Tango One

by Stephen Leather

In different parts of London, three recruits prepare for their first day at the Metropolitan Police's training centre at Hendon. All three had succeeded in getting into the police in spite of weaknesses. But on their first day, the assistant commissioner announces that he wants them to join a team of undercover detectives. Their brief? To become criminals; to work their way up through whatever criminal organisations they can get access to, and to collate evidence against the criminals they come across. Their target? One of the world's biggest drug dealers. Den Donovan, alias 'Tango One' - number one on HM Customs and Excise List of most wanted criminals. Three years later all the recruits are getting close to their target. Too close, perhaps, to remember the rules...

Genres: Crime, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense

406 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

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

[Nathan Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well set up crime drama that is a really enjoyable read. I didn’t really believe the twist, but the final ending was a satisfying conclusion. Worth a bash!

On a slight side note, I wasn’t thrilled with the racial stereotyping and general misogyny throughout. Made it a less palatable read

[David Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wanted to read this thriller before the movie comes out in May. Oh what a tangle web. Uncover cops and the #1 gangster on the prowl. Reading this actually causes you to root for Tango One. Everything seems to go against him, but he comes out okay. A very exciting undercover police thriller written by Stephen Leather. This is like the 10th Stephen Leather thriller I have read. Several Spider Shepherd novels and several others like The Chinaman and The Vets.

[Anandh Sundar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set a thief to catch a thief. Stephen Leather builds this entire theme into a book, where police decide that 3 of their prospective recruits would be better off becoming criminals and going undercover to nab a ruthless druglord. Story has many twists and turns, with an explosive ending-in fact even the ending alone is worth reading the book.

[Phil Altimas · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the police force asks three guys who are due to start basic training to take a different track things get interesting, they put them under deep cover.
Then one day one of the Mets most wanted drug dealers are forced to come home to sort out an issue he starts to interact with people all over London
We have police, Russian gangsters, yardies, Columbians, we have fights chases and drug deals
But where does it all end

What a great book this is a page-turner and even coming toward the end I had no idea how it would all pan out
Great pace, great story line, great characters
Loved it

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a bit shocked at myself for having so much sympathy for the protagonist given his business dealings.

[Andrew Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book in one night, it was THAT good. Really like the idea of using rookie trainee police Officers fresh out of training for undercover operations. The reason being they behave like themselves and not like hardened undercover officers, all of which have had a few issues in the past.
It's fast moving and keeps you guessing right to the end as to what will happen.
I couldn't put this book down. It was my first Stephen Leather book but will not be my last.

[Yarely Madinaveitia · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Una fotografía es totalmente real; es lo que habrías visto si hubieras estado en ese lugar. Pero una pintura es la interpretación del artista, lo cual significa que todo lo que hay en el cuadro está allí por algún motivo. Cada uno es como un misterio a desentrañar."

(3.5)

Tango uno es un libro que trata sobre tres aspirantes a policía y un narcotraficante que está bajo la mira policíaca. Cuando Hathaway, un espía de aduanas, utiliza su último recurso para atrapar a Den Donovan (Tango uno) y falla, decide seleccionar a tres aspirantes a policía (Tina, Warren y James) basándose en sus antecedentes penales, cuando se reúne con ellos, les comenta que estarán trabajando como policías encubiertos, les asigna trabajos acorde a los gustos de Den, con toda la intención de que en algún momento se encuentren los encubiertos con Tango uno, pasarán años hasta que los chicos puedan encontrarse con Donovan y cuando lo hacen empieza realmente su trabajo.

En este libro, Stephen Leather nos muestra lo que es una vida ordinaria hasta para un narcotraficante, nos hizo enfocarnos en que tarde o temprano hay cosas con las que tenemos que lidiar en casa ya sean hijos, esposa, trabajo, etc.
Sinceramente, esperaba leer un poco más de acción, balas y drogas por todos lados y fue todo lo contrario, llegué a querer demasiado a Den por todo lo que hacía por sus cercanos y me encantó su pequeño romance con Louis, lo que definitivamente odié fue el final que tuvo Hathaway, lo odieeeee, pero, además de eso, me tuvo atrapada cada página, no podía soportar los problemas que Donovan tenía y me encantó conocer más acerca del narcotráfico, un muy buen libro y diferente tratándose del tema del narcotráfico.

[Ellie Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a master criminal and the network that surrounds him and the police/customs operatives who are trying to stop him.

I thought the structure of the book was a little unbalanced and the beginning was a little slow - a lot of background information that perhaps could have been fed in as the action unfolded.

Once the meat of the story got underway however it was a good read which kept me coming back for more.

I found the change of name of one character towards the end of the story confusing and unnecessary - not sure what that added?

It was clear that the author loved their lead character. He did such a good job of making us if not like at least respect the character that it was hard to see how there could be a happy ending. When I read up on this author later I found out he had struggled with the ending of the book. It shows. On the whole I thought the ending was good. Donovan's treatment of some of the other characters at the end of the book was a little unbelievable however - to have stayed true to the character I think he would have taken a harder line with at least two of them but it's a minor quibble.

A thoroughly enjoyable romp through the criminal underworld. Would definitely read more from the same author

[Mrs A. J. Turbfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent storytelling very believable a little disconcerting that that sort of thing goes on..but as fiction it is plausible.

