As a child he was smuggled to the Middle East from his London home, to be trained as one of the most elite insurgent soldiers of his generation.
For years he was forced to do things no child should do, for a cause he couldn’t believe in.
But while his brothers were preparing to kill, he was looking for a way out.
Now, on the eve of the deadliest coordinated terrorist attacks Europe has ever seen, he’ll finally get his chance.
He will break free and hunt down those responsible for making him a monster.
He must draw on all his training, all of his deadly skills to survive.
He is Sleeper 13.
When it comes reading action thrillers, I have a few criteria that the story needs to meet. Firstly, the plot has to capture and hold my attention. A well-judged sense of pace is also key, and if the story manages to pull off a cinematic feel, so much the better. Rob Sinclair’s latest novel, Sleeper 13, ticks all these boxes and then some.
At its heart, Sleeper 13 has a fascinating premise. The central protagonist has been trained for years as a terrorist, and it is what makes the character of Aydin a cut above your standard action hero. There is a very specific event that makes him question everything he has learned, a split-second that changes his entire life and sets Aydin off on a path in direct opposition to his former masters. The internal conflict that constantly rages within this young man ensures his actions and reactions are genuinely unpredictable. Years of brainwashing and intense indoctrination have left their mark, but he has come to realise that nothing is quite so cut and dried as his teachers would have him believe. He has come to understand that when there are ideological differences, things do not need to end in terrorist attacks. There are twelve other men just like Adyin, all important elements in the same plan. Our reluctant hero has no choice but to track them down and stop them.
Aydin is not the only one trying to uncover the conspiracy of the Thirteen. A British agent, Rachel Fox, has learned of their existence and is desperately trying to stop these insurgents from attempting any form of action. Initially she is alone in thinking that the Thirteen even exist. Some consider this shadowy group little more than an urban myth, but Rachel’s dogged determination and willingness to bend the odd rule or two pays dividends.
Both characters are heading towards the same objective but from different directions. Rachel uses her analytical skill as an investigator while Aydin is more of a blunt instrument. That said, as the narrative continues to unfold, it becomes more and more evident that these two are more alike than they first appear.
The plot has an international feel as the action moves throughout the Middle East and Europe. Aydin and Rachel are both trying to piece together the nature of the terrorist plan that is developing. I’m firmly of the opinion that a good action thriller needs to feel like a race against time, and Sleeper 13 achieves this by continually cranking up the tension. The final chapters are particularly effective.
Sleeper 13 is a solidly entertaining action thriller that manages to be both engrossing and heart-stopping in equal measure. This is exactly the sort of novel I like to read when I am travelling. You can easily lose yourself in all the twists and turns as miles fly by. This is the first book I’ve read by Rob Sinclair, but I don’t imagine for a second that it will be the last. I’m sure action thriller fans are going to relish every page.
For those of you who aren’t regular readers of The Eloquent Page, I should explain that I like to round off my reviews by recommending some musical accompaniments to listen to whilst reading the book under consideration. In this instance, I was looking for something that adequately captured the tension and action that features throughout Sleeper 13. After much pondering, I decided to go with the soundtrack to Jason Bourne by John Powell and David Buckley. Trust me, it fits.
Sleeper 13 is published by Orion and is available now. Fugitive 13 is set to follow next year.
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