Thank you Atlantic books and Netgalley.
Well that was worth reading and was so good I read it in 2 days. Definitely kept me on the edge of my seat and was really unpredictable,
Highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.
Read this book over the course of a couple of evening.
Grabbed me from the first chapter, great characters and really enjoyed the author's style of writing.
Will certainly be checking out other publications by this author.

This was a great read. Really well written with a gripping plot full of lots of twists and turns. I highly recommend.

I've read a lot of good books this year ,The Recruit by Alan Drew is exceptional and I'd go as far as to say the best book I've read this year so far.
The book begins in California in 1985 with a meeting of White Supremacists who see the fledgling internet as a good way to spread their poison nationwide and co-ordinate disparate groups of like-minded individuals.

2 years later Detective Ben Wade investigates a series of fairly low level hate crimes in the seemingly idyllic small town America community of Rancho Santa Elena that worryingly appear to be linked to a murder. When Vietnamese friends of Wade's partner ,forensic expert Natasha Betencourt,are targeted it becomes personal . With a gang of young skinheads in his sights he begins to see the escalating racist undercurrents of the society that he lives in, not least as he watches the radicalisation of a young boy who becomes involved with them.

This is more than "just a thriller" and could as well be labelled literary fiction as it addresses many aspects of American society that are just as relevant in the America of today as in it's late 80's setting.. There's the insidious influence of the Right Wing groups on disaffected and disillusioned young men, the affects of foreign wars to those who fight in them and their families,the migrant experience,casual racism, the internet used by radical groups and much more.

There's also "something a bit different" that I'd love to share but would be a big spoiler so all I'll say is that one character's experience is described in a way that is as moving and exceptional as anything I've read anywhere by any author .
This is a hell of a book, as soon as I finished it I looked online and discovered a previous Wade and Betencourt book and despite their being spoilers to that story in The Recruit I bought it straight away.
Outstanding.

Alan Drew writes a smart and intelligent historical novel set in the US in the 1980s, but I found it really hard to read because of it's chillingly disturbing ability to get into the minds of white supremacists and make them feel so very real. There is the sickening ideology and vision espoused by the powerful elusive leader, the 'Reverend', head of America's Divine Promise Ministeries, and his followers that contribute to the spread of the poison, like Richard Potter Wales, the creator of the hate network through the bulletin board on the emerging internet to nationally connect its members, through which brutal and horrifying acts of terror are organised and carried out by its disposable foot soldiers. They all believe unquestionably in the fiction that the superior white race is in danger from the inferior minorities, and they are prepared to fight the Zionist Organised Government (ZOG) which is facilitating this catastrophe.

It is over a decade since the end of the Vietnam War in 1987 and in the seemingly idyllic South Californian town of Rancho Santa Elena, there are dark, corrupt, racist and sinister undercurrents, intent on maintaining the existing white power structures. Detective Ben Wade saves a poisoned baby, where the family dog is missing. Vietnamese refugees Bao Phan, his wife Ai and daughter, Linh, have managed to survive and thrive, owning and running their store despite the challenges that have come their way. Bao finds a dog with its throat cut in the alley and a message meant to intimidate and spread fear pushed into its mouth, Ben investigates. Ben's girlfriend, Natasha Betencourt, is a medical examiner, she is at the scene of a homicide with Detective Joseph Vanek, the murdered victim is a wealthy white real estate developer, Walter Brennan. The cases have some curious connections such as red thread, and all leads point to a group of violent young neo-nazis, but they struggle to find any proof. The eponymous recruit, is the unhappy and vulnerable 15 year old Jacob Clay, desperately needing something to believe in and to belong.

This well written and riveting read highlights the power and insanity of hate, portraying the beginnings of the use of the internet by white supremacists to connect and spread their toxic and divisive ideology, a cancer in the body of white America, laying the groundwork years later for the election and support of Donald Trump. The tragedy of Jacob Clay underlines how the white supremacy movement grooms children and young men to use and abuse for their own toxic agenda. Alan Drew is a outstanding writer, his talent lies in the disparate characters he creates and develops, they are complex, flawed and have a truth that resonates, often uncomfortably so. A superb novel that I highly recommend. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

This story is phenomenal. The first I've read by Alan Drew and will most certainly not be my last. Terrifying and frighteningly realistic this story takes some wild, shocking turns that will have you shouting t the story. Highly recommended xx

This was such a good read, I read it in one sitting. Nail bitingly good that kept me on the edge fo my seat. Twisty and unpredictable, I loved it,