The Walking Dead

by Gerald Seymour

A stunning contemporary thriller from a master of the genre.

A young man starts a journey from a dusty village in Saudi Arabia. He believes it will end with his death in faraway England. For honour, for glory, for victory. If his mission succeeds, he will go to his god a martyr — and many innocents will die with him.

For David Banks, an armed protection officer charged with neutralising the growing menace to London’s safety, his role is not as clear-cut as it once was. The certainties which ruled his thinking are no longer black and white. Banks has begun to realise that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. Never have those distinctions been more dangerous to a police officer with his finger on the trigger — and to those who depend upon him.

On a bright spring morning the two men’s paths will cross. Before then, their commitment will be shaken by the journeys which take them there. The suicide bomber and the policeman will have equal cause to question the roads they’ve chosen. Win or lose, neither will be the same again . . .

Closure is a breathtakingly suspenseful thriller about the world in which we live, with all its dangers and complexities. With intelligence and deep understanding, Seymour shows us the choices we are forced to make, and their consequences. It is one of the most excitingly contemporary and relevant novels you will ever read.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Terrorism

416 pages, Hardcover

First published July 3, 2007

About the author

Gerald Seymour (born 25 November 1941 in Guildford, Surrey) is a British writer.

The son of two literary figures, he was educated at Kelly College at Tavistock in Devon and took a BA Hons degree in Modern History at University College London. Initially a journalist, he joined ITN in 1963, covering such topics as the Great Train Robbery, Vietnam, Ireland, the Munich Olympics massacre, Germany's Red Army, Italy's Red Brigades and Palestinian militant groups. His first book, Harry's Game, was published in 1975, and Seymour then became a full-time novelist, living in the West Country. In 1999, he featured in the Oscar-winning television film, One Day in September, which portrayed the Munich Olympics massacre.
Television adaptations have been made of his books Harry's Game, The Glory Boys, The Contract, Red Fox, Field Of Blood, A Line In The Sand and The Waiting Time.

Reviews

[Druss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Seymour read

[Duncan McLaren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uninspiring characterisation, far too predictable plotting, and an almost complete lack of reflexiveness about the moral challenges central to the topic. Gets a second star only because the first half was engaging enough to keep me reading.

[Sujeetha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok. So normally this author's books give me a headache. His writing style is so jagged, and not smooth, with so many punctuations (esp commas) dotting the vernacular landscape. Anyway, but this book, which I am reading after a long break from Gerald Seymour, is unexpectedly good. It is not too long and the characters are described precisely, and effectively. No long-winding descriptions of the terrain like I have encountered in his earlier works. Also, the callousness of the leader, and the helplessness of the victim are well outlined. The only minus point being that the reader always knew what the ending was going to be. But that does not take away the polish in the style. Well done Sir.

[Lesly H · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up from a "Freebie-Bin" at a local library in France. Although the story outline interested me, Seymour's contorted English grammar made the book heavy-going. The sentence structure often seemed peculiar, neither object nor tense was clear. I found it difficult to distinguish between the characters. The styling did not alter between the characters' thoughts and reading it became a chore. A very disappointing tome for such a well-known author - I had the feeling it was "bashed out" to fill a publisher's contract.

[Abi Demina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read many thrillers as it is not a genre I typically enjoy, however this was on loan to me from a friend and once I was a hundred pages in, I was hooked.
The stories of many different lives are told and gradually linked together, and the suspense is cleverly built around the countdown to the day when a suicide bomber will walk to his death.
We see the people surrounding the would-be martyr as plans are made and carried out, we see the perspectives of Protection Officers, people working in anti-terrorism, the moral dilemmas faced by these people around whether it is ever acceptable to torture one man to save the lives of many, when time is of the essence.
I stayed up late to finish this and it made me look at many things in a new light. The tension builds to such a point that it became impossible to put down before knowing the final outcome. Cleverly written and a recommended read.

