This book surprised me in the best way.
I was sceptical going into it as I have never read a book with the themes this one has. But I am now so happy that I over-looked my doubts because this is now one of my favourite thrillers.
This book follows both a young Syrian boy travelling Europe alone and mostly by foot, to find a safe place for his family to stay while also being pursued by powerful, dangerous terrorists; but it also follows the man who has been employed by British Services to find this boy.
In a few words this book was gripping, terrifying, poignant, intense and real; utterly relevant right now.
During my reading experience I found myself relating to both the boy's determination and Samson's frustration.
Every character in this book was very distinct and individual, I liked most of the characters because of their individuality; I especially liked Vuk; despite the intensity of this novel the author still managed to make me chuckle through Vuk without disrespecting the plot.
I was gripped to this book throughout the short time it took me to read it and there were several scenes that sent chills up my spine or caught the breath in my throat.
This book was quite simply excellent and I urge you to read it, even if you have reservations as I did at first.
I am so excited to read more from this author and see these characters again.

I'm not a big fan of the spy genre, but really enjoyed this one. Recommended for anyone who like to read a good solid novel. Recommended.

Recently I've been trying to mix things up a bit when it comes to my reading. For years I've been sticking to my police procedural murder mysteries, so I wanted to try something different. I'm so pleased I gave this British espionage/spy thriller a go. I loved it so much I might, just have found, a new favourite genre.

Nagi lives with his parents and two younger sisters in war torn Syria. Their country is in ruins and life is a real struggle. There are no jobs now and money for food is fast running out. His Father was a teacher before the war, so now there is no school he encourages his son to read. His main interests are engineering and computers. He learns enough to begin to help his family financially by fixing the local peoples phones. He's only thirteen years old, so his talent with technology along with his obvious intelligence is noticed by the ISIS terrorists that have taken control of his town. They believe he could be an asset to their cause in the future, so begin to reel him in by being friendly to the boy, giving him work and paying him well for keeping their technology in good working order. Nagi doesn't realise the danger he and his family are in until it becomes obvious that one of the ISIS leaders becomes interested in making Nagi's beloved sister, Munira, his wife. The boy couldn't wish a fate worse for any woman, let alone his sister, so he begins to steal money from his bosses and, then, also, he copies all of the organisation's plans and information held on their phones and computers. He has to tell his father that the men he has been working for are terrorists and they make a plan to get away. The family escape to a refugee camp in Turkey, but Nagi has to continue the rest of the journey to Germany alone, where he has to find a new place for his family to settle.
When he reaches Greece he confides in an aid worker; he tell's her of the bad men he is escaping from and the awful things he has seen and, also, hints that he has proof of plans of possible terror attacks in countries across Europe. By the time she reports this Nagi has left Lesbos and is on his way to the Macedonian border, so MI5 employ Paul Samson to find him and keep him and the intelligence he has safe. There are thousands of migrants attempting the long journey; they walk through several different countries, over the mountains, rivers and forests of The Balkans, to find safety and a chance of a new life. But they don't all have ISIS terrorists hunting them down, and wanting to execute them. Samson tries to catch up with him through Macedonia and is astonished at the thirteen year olds abilities. There are many dangers out there for the migrants; bears, wolves, and especially for a minor like Nagi, sexual predators and traffickers. He manages to evade, or, at least, fend off all of them and makes a couple of good friends along the way, but will Samson get to him before the bad guys?

Reading Nagi's journey through Europe was a real emotional journey for me. Knowing what he and his family were going through wasn't just fiction, but a reality for so many people right now. The conditions they have to live in, which brings with it disease, death and more misery for all of the innocent victims of war is heartbreaking. I hope the new lives that all of the Syrian refugees find will be happy, healthy and prosperous ones.

