very precarious life-threatening position, taking others along with him. He leaves a trail of murder, mayhem and destruction in his wake. However, it will be well worth it if he can prevent the incredible destruction planned, but can he?

What a great thriller, full of heart stopping gung-ho action and a huge amount of dark humour. Plus, as an added bonus there is a really surprising ending.

I cannot recommend this book too highly for lovers of the good old-fashioned stop at nothing, death defying hero, righting wrongs, or attempting to!
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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 s  four books in the series. A fifth book is scheduled for publication 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.