The Tunnel Rats

by Stephen Leather

Two murders, thousands of miles apart : one in London, one in Bangkok.

The bodies are brutally mutilated, an ace of spades impaled upon their chests. In Washington, a US senator receives photographs of the corpses. And realises that his past has come back to haunt him.

Nick Wright is the detective trying to solve the mystery of the double killing. His hunt for a motive takes him to the Vietnam, where the American tunnel rats fought the dirtiest battle of the war against the Viet Cong.

But his search places him in grave danger with a killer determined to protect the secrets of the tunnels. At whatever cost . . .

************

PRAISE FOR STEPHEN LEATHER

'A master of the thriller genre'
Irish Times

'As tough as British thrillers get . . . gripping'
Irish Independent

'The sheer impetus of his story-telling is damned hard to resist'
Sunday Express

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Crime, War

512 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2004

About the author

Stephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. For much of 2011 his self-published eBooks - including The Bestseller, The Basement, Once Bitten and Dreamer's Cat - dominated the UK eBook bestseller lists and sold more than half a million copies. The Basement topped the Kindle charts in the UK and the US, and in total he has sold more than two million eBooks. His bestselling book The Chinaman was filmed as The Foreigner, starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan and grossing more than $100 million.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephen Leather is up there with one of my favourite authors, if not THE favourite. As much as I love his Dan Shepherd novels, there's something about his earlier work with his stories based in Asia that really excite me, and this one was no different. A great read!

[Max Coggan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable thriller

[Amanda Patterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vietnam as you wish it wasn't. Taut, terrifying.Well written.

[Marcelle Batista · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most brilliant book and I rate him the best author

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty poor example of Stephen Leather's writing. The main protagonist, Nick Wright, is pretty dull and boring and the storyline is not great

[Mumma]

a story that you will keep you wanting to keep turning the pages, set in Vietnam. a good read.

[Ben Hirsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a generous mood, I like the Stephen Leather/Spider Shepherd books, of which I have read several. I am not sure what made me buy this, probably a Facebook post. But I read it. The reason for generosity is that it starts pretty slow, the main character has no business being by himself on a murder investigation, let alone investigating a murder overseas, and then the ending was, so what happens to the new vice president? Probably should be 3.4 to 3.6 or so rating.

Nick Wright, his partner is Reid, they are always drinking on job. They are transportation police, investigating a murder. Someone else gets killed in Thailand in a similar fashion to the murder in London, and Wright talks his way into getting sent to see the connection. All of this could have been condensed, but was not great. Then Wright gets to Vietnam and goes searching for the murderer, while tailing others involved in the case through tunnels and that was pretty good reading.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The tunnel rats. Stephen Leather.

I came to Stephen Leather books in the last couple of years. He is a thoughtful writer.

I am enjoying his earlier work like the Tunnel Rats. A very different setting with a gripping villain. And then the surprise villain/hero character that ties all the sub plots together

One of the challenges of most Leather stories is there are a LOT of characters which means you as the reader are required to concentrate more.

[Niel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Leather but it's different

Interesting change of a scenery for Stephen Leather. After having previously only read his urban jungle thrillers, I wasn't sure what to expect of this one. A pleasant surprise, fast paced, enough plot twists to keep everyone happy, and a satisfying finale. A good read indeed.

[mike christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping throughout!

A well thought out and historically researched tale with vivid description s and exciting plot and subplots. The action is suspenseful and realistic and e
ding not obvious. A thoroughly good read....more!

[Jordan Brodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Despite 500 pages and tiny font it was an easy read and gripping throughout. Fantastic description all the way through and a brilliant idea for a book - really like the premise. A few small flaws if I was being picky but there often are slight holes in a story

[Dylan Botha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book. Well written, good plot and gripping. A good read.

[K jam Jam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well constructed and fast-moving plot the tension is continuous as the tale reaches its conclusion

[Christoph · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent story arc

Loved the historic link to the tunnels and Vietnam Asia connections. Well written all around. Wonder if there is a sequel?

