The Trenches

In London, private investigator Dr Rayhana Crane is contacted by a woman who has received an unexpected letter from her estranged son Jason, not seen since he left to become a fighter for Islamic State. When his steps are traced back to the old stamping ground of her partner, Cal Drake, the former policeman goes undercover to infiltrate the sinister network which took Jason abroad.
Meanwhile, Crane pursues a woman whose seemingly unconnected disappearance off the English coast is soon found to reveal a deadlier connection. As the two investigators delve deeper, they find themselves mired in a violent world where terror and organised crime intersect. Characters are very well written, and I raced through this book. Gripping from the start.

I wasn't sure if this book was for me; the title appears to refer to a historical war scape yet the cover is clearly of our times. But very cleverly, both the title and the cover reflect the exact nature of the book. I found it enthralling. This is a story of modern day life, crime, the endless ways that humans can find a way to survive, convincing themselves along the way that they are not doing wrong, it is for the greater good - or even, that it is directed by their God. The book starts with a small scale rescue at sea and leads to undercover investigations by both the police, and Cal, an ex-police investigator. Together he and his partner Ray burrow down into a dismal, tainted world of polar opposites: from low life criminals and desperate radicals to the rather luxurious, upscale world of criminally financed political corruption. Both alive and well, living in the trenches, waging war.