Crisis: the action-packed Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller

Product Information

One of the gunmen who shot Gardner and Cumbers, Adel al-Dhubaiti, was captured and executed by Saudi authorities in January 2016. [21] He is a keen birdwatcher [35] and presented a September 2009 BBC Archive Hour programme on Sir Peter Scott. [35] In 2019 he was elected President of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). An overly long imitation, too. A third of this book was padding, unnecessary filler scenes. It's hard to explain what I mean without giving spoilers, but if you read it, you'll know what I'm talking about. It's one thing for a story to be slow and methodical, quite another for it to be plain dull. Written by someone who has been there, done that and knows what it's about, Crisis is a thriller you just can't put down." -- Sir ROGER MOORE When SIS operative Jeremy Benton is murdered in Tumaco, Colombia, ex-SBS and ‘probationary’ agent Luke Carlton, who spent his childhood growing up in Colombia, is despatched to investigate. What he uncovers not only puts his own life, and those close to him, at risk, but means that an entire nation is relying on his actions to discover the means and end of a highly-organised international plot against the UK.

This is, by some distance, the worst novel I have read this year. A novel so pedestrian, trite and unintentionally funny that it reads better as a satire on the genre than as genuine thriller.Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of the Random House Group) an imprint of Transworld Publishers Ltd I felt a bit more of a connection with the setting of this novel as it is based in London and that is where I am living at the moment. It is quite exciting being able to read a novel and know exactly where the main character's workplace is because you have been in that area before in real life. I haven't had that type of setting connection before when reading a novel, coming from New Zealand I haven't read many books which are set in New Zealand. I guess I should probably change that hey. In 2016, Gardner appeared on Channel 4's coverage of the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in his role as President of the GB Ski Club.

This is an action adventure story: as such, to ask whether the listener had an emotional reaction is not really relevant - but I did find it very exciting.Damage limitation, then? He nods. But perhaps there are limits to being able to talk about not being angry without eventually losing your cool. 'I am not turning the other cheek. I am extremely angry with the people who did this. I could never forgive them. It is not as if their parents have written to us saying: "Forgive poor Faisal, he knew not what he did." Nobody has written. None of them care. I condemn them and their families.' And from a country not short of oil money, he has received no compensation. But the sympathetic letters he has received from Saudi Arabia, the Middle East and all over Britain, he has found enormously comforting. Gardner was born on 31 July 1961. His father and mother, Robert Neil Gardner (1922–2010) and Evelyn Grace Rolleston (1923–2014), were both diplomats, [1] and when he was six he moved from the UK to the Hague in the Netherlands. In 1951, while second secretary at the British Embassy in Czechoslovakia, his father was expelled from the country for espionage activities after an incident in a prohibited military area where he was shot at. [2] [3] His grandfather was physician John Davy Rolleston. Educated at Saint Ronan's School, and Marlborough College, Gardner was pushed by his teachers into taking up biathlon, which enabled him to travel to Austria to train with the British Army biathlon team. [4] But he adds: 'I have to say it is not that easy because I am in pain a lot of the time, and when I am in pain I can't be a good husband or father. If I am having to deal with agony in my legs or am exhausted and have to lie down, I can't take part in the children's games, which is tough.'

Written by someone who has been there, done that and knows what it’s about, Crisis is a thriller you just can’t put down. Sir ROGER MOORE

Summary

Gardner can walk with callipers but sounds discouraged, finds them pretty useless (his 'walking piece to camera' for the BBC may have been impressive, as was his advance along the red carpet to receive an OBE from the Queen last year, but callipers cannot return him to the active man he was).

There was a lot of realism to the international aspect of the plot too. I didn’t find many of the characters to be overdrawn or caricature-like, which in itself was refreshing. I also enjoyed the fact that Luke’s personal history was where a lot of his talents lay – having spent much of his childhood in South America it made sense he knew the local scenes, customs and languages very well. With his extended stint in the military, it made sense he could handle himself in a rough situation and had plenty of organizational skills and a sharp mind. I really enjoyed the fact the author had covered a lot of these bases and didn’t just write a movie-like action thriller that had huge holes in it. The central plot of the book is a critical problem from the get go because it fits so poorly with the tone of the book. The idea of a Colombian drug lord, incensed by successful, British lead attempts to curtail his business, scheming with the North Koreans to set off a nuclear dirty-bomb in the UK sounds like the stuff of a lesser Bond movie, and if the rest of Crisis was similarly fantastical it might have worked as a plot hook. I'm being harsher than I mean to be, because the story was definitely interesting and it's clear the author conducted loads of research, because the book was highly informative. Within hours, a full-scale operation to contain this contagion is underway. Samples are rushed to the laboratories at Porton Down on high alert. What they discover changes everything. Supported by phone and data intercepts, British Intelligence reaches a terrifying conclusion: that Russia has been developing a new generation of bio-weapons. Gardner obviously has an up-to-the-minute understanding of contemporary warfare and he is also a very good writer. This is a thrilling adventure." * LITERARY REVIEW *Al-Suwaidi is a quiet, unexceptional area with creamy villas, flowering bougainvillea. The killer seemed similarly innocent, at first glance. He had 'a nice smiling face and looked as if he knew me', Gardner says. 'He said, "Assalaamu aleikum," (Peace be upon you/I mean you no harm),' before pulling out his gun. 'I always tell Westerners they must offer this greeting,' he continues. 'For me, it has always been a passport to a conversation. This time it was a betrayal of everything I held dear in the Middle East.' Deep within the Arctic Circle, three scientists from the UK's Arctic Research Station trudge through a blizzard in search of shelter. They see a cabin ahead. It appears abandoned. No lights. No snowmobile outside. But as they push open the door, the smell hits them. Rank and foetid: there's something bad inside. Take a Look at Our Summary of November Highlights, Whether You're Looking for the Latest Releases or Gift Inspiration What might have helped though, would have been a central character with enough charisma or complexity to let the reader overlook the inherent implausibility of the villainous conspiracy. Instead we get Luke Carlton, and instead of complexity we are given what can best be described as bland competence. Again, I understand that Gardner is trying hard to keep things within the bounds of the plausible, and ex-SBS officer Carlton fits that mold to a tee. However, just because the hero needs to be realistic and human doesn’t mean he needs to be dull, and giving him a tragic childhood or a slightly compliictedd love life is not enough to make him instantaneously more interesting or automatically grant him depth. Gardner needed to work far harder to create a more rounded, and complex lead character, rather than relying on lazy shortcuts. By resorting to the latter Crisis is left with a bland-cypher where its hero should be. Frank Gardner has written a fast and exciting story rooted in the present horrifying dangers that surrounds us. Crisis is brimful of an insider's insights and reeks of authority. GERALD SEYMOUR