I've read Henry Porter books before, and I have to say that I've read better ones than this.
Dfficult to put my finger on exactly what was wrong with this book, but I just felt a bit "meh" when I reached the end.
Idea was undoubtedly a good one, but for me there was just something lacking

Firefly is the latest thriller from author Henry Porter, I'd enjoyed his previous works; especially Empire State and Brandenburg, and he was one of the few columnists in the Observer I could stand to read when he wrote for that paper. I therefore had high hopes for his new novel; his first since The Dying of the Light (aka The Bell Ringers) in 2009.

Unfortunately those hopes were not met. Whilst Firefly is far from a terrible novel its not a particularly great one either.

The primary issues is its reliance on lazy-cliche and one-dimensional characterisation. For example, the book's hero Paul Samson is that old stand-by, the reluctant spy. In this specific case that means a former MI6 officer of impeccable decency who quit the service because he couldn't tolerate his colleagues's underhanded, cynical methods. An archetype we have seen a dozen times or more from innumerable authors and lazy short-hand for 'he's a good guy!' Porter even gives him the obligatory flaw that all such heroes must have, in this case a gambling habit (but of course not one so bad that it makes him unattractive as a person or undermines his noble decency).

That same unquestionable, one-dimensional nobility is common to all the other 'good characters' in the book too. There's Anastasia, the almost angelically good love-interest who works as a child psychologist in a refugee camp but is also willing to drop everything to assist Samson despite only meeting him once for about ten minutes. Or the eponymous Firefly, an innocent but wholly decent (and almost super-humanly intelligent and self reliant) child sucked into events beyond his control. Every 'good' character in this book, down to the minor supporting roles, is inherently decent and lacking in genuine complexity in the way that no disparate group in real life ever would be.

Those on the other side are equally stereotypical too. In Firefly, if you work for any of the intelligence services then by default you are untrustworthy, duplicitous, cynical and hard-nosed. If this book is an accurate reflection of the real world then no European Intelligence agency employees a genuinely compassionate, decent human-being; which I find very hard to believe. It would also seem, according to Porter, that western Agencies don't employ smart ones either, but just single-minded, dogmatic ones.

In fact the only people in the world of Firefly less trustworthy than Western Intelligence Agents are Islamic State Terrrorists themselves, who are all, to a man, singularly ugly, evil human beings with no complexity or contradictions. If they weren't so thoroughly and genuinely barbaric they'd be pantomime villains. As it is they all feel like a Hollywood scriptwriter's idea of what constitutes an IS Terrorist, right down to bad breath and other physical deformities. This is the sort of book where the good guys are all physically attractive, the untrustworthy ones are rumpled or into power-dressing and the bad 'uns are ugly and smelly. Its almost laughably formulaic.

But then I'm not sure that the characters or the plot are really that important to Henry Porter. From the very start the primary purpose of Firefly seems to be to highlight the plight and suffering of refugees trying to enter Europe from Syria, Afghanistan and other war torn countries. Its this element of the story that seems to get the most attention and also feels the most plausible and well researched. Its obvious that the author has spent some time in the places in he portrays and has witnessed some of the suffering he describes first hand. The little details he inserts are proof of that.

However, by inserting into this vivid portrayal of a modern tragedy a cast so unremittingly one-dimensional Henry Porter just serves to undermine the points he's trying to make. When every refugee, aid worker or innocent civilian is so unswervingly good, every authority figure is without exception untrustworthy, incompetent or self-serving and the villains all irredeemably evil then plausibility begins to go out of the window. Add in a plot that relies too much on coincidence and deus-ex machina resolutions, whilst also lacking the genuinely hard edge that events really demand (for evil terrorists the bad guys seem very unwilling to actually kill anyone) and as a reader you begin to question the verisimilitude of everything on the page, That includes the the writer's portrayal of a real life, on-going refugee crisis which as a result loses its ability to shock and move..

If I was Henry Porter next time I would spend less effort on trying to present a realistic backdrop for my story and more on creating believably complex individuals and a plot that feels genuinely satisfying from start to finish.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Quercus Books and Henry Porter for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of Firefly.
What a great read. The storyline was relentless and fast paced. It grabs you from the start and does not let go until you finish the story.
Definitely a good read.

