A Deniable Death

Picking up a novel by Gerald Seymour is like taking a deep breath of fresh air . . . his subject here is the Middle East, presented with a vividness and veracity that makes most of his rivals look footling . . . As always with Seymour, the sense of a minatory foreign landscape is acutely rendered . . . never have the badlands of Iraq been evoked with such oppressive rigour. And how many other writers would have fleshed out the bomb-maker, who would simply represent "evil" in most thrillers? Seymour allows us into the life and consciousness of this man, movingly describing his marriage to a mortally ill woman. When readers get to the nailbiting climax, involving an agonising wait for airborne rescue, they may be wondering why they should bother with any other thriller writer.

An extraordinary work of fiction . . . Serious readers will find in A DENIABLE DEATH not only suspense, strong characters and a realistic look at the world of espionage, but a majesty that is rare in fiction. At a certain point, the novel rises to a mythic level, portraying courage and loyalty and sacrifice almost beyond understanding.

Veteran thriller writer Seymour's outstanding 26th novel chronicles a British "interdiction" mission in contemporary Iraq and Iran . . . Seymour (Harry's Game) is strong on the details of surveillance and spycraft, but on even surer ground with his characters . . . Once the narrative gains momentum, it's hard to put this one down.

Seymour is a master of the thriller set on the murky edges of modern war . . . As ever he juggles action, context and suspense with a special-forces level of expertise. How long before he turns to Libya?

Gerald Seymour is the grand-master of the contemporary thriller and Deniable Death is his greatest work yet. Gripping, revealing and meticulously researched, this is a page-turning masterpiece that will literally leave you breathless.

After 28 novels, Seymour's empathy for those he ensnares in his moral minefields remains movingly even-handed.

gripping thriller

Mr Seymour is . . . on form . . . The tradecraft of silent watching and the discomfort, thirst and increasing claustrophobia of the hideout are brought very much to life . . . the grim landscape of the border region and the harsh lives of its inhabitants are skilfully evoked

Seymour is not one to cut corners. He does his research, thinks hard about his story and gives us richly imagined novels that bristle with authenticity.

Seymour [is] incapable of creating a two-dimensional character'

'Discerning thriller readers can safely say that the best practitioner currently working in the UK is the veteran Seymour. He is, quite simply, the most intelligent and accomplished in the current field . . . Here, we have a typically compromised Seymour anti-hero, a masterfully organised globe-spanning narrative and a mass of highly persuasive detail. The Dealer and the Dead is Seymour firing on all cylinders, and his rivals need, once again, to look to their laurels.

With Seymour, not only do you get a cracking story deftly told, but you also feel you are learning something.

In a class of his own

one of the modern masters of the craft

a vividly drawn ensemble of spooks, terrorists and civilians

a vividly drawn ensemble of spokes, terrorists and civilians

one of the most venerable names of the thriller genre, Gerald Seymour, showed that age was not withering him.

It's a terrific read and one of Seymour's best.