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

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He is seconded to MI6 on a trial basis and, because he speaks fluent Spanish, is sent to Colombia to investigate when an MI6 officer is murdered while investigating one of the most notorious drugs gangs. This is a feat that would challenge the skipper of a Trident submarine, yet these two bozos manage it with ease - without any navigation equipment more sophisticated than a compass. This is a literary territory rather overpopulated at the moment, with swaggering 21st century pseudo-Bonds crawling out of the woodwork everywhere. Very much in the vein of McNab and Ryan and while Mr Gardner may not be as expert on weapons and tactics he does the bigger picture stuff very well.

The second Luke Carlton thriller, Ultimatum, was also a Sunday Times top 10 bestseller, as was the third, Outbreak. After many years as an SBS commando, Luke Carlton needed a change of pace and a short-term contract with SIS seemed like the perfect fit. He has written for the Economist, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph and Time Out and has been published in The Best of Sunday Times Travel Writing.This is the first of currently three books about Luke Carlton and I have to admit I really enjoyed it. I would strongly suggest sticking with the book if you find the beginning a little slow – the action definitely intensifies as the story progresses and I found this a real page-turning thriller the further I went. I didn’t find many of the characters to be overdrawn or caricature-like, which in itself was refreshing. I agree with the last three but I think accuracy brought detailing and detailing stopped it from being fast.

It probably helps that I massively respect Frank Gardner already, but it was incredibly believable, gripping and very well written. He uses jargon freely, but then realises that his readers may not understand the jargon and has to explain it. Often this is done by making Carlton ask questions, or suffer an apparent loss of memory so that someone has to explain things to him.I will be giving the next thrilling installment of Luke "Babes" Carlton's adventures a very wide berth indeed. With excellent characters, a modern and realistic outlook to our current world and solid plotting and pacing, I thought this was an exceptional spy/thriller style of story and I am eager to read the author’s next offering. I'll end with a question I kept being plagued with while reading this novel: in a world that already has Frederick Forsyth, why would I settle for anything that's LIKE Frederick Forsyth? The only bit of the plot I didn’t find far fetched was the idea of smuggling a weapon of mass destruction into the UK. In co-operation with a rogue state, and using the attributes of his mini-submarines usually used for smuggling the drugs, he has concocted a plan that will wipe the smile off the faces of those gringos – literally!

Then, best of all, as you turn the final page after the inevitable full-cast acceptance/affirmation/validation of our hero, you are offered the first chapter in the next book. I suspect I'm not really the target audience for this book but I like a good thriller so thought I'd give it a go. Books majoring on the subtleties of spycraft rather than militaristic posturing are rather thin on the ground and Gardner might have made better use of his knowledge and connections to produce something more original and thoughtful, instead of just going for the easy buck with yet another movie-friendly actioneer. Crisis is written in the style of Frederick Forsyth, but without his trademark wit and, I don't know how to put this, punch?

The action swings back and forth between London and Colombia as the story moves to a thrilling climax. Crisis is the first non-fiction work by Frank Gardner, and as befits his day job of BBC Security Correspondent he has chosen a spy thriller as the genre for his debut novel. Great for those who read in short bursts too, with brief chapters which helps the feeling of racing against time.