Firefly is a thrilling tale of spies, terrorists, and refugees which seems especially poignant in today's political climate in Europe.

The plot of Firefly was so unique and wonderfully written that I was emersed in the story from the first page to the last page. I wasn't a big fan of the writing style because the point of view varied within the same chapter which I sometimes found confusing. I did enjoy the different point of views though because you actually get to read the point of view of Naji, the young refugee boy with the codename Firefly, which was interesting and an amazing aspect of the book.

The characters were well written and interesting. I loved both Naji and Samson and I thoroughly enjoyed reading from their point of views. I wasn't really invested in any of the other characters but I did like Hayat who appeared at the beginning of the book. I just like her mannerisms and the way she was written.

Overall, I really enjoyed Firefly and I'd be interested in reading some of Henry Porter's other books in the future.

Firefly is Henry Porter's first novel for 9 years but it has definitely been worth the wait.

The story is about migrants, spies and terrorists and a chase or two from the refugee camps in Greece to the mountains in Macedonia.

The writing is superb with the pacing of the story excellent. The tension keeps increasing until the brilliant finale.

The various strands of the story are interwoven with skill by the author and keep you turning the pages

Thoroughly recommended

An ex-MI6 agent gets caught up in the race to find a young Syrian refugee, who is making his way to Europe. Terrorists are also after the young boy as he holds vital information as to their plans - can Paul Samson find him first?

Whilst the focus in on Naji and the people he meets on the way, the book flies by. The author does a good job of conveying the potential horrors and dangers that a young person would face on such a journey. Naji has just the right combination of pluck, intelligence, cunning, and compassion to make him a fascinating character. When it came so Samson, however, I was not so enamoured and felt some bits of his story were less engrossing. Overall though it is a great read.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Quercus Books, for the opportunity to review an ARC.

A marvellous story,full of desperation,fear and quiet heroics. The story of Syrian refugees on the migrant route,all trying to escape the atrocities of Daesh fighters.
Firefly is the code name of 13 year old Naji,who is highly intelligent and an asset to the Caliphate. Taken under the wing of Daesh assassins,he has seen and learnt too many dangerous and painful things,and has stored all this information on his mobile phone,hoping to escape with his family to Germany and barter this knowledge for asylum,and settlement there.
He leaves his mother and sisters in a refugee camp and joins groups of asylum seekers on their desperate quest across Europe,just as the borders are being closed and countries are refusing to grant sanctuary to Syrians. Unbeknown to Naji, 3 ISIS killers are on his trail,looking for his phone and to kill him. MI6 gets to hear about his critical knowledge and persuades a former agent,Paul Samson ,to trace Naji and get him to hand over his information ,in order to prevent further attacks.
This is such a tense and exciting read! Seen from our viewpoint of being in a safe place,such a humanitarian crisis is hard to comprehend and the heartbreak of leaving family and home,the suffering,neglect and ignorance of people who close borders and deny shelter,makes for uncomfortable reading.
Naji is an outstandingly lucky and brave character. This has the makings of being a modern classic,and would make a worthy addition to any school library. It explains the workings of Aid Agencies,U.N.H.C.R, and Medecins du Monde far better than most news reports. You gain a quiet respect for the citizens of Lesbos,the Greek island,that is the first port of call for refugees,and the way they welcome these people ,whilst other richer nations look the other way.
This is a superb thriller,a real page turner and richly deserves to be an option for a film or documentary. It makes you feel lucky indeed.
I loved this book! I have posted this review on Goodreads today.

If you enjoy spy novels this is the one for you. The interesting twist that is encompasses the world of migrants and spies at the same time. Well written, a page turner and most thought provoking. Thoroughly recommended.

A new novel by Henry Porter is always a treat and his new release does not disappoint. It is a timely tale as the chase takes place in a Europe that is battling to address the flood of refugees pouring into Greece and using it as a springboard into a Schengen country. An ex-spy, himself a former refugee, accepts the challenge of finding a fourteen-year-old boy refugee believed to have information on a terrorist cell aiming to reach into the heart of Europe. The action is fast and furious but it is the well-drawn characterisation of the older former refugee now people hunter, the desperate young boy and the people that help and hinder them along the way all against the terrible reality of the refugee trail that pulls at your heart and keeps you glued to the last page.

