Battle Sight Zero by Gerald Seymour, Book Review

I can’t think of a thriller or crime author whose books involve more up-to-date research than Gerald Seymour’s. You’d think someone as prolific as Seymour would run out of fresh ideas eventually, but he never fails to surprise. In Battle Sight Zero he interweaves the eventful history of one particular Kalashnikov assault rifle made in a bleak Soviet factory in 1957 with a terror plot to smuggle weapons into Britain in 2018. His intricately layered material with its well-drawn characters requires a lot of pages and if you like meaty books, then this one at 442 pages doesn’t disappoint, in both depth and action.

What really impresses is the plausibility of such a terror attack in Britain. From the Yorkshire Muslim girl ready to get involved with the terrorists, to the undercover agent and his handlers from the counter terrorism unit, it’s all so real, so frighteningly real. I enjoyed the fact that we not only see the overall planning of a terror plot, but get to know the ordinary people who make these attacks happen and the anonymous heroes who dedicate their lives to stopping them. When they foil atrocities, often at great cost to themselves, does it really matter if they are flawed? Seymour has an instinctive understanding of human nature in all its diversity.

Gerald Seymour launched his considerable career in 1975 with Harry’s Game, a thriller set in Northern Ireland during the troubles. With a background in journalism, he’s had his finger on the pulse ever since.  

Published by Hodder & Stoughton in eBook and hardback (£18.99) in January 2019.