Outbreak

One of the best and most exciting thriller I have read for a long time. Please Frank can we have a follow up soon.

I really enjoyed Blood and Sand, Frank Gardner’s autobiography in which he details his recovery following horrific injury whilst a war correspondent. I didn’t know he’d turned novelist and that Outbreak features Luke Carlton, an ex services officer who’s now working for the British Secret Service. Gardner is currently BBC security correspondent and I imagine he has brought a wealth of personal and practical knowledge from his work life, past and present , into this novel. I felt as if I’d been dropped into a real life race against time!

The story centres on a threat, very real, to release a deadly virus into the general population. Luke is tasked with investigating and this involves secret missions to Lithuania, Russia and more. Alongside this is in fighting between Russian security services and a top secret research facility in Norway. Without giving too. Much away, this is one of the best thrillers I’ve ever read, truly.

The pace throughout is absolutely relentless. Short sharp chapters switch seamlessly to keep the narrative moving across a number of locations. It’s literally breathtaking as the potential for human disaster mounts. In a world still struggling with the effects of Covid pandemic, this is a prescient reminder of how vulnerable we are to the actions of the deluded and extreme.

Throughout, there’s a strong sense of reality, with plausible characters that draw you in and this story had my pulse racing more than once. It kept me listening through the night and I finished it in record time. Breathtakingly good. Superb narration. I heartily recommend this.

My thanks to Penguin Random House U.K. Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook of ‘Outbreak’ by Frank Gardner in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook edition is narrated by Jonathan Keeble with a running time of 11 hours, 38 minutes at 1x speed.

Before reading I wasn’t aware that this is the third in Gardner’s thrillers featuring MI6 operative Luke Carlton. However, Gardner provided enough background on Carlton so I didn’t feel at all lost.

The novel is set in the spring of 2022 and opens with three scientists from the UK's Arctic Research Station caught in a blizzard. Seeking shelter they come across a seemingly abandoned cabin, though inside they find a dying man with horrific symptoms. Given the novel’s title it isn’t a spoiler to disclose that pretty quickly an outbreak of a very nasty disease begins to spread, which leads to a full-scale operation to both contain it and discover its origins.

British Intelligence becomes involved and Luke is despatched to Lithuania where intercepted messages suggest answers to the contagion may lie. A twisty trail is uncovered. No further details to avoid spoilers.

With respect to the audiobook edition, its narrator, Jonathan Keeble, is one of the best known British voice actors with multiple awards and an impressive number of audiobook titles on his CV. His voice is mature and authoritative and I felt that his reading of ‘Outbreak’ was excellent.

Overall, I found ‘Outbreak’ a fast paced espionage thriller with the timely subject of humanity’s vulnerability to a virulent disease. It’s oddly comforting to read this a thriller about an even worse disease threatening humanity than our current pandemic.

It held my attention throughout and I plan to read the two earlier Luke Carlton books as well as any future ones.