Disordered Shelves : The Game by Tom Wood (2013)
More first class suspense and action from Tom Wood. Victor is parachuted into the middle of a high level, mysterious operation made even more perilous than usual for him, as Victor is impersonating a fellow assassin, the Dutchman Felix Kooi (Kooi having been dispatched by Victor in a well handled opening chase sequence across the Casbah of Algiers). Having fallen among thieves - and worse - Tom Wood engineers a gripping ongoing sense of jeopardy as Victor waits to find out just what the operation will involve - and whether his imposter status will be discovered.
The hand to hand combat scenes are up to Tom Wood’s usual standard, but the final section of the novel - when Victor’s role in the operation becomes clear - surpasses the previous two books in terms of controlled narrative tension. There is also a memorably icky scene involving a failed attempt at a self-performed tracheotomy. “Look away”, Victor advises, but some things are too gruesomely fascinating to be ignored.
The hand to hand combat scenes are up to Tom Wood’s usual standard, but the final section of the novel - when Victor’s role in the operation becomes clear - surpasses the previous two books in terms of controlled narrative tension. There is also a memorably icky scene involving a failed attempt at a self-performed tracheotomy. “Look away”, Victor advises, but some things are too gruesomely fascinating to be ignored.