I read Porter's The Dying Light some time ago but it didn't really appeal to me, nevertheless I wanted to read this based on the publisher's description of it. I really liked this much better, a look at our world today and some of the current burning issues on the refugee crisis, the intelligence agencies, Middle East, Syria and ISIS. It is a tense thriller focusing on British ex-spy Paul Samson, an Arabic speaker with Lebanese roots, with a penchant for the occasional big time gambling that got him booted out of SIS, the secret intelligence service. He now works below the radar locating missing persons for Macy Harp. Peter Nyman from the Special Operations Directorate wants Samson to return for a job that is particularly suited to his skill set, finding a young 13 year old Syrian boy, Naji, travelling alone, intent on getting to Germany and looking to get his family settled there, they are currently living in a Turkish Refugee camp. Naji is a resourceful and gifted child.

Naji's academic father was horrifically tortured by the Syrian regime after he dared to look into two of his missing students, his father has died leaving Naji traumatised. After spending time with ISIS, he becomes aware of their cruelty and is unwilling to have the local ISIS leader marry his sister and all that would entail. The family escaped with Naji managing to secure crucial information on ISIS, their operators, their sickening acts, and plans for potential future atrocities in Europe. British intelligence heard of Naji after he informed a psychologist, Anastasia, working with traumatised refugees on the Greek Island of Lesbos and want the information he has, but unfortunately 3 ISIS men are after Naji with the intention of killing him. Samson is hot on Naji's trail through Greece and Macedonia, marvelling at the boy's capabilities when it comes to surviving but everyone's luck runs out eventually and there is a harrowing but thrilling finale in a remote farmhouse in Macedonia.

Porter has clearly done his research on the region and ISIS, and he deploys it to great effect in this compelling and suspenseful thriller. The major highlight for me was its insightful portrayal of the precarious lives of refugees, the camps they reside in, the trauma so many have experienced and the numerous dangers they face, such as paedophiles, and human traffickers. Anastasia was the face of human compassion, working amongst chaotic and difficult circumstances, whilst most of Europe turns against the rising tide of migrants and closing its doors to them. ISIS is painted from what we know of their high levels of cruelty, despicable treatment of women and more. This is a great and entertaining thriller with all the ingredients to have you biting your nails as you root for Naji and Samson. Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

I love an occasional spy style thriller and I really enjoyed this book. It also surprised me with it's adept handling of a serious topic (migration, plight of refugees) in the context of a thriller. The juxtaposition of the western spy apparatus versus the almost post apocalyptic experiences of the migrants really struck me (Samson tapping into state of the art technology to track Naji while the migrants stumble through Europe with access to nothing). This is much more than your standard spy thriller but still has all the action and pace that you might expect. I'd love to see another title featuring Samson (perhaps with Naji as his technological whizz kid sidekick!?)

I am a huge fan of thrillers featuring espionage and terrorism - as this combines the two, it totally appealed to me. I hadn't heard of Porter before (I know! I know!) so this is my first novel of his. I will be looking back at his previous work and purchasing his catalogue. If FIREFLY is anything to go by, it will be well worth the money!

What can I say? All of the advance praise from stalwarts of the crime genre is correct. This is an excellent example of why British espionage fiction is the best in the world, and has been for a long time. A truly exceptional novel, with a storyline that is timely and comes straight from the headlines of todays world. FIREFLY is an intelligent thriller that had me from page one. Gripping and exciting, it was impossible to put down - I read it in one sitting and stayed up way past my bedtime to find out what happened. The characterisation is wonderful, the narrative easy to follow and engaging, and the finale explosive!