My only issue was a small error with a blind man saying "Dickie, you look like hell." which had me convinced for a time that he was feigning being blind for some reason... Only it turned out to be something presumably missed in editing. Oops.

[Tom Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reading Gerald Seymour from first book to latest (with other authors mixed in too). This is my 24th GS book (if I've managed to read them in the right order), and it's one of the best. As is my habit, I read it without having read the blurb so it unfolded in front of me as the author planned. A real slow-burn, multi-plot, multi-character tale. I really enjoyed trying to work out which was the 'main' plot, where it was going, how the plot strands would meet (if at all). So pleased I hadn't read the blurb, which gives way too much away. I particularly liked the way the 'story from Spain' was woven into the tale. Masterful storytelling - If you like John le Carré's later (post cold-war) books, this is one for you.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

TWD follows the recruitment of a young Arab in Iraq to be a suicide bomber in England. In Seymour's style of alternating among various story lines, he follows the progress of the bomber and his handlers as they prepare for the attack, and also the actions of various apparently unconnected parties in England who, the reader knows, will ultimately be in on the denouement. Seymour's knowledge of the terrorist mind and the methods of the British intelligence lend weight to what would otherwise be a much less interesting tale.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't want to enjoy this book, partly because of the way it is constructed, jumping to different at first unrelated characters and events. But what started as a chore became more engrossing. Okay, the topic - suicide cell in suburbia and inept intelligence forces in the end breaking all the rules - is somewhat predictable, but it works, the threads all come together and the headlong rush to a dramatic climax doesn't disappoint.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gerald Seymour is the master of building suspense. So many interesting characters with separate story lines become part of the overall tapestry as the climax builds. Another fantastic page turner.

[Liz Howell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow start, eventually all came together

[Roy Jones]

Very typical of Seymour, very descriptive but still very much a ‘can’t put you down book’.

[Maja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit of a slow read, but enjoyable. Little anticlimactic at the end… 3rd star because I enjoy different character POVs.

[Michael Martz · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Walking Dead' mines a topic that's familiar to Gerald Seymour's readers: terrorism. In this one, a 'clean skin' Saudi with dreams of blowing himself up in a crowded space full of unbelievers, thereby gaining his 15 minutes of fame and theoretical (or theological) access to a bunch of virgins, is selected for a mission and travels to the UK. A cell has been established and high level help by the big time terrorist leaders are on site to make sure it happens.

On the other side, we have the leader of the Brit intelligence section responsible for stopping domestic terrorism who's a week from retirement, his brilliant 2nd in command who's a little 'soft', a blind American FBI specialist who is like a terrorism 'Rainman', a protection officer who has lots of personal problems exacerbated by his obsession with the diary of the war exploits of a relative, and various other characters who contribute to the action.

In typical Seymour style, he constantly rotates the focus of his writing on the activities of each player or group. This technique really drives the story forward with little padding or fluff. You may wonder how a specific character, such as the crippled pub crawler who talks about his military exploits, will factor into the conclusion, but you can generally be assured that he or she will if Seymour is writing about them.

Mr. Seymour really seems to know his stuff on this subject matter. His descriptions of spycraft seem very real and the writing is excellent. My only quibbles were that the American FBI specialist's dialogue seemed off and the flashbacks via verbatim passages from an old diary didn't contribute enough to the plot to warrant their inclusion. Otherwise, it's a great read that's propelled forward by Seymour's unmistakable style.

[Sam Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author chose an non generic structure for the book, splitting between separate characters quite sporadically but nonetheless he pulled it off well, at times it seemed as though the characters that were being discussed had been irrelevant but were tide together in a neat, somewhat convenient, bow. This is seldom done well. The insight and character development were outstanding they allowed the Reader to envisage the; stress, anxiety, and dedication to both ends of the spectrum within a religious extremist environment. It outlined the desires and willingness many express to give themselves to God in the name of faith and those that feel neglected and unworthy if not selected. The author also explores the elaborate extent to which many nations will go to protect their citizens. Apart from a few cultural technicalities this book was research brilliantly and I believe it pose an insight to all parties involved with the events of the narrative. Overall a terrific read.

