4/5 Very Good

A Genuinely heart stopping, thrill a minute contemporary thriller from Will Caine.

This is some debut, it’s absolutely gripping, it’s smart, chilling and almost frightening as terrorism is laid bare in this secret service thriller,

Really is very good and whilst I’ve read it far after being granted , I can see it really should have and deserved a bigger audience,

I found this book a little dull I am afraid to say and would hesitate to recommend it. I do enjoy thrillers set in the world of espionage - but this lacked excitement

I received this as review copy from Netgalley so am not in a position to comment on cost however I will say that regardless of cost this is an excellent book. It was easy to read, the characters were believable and flowed throughout. The twists were constant, right up to the final pages. I was constantly getting the view that I was certain who was playing who and where the position of power was, only to reconsider a few pages later. This is a must read for anyone who likes to read about terror plots and MI5's involvement

Thanks to HQ and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

'The Inquiry', by Will Caine is one of those novels that requires a little patience... but persevere my dear readers, because if you do the pay-off is immense. If you love a twisty, multi-layered, intelligently written thriller that captures the zeitgeist of the post-9/11 worldview, then this is the book for you. Though a topic that has seemingly infinite possibilities for the talented author, few writers have done this grossly, complex subject credit. Will Cain does. Without resorting either to a latent Islamophobia, or, as perplexing, a disavowal of the true threat of Islamic fundamentalism, Caine's narrative, like Goldilocks' porridge, strikes the right note. Make no mistake, however, this is not the narrative equivalent of some dry minutes from a COBRA meeting, no. 'The Inquiry' is a thought-provoking, at times, nightmarish read that combines the adrenaline-rush of a Ludlum or Fleming, with the spymaster's ingenuity of a le Carre or Cumming. A literal page-turner - fantastic.

Sorry - not for me. I look for a distinctive voice with original insights and the writing here feels a bit workaday. May appeal to readers who are more plot-driven. DNF.

An extremely complex conspiracy thriller based around Islamic terrorism using real events and several genuine characters in the narrative. A young Muslim lawyer is the central character invited into a secret inquiry into the security services. A plot that swings back and forth makes this hard to keep up with at times but is ultimately worthwhile at the final twist. A nightmare scenario that one can only hope remains fiction.