If you're into espionage thrillers, don't miss this one! You'll thank me for it later, I promise you! Superb from cover-to-cover and one of my favourite reads this year so far. I just know this will be in my best of 2018 lists. Sometimes it's impossible to write a review for a book as it always feels difficult to portray just how amazing that title is - this is definitely one of those times.

I would like to thank Henry Porter, Quercus Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

‘Firefly’ is a welcomed return by Henry Porter, whose last spy thriller, ‘The Dying Light’, appeared way back in 2009.
As with all his thrillers, ‘Firefly’ is seemingly ripped from the news headlines with its graphic descriptions of the plight of Syrian refugees in Europe. Luc Samson, a former MI6 agent and fluent Arabic speaker, is hired by his old employers to the lead the search for a 13-year old Syrian boy, Naji, who is stealthily making his way across Europe. Naji is a clever and resourceful boy with a gift for computers who managed to escape his ISIS overseers. Before making his escape, Naji downloaded several important ISIS documents and incriminating photos onto his phone. He is trying to get to Germany to make a new life for himself and his family, however, to do so he has avoid being detained by authorities along the way, he is an unaccompanied minor, and keep one step ahead of an ISIS hit-team sent to retrieve the information he has stolen and kill him. Meanwhile Samson desperately tries to intercept Naji before the ISIS team gets to him.
This is an exciting chase thriller. Porter does a good job of alternating the perspective between Naji and Samson to maximise the suspense and the book builds to a tense climax in the Macedonian countryside. The characters are credible and Porter’s descriptions of the plight of the refugees is moving and convincing.
The spy elements of the story are perhaps a little underdone and there are probably too many coincidences, but overall this is a very intelligent and gripping thriller.

A gripping page-turner that I could not put down...

Thoroughly enjoyed this, strong characters and a great plot with plenty of twists and turns, and nicely plotted goodies and baddies. Highly recommended - this would be great holiday reading.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for my honest review.

Naji escapes the clutches of ISIS and attempts to get to Germany. His former gang find out he hacked one of their laptops and now there is a death warrant out in his name. An MI6 agent is tasked with finding Naji before that happens. Enjoyable read, would make a good movie. If you like Deighton, you will like this.

Excellent novel of migrants and spies. Interesting plot using a young boy with explosive information on Isis terrorism and the chase to find him through Greece and ending in Mesopotamia. Clever switches in the plot keep one on edge through to the explosive finale. Good read, recommended!

Gripping thriller following the story of a young refugee with a mysterious past who is fleeing to Germany alone, to find asylum for his family after his own personal family tragedy. He is also the carrier of a huge amount of data which ISIS leaders do not want getting into the wrong hands. He is therefore in double jeopardy as they are hunting him.

Cue Paul Sansom, a ex-refugee from Lebanon himself, he is now in the business of finding ‘missing persons’. He is assigned to find a young 13 year old boy, with whom it becomes personal – he gets to admire and feel for this young, intelligent and feisty young man who has to travel on his journey illegally as the authorities would put him into a camp as an ‘unaccompanied minor’. He knows he has to get his information to the West in an attempt to stop part of the horror, slaughter and torture he has witnessed in his own country.

Part of me thinks everyone should read this book – you experience the journey of a refugee on a personal level – the danger, fear, hunger, cold and pure brutality of police in countries who really don’t want the refugees anywhere near – (backed up by their Nations’ governments). The ‘Catch 22’ of only having a set period of time to get through a country, where another one has closed its borders due to a policy change – and the purely impossible predicaments these people find themselves in when they are stranded and outside a time limit – their documents then being worthless. The different types of refugees – victims of war or brutality and others, the economic migrants. The camps and staff trying their best to help them, also tales of help by local people (which I hope can still happen after such vast numbers of passers-through). All are here in rich descriptions, but the ones hunting our ‘Firefly’ are a particularly monstrous group.

You really feel for Firefly – the climax is unputdownable, edge-of-seat thrilling. I’d love to see this as a film. Great story and if read by anyone with an ounce of compassion, it’s going to change a lot of minds about the uncountable influx of tragedy flooding Europe. Astounding story. I’ve not read anything like this before.