Teacher knows best (The Mentor - Steve Jackson)

Member Name: freediveheaven

Product:	The Mentor - Steve Jackson
Date:	23/11/08 (269 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good well crafted plot

Disadvantages: Could do with a bit more character development

I obtained this book following a review I read on this site which was actually about the second book in the series to feature the main character, it sounded interesting so I decided to read the original first and I was glad that I did as this is an enjoyable little spy thriller of a book which is ideal holiday or travel reading in my opinion.

The storyline centres on another terrorist tube bomb to hit London and a young inexperienced MI6 agent by the name of Paul Aston is directed to get on scene and survey the damage without being identified by the other authorities. Adopting a fireman disguise Paul penetrates the heart of the bomb site and finds himself cradling the broken body of a young child which causes him immense trauma even though his boss and mentor Mac shows him little sympathy.

Paul finds himself working on the investigation in what is a PR disaster for his department however it soon becomes clear that the actual enemy is not to be found in a cave in Afghanistan rather it is located rather closer to home and is far more deadly and resourceful. At the same time Paul has to cope with the break down of his relationship with his long term girlfriend and his one close friendship with a colleague also threatens to interfere with the case.

This is a well crafted spy thriller with a convoluted plot that works really well, it has a nice fast pace to the action and some good attention to detail when describing the spy craft used by the main participants. I found the characters quite believable, certainly there is no real attempt to portray Aston as some sort of Bond super hero rather a quick witted and smart individual recruited for his barn power and ability to blend in rather than his physical prowess. The story is primarily told through his eyes in the first person style however it also switches at times into flashback mode describing the life of his boss Mac, events that have an impact upon the current events unfolding.

If I have any criticism of the book it is that some of the relationships shown are a little too easily packaged and fit with some standard stereotypes, a sort of A to Z of relationship management that soap operas tend to follow. I felt the book could have benefited from a bit more in the character development stages of the story as it felt a bit superficial at times.

I would not describe this book as addictive however it did develop into a bit of a page turner the more I got into it, it is not a literary classic rather a good solid read that does not stretch the old brain cells too far but does provide for an enjoyable attention grabbing read.

The author Jackson for whom this was his debut novel has a nice uncomplicated writing style, a former journalist you can see where he has used that experience in his writing to support his work, there is the same journalistic economy with words that maintains the momentum of the story whilst not compromising on his ability to create a vivid picture of events in the readers mind. The fact that the action mostly takes place around well known central London locations helps in this matter as these places are known to me as will be the case for a lot of readers.

One interesting aside that is explained at the end of the book is that the author originally started writing it after the events of 9/11 on the basis of asking the question, what if we had a terrorist attack in the UK? Following the actual attack in July 2005 and with the book not fully complete Jackson had to change the premise to explore the issue of what would happen if another attack followed hence the final version.

Certainly this book managed to hold my interest throughout and I will probably look to get the second one to read over the next holiday period. My copy was obtained through a swap on readitswapit. The paperback is published by Harper and retails for £6.99. On Amazon it is available for £5.49 new or from 46p in the new and used section. The ISBN is 978-0-00-721211-8 and the book runs to 481 pages.


Thanks for reading and rating my review.

Summary: Spy thriller based in the UK