Trojan Horse

Choices often define who we are, and in the hands of this author, may determine who will live, and who will die in this exciting narrative. Trojan Horse poses the moral dilemma ‘is the death of a single person justifiable when the lives of ‘the many’ hang in the balance?’  

This breathless debut reads as if penned by an established wordsmith, due to the pace, backdrop and characters that stand upright on the page, forcing the reader to race toward a startling denouement.

The narrative is striated with ethical dilemmas which underpin the action, making the reader work for their entertainment. Centre stage is the figure of Kolya [Nikolai Ivanovich Petrov], an intriguing US operative of a shady organisation [ECA] that lies beneath the shadows of the National Security Agency, as another acronym within the American Intelligence community.

The mystery of Gina Antonia who was tasked to infiltrate Mihai Cruza is raised within ECA. She was a young operative attempting to extract digital data from Cruza and his organisation, because signs led ECA to believe that an international plot was underway; one that posed mass casualties for a purpose – as yet undisclosed.

That’s the setup in this International Thriller, but things take several unexpected turns for ECA, especially for Kolya. It seems the stake used against missing agent Gina Antonia by Mihai Cuza, belays his own Romanian family heritage. Though, the use of a stake to impale also indicates wordplay, for the stakes in this spy-game reveal themselves as being deadly. That’s when the narrative gets interesting as the title’s word-play suggests.

In order to uncover the danger that Cuza has put into play, the enigmatic head of ECA - Margaret Bradford hatches a plan, a countermeasure. Eastern Europe becomes a destination where the Trojan Horse will be placed. The trouble is - it gets hard to work out who is working for who, because the proceedings are coated in grey – no black or white.

Kolya finds himself at the nucleus of Cuza’s digital puzzle, becoming Bradford’s countermeasure, one that will either see him killed, or thousands of others will feel the fire.

The novel is a fast read, short chapters broken into almost filmic sequences – free from exposition, instead filled with trade-craft and historical details that place the story into context. There is anxiety, as the battle appears between two men, Kolya and Cuza – however the stakes are higher, for behind the antagonist and protagonist lurks unspeakable consequences.

This debut is extraordinary in the way it distracts one’s consciousness from the woes of the oppressive reality we find ourselves in.

Highly recommended.