[Stuart Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gerald Seymour is an incredible writer and ‘The Walking Dead’ demonstrates his absolutely immense talent for taking you on a dangerous journey. I've loved all of the Gerald Seymour books I have read and ‘The Walking Dead’ doesn’t disappoint in any way what so ever. I am often left feeling cheated or disappointed by similar authors due to the lack of competent research and attention to key detail but the attention to real detail and the realism in Seymour’s books is astounding and that's what drives the story. BRILLIANT!

[David Crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very topical storyline, with an interesting insight into both sides of the picture.
Not the best Seymour I have read though; at times I wondered if it had not been proofread, it may have been me but I found myself having to re-read some paragraphs that didn't seem to make grammatical sense. It has been a long time since I've puzzled over writing like this.
Good characterisation though, as always, and the typical headlong rush into the dramatic ending didn't disappoint.

[Jeffrey Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seymour has once again delved into the mind of the terrorist, not so much to justify the rationale behind actions but rather to portray the realism of impending events. His writing is cutting edge, with dialogue kept to a minimum, his protrayal of characters shot through with human foible. For any who wonder how we are to insure Western civilization in spite of the ineptness of our security agencies, this book is for you.

[Javier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book, althought I think it takes too long to explain easy things. Apartfrm that, I really like this book, because it get some interesting parts and you never know what is going to happend next. The story of the british policemen that his life seem to cross with the life of an Arabian guy that wants to set a bomb and suicidade and kill a lot of innocent people. I would recomend this book to a lot of people.

[Kate Theobald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me a while to get into, there were several different stories and I found it hard 2 distinguish each of the different storylines as the author was flipping across them. However, once some of the different paths intertwined I soon found my stride in the book and found I couldn't put it down. It was something different to read about terrorism from the suicide bombers point of view and it was a gripping race against time at the end to see if the detective could stop him.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

About 150 pages too long. You have to stick with the first 100 or so pages until it starts making sense. But it is an insightful book which could have done well to narrow its focus instead of trying to pull together so many different story lines. A worthwhile read but I would imagine there are better books that deal with suicide bombers

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fictional well written take on the muslim suicide bomber and the network that recruits, moves, arms and directs him in the terror war on the West. Great thriller by a wonderful author whose other works should be explored.

[Steve P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable, very topical thriller about terrorism and torture. Seymour has written 20+ novels over the years but this is the first of his that I've read. I'll definitely be looking for more.

[Graeme Mcgrath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another totally engrossing thriller from a master. This time the theme is a terrorist bomb threat in the UK. Anyone familiar with Seymour's books will recognise all the usual tropes, but why not if they work this well?

[Samaila Adelaiye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok I have read other Seymour books and his writing style is not necessarily 'pop' but this was a well rounded story dealing with terrorism and a web that gradually brings the story to a True climax. I loved it

[Barry Bridges · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the zombies that I usually review but the story of a suicide bomber on UK soil. The disparate tales at the beginning of this book confused me at first but Seymour weaves them into a story that leaves you both satisfied and disturbed.

[Faraz Siddiqui · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second Gerald Seymour novel after The Collaborator and it didn't disappoint. Though this wasn't as fast paced and thrilling as the collaborator, nevertheless it did keep me hooked on to it..Worth a read..

[Jake Kiesel · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting story line, condsidering the current state of affairs.

[Niels · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked reading this book. I think it is accurate in discribing modern day terrorist threats. However, the story builds carefully towards the climax, but i find that part a bit thin.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good thriller. A real page-turner.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed overall.
Spanish Civil war parallels worked well.
Lots of characters (too many) and story lines (too many).
Long time to work out how all the plots came together.