Not content to delight readers with just his own original thrillers like Airside and the fantastic Marc Dane series, James Swallow continues to demonstrate his prowess with this genre in the tense, action-packed, utterly un-put-downable Firewall, his first Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell novel from Aconyte Books. Taking place in 2015, it sees Sam Fisher – black-ops expert and veteran of the secretive ‘Fourth Echelon’ anti-terrorist group – tasked with hunting down a deadly assassin, a fearsome opponent from Sam’s past long thought to be dead. An added complication is that Sam’s partner for the mission is his daughter Sarah, newly accepted into Fourth Echelon, father and daughter each trying to come to terms with the other’s role. Before long though, they’re caught up in a broader mystery involving a terrifying digital weapon named Gordian Sword, created by billionaire tech entrepreneur Brody Teague, with a potential impact beyond any trouble a single assassin could make.
From the tense, atmospheric cold open all the way through to the inevitable (but satisfying) explosive finale, this grabs the reader by the scruff of their neck, throws them into the lethal world of shadowy organisations and high-tech action, and point blank refuses to let go or back off the pace. Sam Fisher is the ultimate badass, with nerves of steel and vast experience, but he’s just starting to feel the effects of age creeping in. Working alongside his daughter provides an extra worry, not least given the nature of their target – Dina Asmalov, a man who’s the dark mirror of Sam himself, utterly ruthless and unquestionably deadly, and who’s always remained one step ahead of those pursuing him. For Sam, tracking him down is a personal crusade, while for Sarah it’s a chance to prove her skills to herself and to her father, to make her own mark on the Splinter Cell role, and to finally start to understand what Sam’s life is really like.
Every step of the way there’s a sense of genuine danger, and not just in terms of personal stakes for Sam and Sarah – and also digital security specialist Charlie Cole, who finds himself in Brody Teague’s crosshairs when the company he works for is bought by the billionaire’s vast T-Tec group. Teague’s plans for Gordian Sword provide global stakes as well though, with the prospect of “open-source terrorism” perhaps a touch cliched but still somehow worryingly believable. Arrogant, manipulative and wildly egotistical, Teague is the perfect representation of every self-absorbed “visionary” tech bro CEO (an archetype that’s remarkably relevant these days), bloated with power and incapable of anything approaching empathy. He’s a very different danger to Asmalov, but the combination of the two provides the Fishers and Cole with plenty to worry about, from anxiety-inducing infiltrations to a breathless, globe-trotting battle of wits and nerve.
As you’d expect really, this isn’t the sort of book where you can expect deep, insightful character studies, although Swallow does a great job of bringing all of the key characters to believable life and providing interesting back stories and motivations where needed. What you can expect, however, is relentless pace and a tremendously entertaining plot, with all the page-turning hallmarks of this sort of action-packed covert-ops thriller. Like all great IP fiction there’s absolutely no requirement to know anything about the world of Splinter Cell – it should fit nicely into the broader continuity to please existing fans, but it works in its own right as a spot-on standalone thriller that’s easily accessible for readers who’ve never played one of the video games or even read a Tom Clancy novel before. What’s more, this is such good fun and such a well-crafted tale that it’s hard not to want to read more, or maybe even take the plunge into the games. Exactly what you’d want from this sort of thriller, then!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
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