Firewall. Review on Firewall - Andy McNab

I, like a lot of other McNab fans waited eagerly for this one and it does not disappoint. I must admit I was a bit worried that he would not have been able to keep the pace (or the story itself) going after Remote Control and Crisis 4 but he has. Not only has he come up with another thrilling story he has also managed to drag the Russians into it !! These guys though don’t mess about as the opening paragraph from the book shows …….

Anyway, the story itself begins with the attempted kidnapping by Nick Slater (the main character of his last 2 novels) of a Russian Maffioso, this is delivered with McNabs usual attention to detail. Unlike other “reviews” I wont spoil it for you by giving away what actually happens during the kidnapping suffice to say the aftermath leads onto the main story. The plot, as is becoming the pattern with McNab novels, thickens as we progress from one action packed chapter to another with lots of twists and unexpected turns dotted all the way through the story. He even manages to mix in a bit of sex from a very unexpected source, not for himself mind because that would distract him from the task at hand !! He does yet another excellent job of building the main characters to such an extent that you can almost picture them in your mind, in fact you even feel sadness or elation at the events that happen to them throughout the book, such is the descriptive way he introduces them. Theres even a bit of irony built in with one minor character at the end which you can not help but smile at, with it McNab has shown that he got a sense of humour you probably wouldn’t associate with his style of writing. Anyway, the main bulk of the story revolves around Nick Slaters covert excursion into the depths of Finland where he encounters all sorts of weird, wonderful and dangerous characters.

Although the story does perhaps at some points stray towards the unbelievable you never quite lose track of it and find yourself willing him on. This feeling of wanting him to succeed is brought on by McNabs clever use of Kelly’s character (the 7 year old featured in the first 2 books) who is now feeling the effects of her traumatic experiences. This has brought out the parental responsibilities of Slater who is now torn between giving up his current way of life for something more “normal”. However, before he can do this he must make them financially secure hence this one last job. I for one hope that this isn’t the last outing for Nick Slater as I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute reading his exploits.

I must admit though I find it hard to see how much further McNab can take Slater and I have a feeling we may see another main character introduced in his next attempt. Hopefully it wont be too long before we find out.