Heard of the author? Nope, me neither. This book was liberated from the holiday villa in Mallorca. I had finished the only book I had taken with me, so started on one of the many they had stashed on the shelves that had been left by previous visitors. Amongst the usual chit-lit there was this, the only one that took my fancy. The "Tesco Value" sticker should be a pointer as the quality... I didnt have time to finish it before we had to leave, so took it with me, on the assumption that no-one would miss it, and the fact we were leaving a football and a swimming pool inflatable in exchange.
So.... well, its an odd one. Not concerning myself with spoilers with this one. The basic story is that the main character is on witness protection as killing his best friend during an FBI sting on the mob (how he got involved in the mob is a drawn out affair that I cant be bothered full in, and adds nothing to the story), and he is also seeing a shrink as he is having trouble dealing with his roll in his friends death and his dead mate is haunting him. Yep, you read the correctly. His shrink is an expert in PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder, knows he in protection but doesnt know the ins and outs. She, the shrink, also has other patients all with different PTSD afflictions. The novel progresses and unravels a story of human drug testing, double agents, rival companies, killings and a cross country chase. After seeing what he thinks is the shrink blown to bits in a bombing, the "hero" Miles is determined to find out who and why. This leads him to 2 other PTSD sufferers, the first being a soldier fresh back from Afghanistan and the second being a female reality TV show winner who's boyfriend was killed by a crazed fan whilst she watched. These 3, along with a cast of others including an ex-FBI killer for hire who's daughter suffers from PTSD, various agents from the rival buyers/pharmaceutical firms and the dead shrinks husband try to find the truth and also help themselves out by getting the drug on trial a proper trail and release.
It's not a bad read by any stretch, but it's hardly up there with the great books of our time. If it were a film, it would be a Van Damme thriller that stalled in the cinema, was released on DVD and is now shown on repeat on Channel 5. Good enough to keep you entertained for a few hours, but wont change your life. The writing is good, the pace nice; but the characters are flat and the ending so trite it makes you feel a little uneasy (the hero and the girl get together on the last page.... original!) In fact, you dont actually like the characters you are meant to like, and at one point you actually want Miles to be put out of his misery!
If you see it cheap and have a long haul flight, then by all means get it and read it. Or go for one of the many other books in this mould.
