Blood Brothers by Nick Pope

Title: Blood Brothers

Author: Nick Pope

Publication Date: 15th November 2018

Genre: Mystery and Thrillers

Past, Afghanistan:

Matt Quill was assigned to watch over Ashraf Abdul Khan, a man suspected to be involved in IED distribution. Quill has his eyes on the target and the drone is on stand-by too, waiting for Quill’s GO order. At the last minute, Quill sends a NEGATIVE on the target – he sees a child with Abdul and decides to abort the mission.

Present Day, London:

Abdul looks like a normal businessman in good suit and shoes. His neighbors have no clue as to what he does in real life. He walks to the terrace of his apartment with a bag. The Battle of Britain Memorial flight show is on and Abdul waits for his target. As he sees the target approaching, he removes the Stinger (a missile launcher) from his bag, locks the missile onto the Boeing E3-D and walks out of the flat, after setting it on fire.

Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Mike Lathan is put in charge of a LGBTQ parade. A commotion starts soon enough when a group of middle easterners start roughening up the paraders. A stray van seems to be stuck in the midst of this commotion. Mike moves towards the van and asks the driver to go ahead. The driver is sweating; he also seems to be saying something. Mike realizes it too late that the driver was chanting “Allahu Akbar”. Soon after the explosion, the middle easterners run away.

The Prime Minister, Justin Holland calls for an emergency meeting. Norma Fox, the Home Secretary says that the terror cell responsible for this heinous crime is sophisticated, well-armed, well-disciplined and lethal. Halfway through the meeting, The Prime Minister learns of another attack – this time, the terrorists have targeted a Jewish Nursery School.

A text is sent to major news channels by someone named Saladin. Saladin claims responsibility for the attacks and declares the UK as a caliphate.

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There are many more characters in the story. The ones I mentioned above play a major role in the story. Jenny Fairbanks’ role is appreciable – a woman leader in a male-dominated organization. Raj Hussain and Tony Chilton also play a very good role in the story. Their sense of humor in a tense situation was a nice touch. Mark Quill and Abdul Khan’s pairing was the best part of the story. The concept of Red Team -a group formed to think like terrorists, was interesting. There is also a mention or two of the Brexit situation and newly elected US President meeting with a UKIP politician.

My most favorite part of the story is when Abdul goes to kill the General. This is the climax of the story. What happens next is something that I could never imagine! What I could not read was the part where the terrorists attacked the school. They held few kids hostages. Finally, the terrorists slit the children’s throats before blowing up their suicide vests.

The ending was unique and unexpected. The ending was something that I just couldn’t think of. When you have read a lot of thriller and mystery novels, you tend to assume that the ending is going to be so and so. However, in this book, the ending was something different. I am not going to say anything more and ruin the suspense.

Blood Brothers by Nick Pope is a spectacular and engrossing page-turner. If you like a fast-paced action thriller, then do not miss to read this book.

Thank you, David Haviland and Thistle Publishing for the ARC.