Member Review

A neutrino research facility located deep beneath an underground mining operation in Eastern Canada goes into lockdown, complete with a total communication blackout. Dez Limerick, aka the Gatekeeper, has his leisurely life interrupted when the U.S. State Department enlists him to help unlock the mine/lab where, apart from the scientists, a prominent businesswoman – someone whom Dez cares for – is also feared to be trapped. Dez joins a team comprising the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Unit and a deputy assistant secretary of State on the perilous journey to the site, which is being battered by snowstorms. From the outset, saboteurs attempt to derail the mission, and as more players join the team, it becomes clear that not everyone is what they seem. Dez must draw on his entire armoury of tricks and tactics if he hopes to succeed in getting to the bottom of it all – literally and figuratively – and coming out alive.

Dez, now on his fourth outing in Storm Warning by James Byrne, is an unconventional sort of hero. Built like a tank, he speaks in a quirky diction laced with Irish idioms and carries himself with a humorous, light‑hearted demeanour. Though I can’t tell if his Irish vocabulary is authentic, it is undeniably amusing. He is razor‑sharp and seems to know something about everything — occasionally to the point of sounding like a smartass. The supporting cast, especially the State Department official and the wisp‑like assassin named Ash, is well‑crafted and intriguing, though the villains sometimes veer into over‑the‑top territory.

The breakneck action, while requiring the reader to suspend disbelief at times, is engagingly choreographed. Byrne’s atmospheric descriptions of the snowbound setting heighten the tension, and Dez’s wildly inventive responses to obstacles keep the plot unpredictable. While the novel delivers the kind of cinematic thrills fans of the series have come to expect, the final chapter introduces a twist that, despite setting up a promising course for future instalments, feels somewhat contrived. Still, Storm Warning is another fast, entertaining read, and I will gladly follow Dez through at least a few more of his upcoming adventures.

I am grateful to St. Martin's Press / Minotaur Books for the digital review copy of Storm Warning through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.