Wesley Britton's Blog - Posts Tagged "england"

The Dictator of Britain: Book Two: The Dirty War
Paul Michael Dubal
Paperback: 504 pages
Publisher: KDP (April 8, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1311549692
ISBN-13: 978-1311549693
https://www.amazon.com/Dictator-Brita...


Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton

The Dirty War, book Two of the Dictator of Britain trilogy, doesn’t open like its predecessor. There, author Paul Michael Dubal spent considerable time painting the panorama of what England would be like if a right-wing Fascist politician, Lawrence Pelham, came to power. Its sequel, The Dirty War, begins by focusing on the aftermath of the destruction of a small resistance cell we saw crushed in the final pages of book one.

In particular, we spend most of the opening pages with disgraced journalist Harry Clarke, the subject of the largest manhunt in British history. We run with Clarke across the rural countryside as he escapes capture time and time again as we, along with Clarke, see just how barbaric Pelham’s Britain has become, especially the bloody atrocities occurring in the disease-ridden deportation camps.

Among those looking for Clarke is the former leader of that doomed resistance cell, the psychopathic Sean Kelly. After spending months in prison and enduring relentless tortures that force him to give up what he knows about the dissidents and his captors fuel his hatred for Clarke, Kelly is recruited to join the hunt. Another former member of that cell, Detective Constable Kendrick, also joins the hunt for Clarke but with a different motive. Along with Clarke’s former girlfriend, Julianne, Kendrick wants to help.

When we finally spend time with the dictator of Britain, we follow Pelham into an underground labyrinth of laboratories where his private Aryan Project is underway. There, amoral corporations fund experiments in genetic engineering, biological warfare, and psychological manipulation which Pelham keeps secret from his own government. We learn the U.N, other countries, and Pelham’s own cabinet are beginning to see Pelham for what he is although without the evidence to move forward with any legal actions. Those who know him see a very changed man from the politician who came to power less than a year before.

Pelham’s atrocities start to come to light after Clarke becomes a central figure in an underground London resistance cell led by cyber experts who find ways to bypass the government’s control of the internet and social media. Clarke becomes the face and voice of the resistance while nearly everyone seemingly opposed to Pelham double-crosses each other in a layer cake of conflicting betrayals. While this is going on, everyone wonders what it will take to get the U.N. to take any action beyond economic sanctions? Can Pelham be impeached? Can Harry Clarke keep eluding the authorities diligently seeking the most wanted traitor in England?

Like the previous Rise to Power, The Dirty War is a gripping read, all the more chilling because of its all too believable plausibility. True, author Dubal doesn’t touch all the bases and some story points are rather quickly glossed over. For example, the royal family all but disappears and only have a short mention when they complain about trespassers on their property. Surely King William and his family would have much more to say in “real life,” despite the despotic threats of Pelham and his military supporters? Surely Brits living overseas would also have more to say as they’d be out of reach of Pelham’s ruthless police force?

Despite these notes about things Dubal didn’t tell us, what he did write unfolds in a fast-moving, multi-layered, very character-driven epic brimming with thrills, surprises, and more than memorable scenes. For example, the steel drums filled with human exiles and what happens to them at the shipyards are unforgettable. If you’re like me, you’ll want to go on and read the grand finale, book 3 of the trilogy, The End of Days. And remember—2016 was a year when the astonishing and unbelievable did take place in American and British politics. As I said in my review of Rise to Power, don’t be too quick to say “It can’t happen here.” There are just too many folks who wish it would.

My August 18 review of The Dictator of Britain: Book One, Rise to Power was first posted at:
http://dpli.ir/TX1GNt

This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Aug. 25 at:
http://dpli.ir/EcMBRB

Pigs
John Henry Bennet
Paperback: 392 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (August 5, 2012)
ISBN-10: 1478360429
ISBN-13: 978-1478360421
https://www.amazon.com/Pigs-John-Henr...

Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton

I’m perhaps coining a somewhat inaccurate term, but while reading Pigs I felt like I was experiencing my first espionage procedural. That’s because, page after unfolding page, I really felt like I was witnessing a layered series of events in a very realistic “you are there” documentary style.

It all begins with the actual Buncefield Oil Terminal disaster of Sunday, December 11, 2005. It was the largest explosion on mainland Britain since WWII. In reality, it took years for any causes to be identified—it was finally determined that likely a failure with a switch or alarm attached to one tank resulted in an oil overflow that night.

But in Benet’s imagination, while investigators weren’t initially sure if the disaster was an accident or a terrorist act, readers are quickly notified it was a bomb planted by an Islamic agent in a “pig,” a device used to clean oil pipes. In the story, investigators were hampered by having no one taking credit for the strike. That was and is unusual behavior for Jihadists who usually want very public recognition for their blows against the West.

In the aftermath of the explosion, we are taken to the offices of important government ministers, the offices of intelligence officers who are British, French, and Israeli, observe camera clicking surveillance teams, and go into meetings of a multi-national terrorist cell. We meet a wide cast of well-drawn characters and follow them around, step by step, day by day, as they methodically determine just who was responsible for the explosion. And, as the story progresses, we watch the terrorists hatch their next scheme to blow up an oil platform in Qatar, a country they consider too cozy with the West. That’s just the next item on their vicious wish list before a serious attempt to plant a dirty bomb in London.

With his background, it shouldn’t be surprising that Bennet was able to fill his yarn with so much international verisimilitude. While serving in the British army, he spent time in the Middle East before he had a commercial career in the UK, France, the Middle East and Gulf. His travels included London, Paris, Doha Qatar, Dubai UAE, Jeddah Saudi Arabia, Eastern Europe, Hungary, Russia, Asia, North America, and Africa. His publicity doesn’t indicate any background in intelligence, so we don’t know if experience or research lead to all those operational details and personal interactions he provides.

Before the increasingly exciting final 100 pages or so, there is little glamour in the investigations, very minimal violence, little high drama or pyrotechnics, many interagency turf wars, and the obligatory politicos working to make sure no blame falls on them. In addition, we see much simple low-tech legwork in various settings before it all comes together in a London showdown where another pig is employed in the heart of the city’s sewer system.

So Bennet’s Mi-6 operative Harry Baxter, head of a three person team looking into the possibility of terrorism in the Buncefield disaster, is a very believable globe trotter in the trilogy that began with Pigs and continued in Porkies (2015) and Lies, Damn Lies (May 2017). You can be sure—this reviewer plans to read the other two volumes this year. For those who like their spy adventures down-to-earth, topical, and down-and-dirty without the exaggerated elements of the likes of Fleming, Ludlum, or Higgins, give Pigs a try. It’s an engrossing ride even without the over-the-top aspects of other thriller writers.


This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Sept. 16, 2017 at:
http://dpli.ir/4zCg4C