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10

[The Cats’ Mother · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of his earlier standalone thrillers featuring English transport policeman Nick Wright (and his alcoholic partner Tommy Reid, yes really) investigating the gruesome murder of an American in an abandoned railway tunnel in London. A second murder in Bangkok links the deaths to a group of Vietnam veterans who worked as Tunnel Rats, one of whom is about to become Vice-President of the USA and cannot have their secret revealed, so he sends a mercenary to take care of any revelations. The first third of the book was fairly classic British Police Procedural, with a psychologically scarred hero, dysfunctional colleagues, a bit of forensics and lots of drinking and bitching, but then Nick travels to Thailand & Vietnam and it becomes more of an adventure thriller with a game of cat & mouse in the Vietnam Cong tunnels.
It was exciting and not completely predictable and reasonably fast-paced.
The one discordant note for me was the way the British paedophile sex tourist was portrayed as a harmless holidaymaker casually paying happy young boys for sex, really just as a plot device to get the information on the 2nd murder to the British team. Maybe the author wanted to portray some more of the seamy underside of Thailand but it came across to me as too normal, that it doesn't bother him at all. I guess I like the baddies in books to get their just desserts.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like a good stand-alone book, and this was worthy of a 3 1/2 rating, voting 4 to give the benefit of the doubt. I enjoyed the story and liked Stephen's knowledge or research in order to make the music scenes very detailed.

The problems lie in the charcterisation, mainly with the main investigating officer. Not only was he too naive and inexperienced to have been sent on an international investigation, without back up or reporting his whereabouts, but also in the fact that, maybe due to the narrator - although I do particularly like Paul Thornley - he seemed 'flat' as a main character with whom you don't really relate to or root for.

I don't think the motivation to return to the tunnels was really believable, not was the connection between the killer and the victims but all in all, it was a pleasant story with a few twists, worth reading but not ground-breaking.

Ps. Is there a sequel or can we assume the VP will live his time in office looking over his shoulder before the inevitable hit?

[Alok Bavadekar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first time reading Stephen Leather, and overall it made a strong impression. The book starts a little slowly and takes its time setting things up, but once it finds its footing it becomes a solid, fast-moving thriller. The premise is gripping, with murders in different parts of the world linked to secrets buried deep in the Vietnam War, and I liked how the investigation gradually widens in scope. Nick Wright is not a particularly polished or heroic detective, but that rough edge works here, especially as the story shifts from London to Southeast Asia. The Vietnam sections, especially the tunnel sequences, are easily the highlight and deliver real tension and atmosphere. While parts of the plot could have been tighter and condensed, the pacing improves significantly in the second half and kept me turning pages. Not perfect, but engaging, gritty, and entertaining enough that I am definitely interested in picking up more from this author.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first book I read on my new Kindle, and it was probably because it was a cheap, or free book. The storyline initially was good, and the premise was promising, but... (you knew one was coming, right?) it was just annoying how the main character just didn't seem to act like a police officer should. I simply couldn't buy in to the storyline as a consequence. That said, I did find the descriptive parts of the book good, I could imagine in my mind's eye the various surroundings, so that was at least a saving grace of the book. I also guessed whodunnit fairly early on too, but I think that was just luck on my part perhaps? A reasonable read, and fine if you've not read a lot of murder/mystery books.

[Jim McGowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by this author, and it was an OK read. The story was interesting and the plot had a few twists that kept it engaging. However, I found the characters to be a little flat; and I never really had much empathy for the main protagonist. Worth a read if you are into crimey thrillers, but don't believe the marketing: it is not as good as McNab!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two problem with this. One is that the the reason for the "rats" to return to the scene of the crime is far too weak to stand up. It wouldn't even have been considered. The other is Wright's "problem" which is badly developed and unbelievable as it stands.
This is not Leather's best work. An editor should have taken him to task.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it has well developed and believable characters and the some good unpredictable plot twists. The descriptions of the Viet Cong tunnels was very well done and puts you right there in the midst of the action. A very good read

[Mark Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was interested in the subject matter having read many books on the Vietnam War and visited the tunnels mentioned. However I found the plot a little far fetched even for this genre... The introduction of the British Transport Police element seemed contrived. Enjoyable enough but fairly forgettable.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Stephen Leather's writing... i just didn't like tnis book very much.

Not his best.... by a long way.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable read.

[Marize De Klerk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually found it very interesting.......good insight of the way things happenend - enjoyed this one

[Janey Rosen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent read. Once I start Mr Leather's books I simply cannot put them down.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Book; suspenseful & Gripping

[Pankaj Verma · Rating 2 out of 5]

interesting and pacy but boring in parts
main protagonist is always reflecting on his divorce.
though the concept of and achieving revenge is interesting

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephen Leather books are hard to put down!! Great read