Very well written tale with a,small,amount of violence and no sex. What a joy. Lovely to read something without spelling and grammatical errors. First class proof reading.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first Stephen Leather book that I read and still my favourite to date,

Stephen Leather knows how to write books/stories well - they easily convert to tv dramas. This book is fast paced with great characyers and a wonderfol storyline.

Dennis Donovan... what a villain.

[Mandy Partridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone pretending to be a famous writer wrote to me recently, asked what I was reading, and I said 'utter rubbish'. This was one of the books I was referring to.
As a crime writer, I love reading crime novels, and am always interested in both the criminal and police/ detective sides of the story. Leather does examine the dodgy methods used by the London police, recruiting young men from backgrounds other than AngloSaxon, and placing them in deep cover, where we see the relatively honest and hard-working drug dealers building their networks. So the questionable racial profiling of the recruiting officers, as well as the casual Misogyny displayed throughout the book, made this book a chore to read.
Printed in 2002, but written with the mindset of a dinosaur. Don't bother wasting your time, especially women readers. Yawn.

[Anthony L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised to come across a well writtened book after encountering so many bad stuff churned out by poor writers.
The story is absorbing because the writer wrote well, without arbitrary irrelevant trivia to pump up the page count. You get interesting twists at the end. The question of morality remained as the "bad guy" turned back and remained unpunished. In fact, the writer started off getting the reader against him, showing him as cruel, merciless and evil but slowly make the reader sympathetic instead. A sign of top class writing skill, I presume. Highly recommended for light leisure reading

[Deyth Banger · Rating 2 out of 5]

"December 23, 2019 –
5.0%
December 23, 2019 – page 0
0.0% "Can't wait to have a chance to check out and other works... until the end of this year...

It was a long fucking year!"
December 23, 2019 – page 0
0.0% "Guess What I am... right now... here!"
December 23, 2019 – Shelved
December 23, 2019 – Started Reading"

- I started wih high hopes, high expectations...
It starts complex and then... in the middle and right at the kickstar... he fucks it over... probably author day of being screw up...

[Ruth Hosford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn’t read a Stephen Leather book for many years and picked this up on a whim on holiday. It’s a really good page turner. Three young newly qualified cops who’ve had their own history are commandeered by a senior police office to become untrained undercover police to get evidence against the number one most wanted drug lord operating out of the Caribbean but based in London with a wife and 9 year old son. Each cop has his own avenue to the target. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the twist at the end was such a surprise. Well worth a read.

[Sze Ming · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best of the 7-8 Stephen Leather books that I have read so far.
Gripping and page turner.
Logical and sensible (unlike some other stories).
Recognised the name of the gang boss from “The Stretch”, an Easter Bunny reference 😀

[Fernanda Sarcasmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

La historia es entretenida, amena y fácil de leer, me resultó novelezca y poco realista. Considero que el narcotrafico tiene muchas más complicaciones de las que aquí se narran y en mi opinión creo que a los personajes les falta personalidad.

[Vittorio Ambrosetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romanzo avvincente e piuttosto originale, non la solita storia di spacciatori seppure siano presenti tutti gli elementi del genere.
Senza rovinare la sopresa a nessuno, posso dire che la divisione tra "buoni" e "cattivi" si fa sempre più sfumata procedendo con la lettura.

[gerald morson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again brilliant

Another cracking yarn from Stephen Leather ,enjoyed the film but the book is a lot better ,a master storyteller,tango 1 is up there with HIS best novels

[peter mcdonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely good

An absolutely fantastic book. Keeps you wanting to turn the next page after page.
Very realistic and very plausible plot.

[susan sawyer chris sawyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super .exciting

Brilliant couldn't put kindle down. Thank you Stephen Leather . What comes next ? Thoroughly enjoyed
Tang One more more more

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read!

[Simon C Duckworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've ever read. Couldn't put it down. A superb plot with so many twists. Hats off to Mr. Leather, Thank you.

[Ben · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really poor, can not understand the good reviews. The characters are all poorly written and under-developed. The descriptions are bland. The plot was predictable. Was glad when it was over.

[Nambiar Deepak · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent plot, great characters and a super ending. The stories of each character ties up in the end and that was great to see

[Helen Stead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another gripping story from Stephen Leather. Lots of twists and turns to keep the reader intrigued.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy holiday read. Good twists and an interesting plot but Tango One was a one dimensional character.

[The Villan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok read

[Петя Иванова · Rating 4 out of 5]

Добра история, леко напомняща на някой филм, който така и не успях да се сетя. Препоръчвам.

[Govno Nichevo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this was a good read. Fair pace, nice layers of intrigue and conspiracy. Quite a page turner.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is based on the Isis Audio read by Stephen Greif.
Although this book started a little slow with the recruiting of the undercover agents, of which you start wondering when they're going to get pulled back into the plot, this soon picked up and was, for me, an amazing book. I loved the story from the point Den came into the scene and Stephen Greif was fantastic in keeping the book going.
I've read/listened to all of the Dan Shepherd books and although some were 4-5 star reads, I always wondered why Leather had to have several plots running simultaneously. This one, however, was one story line with a few twists and loads of action along the way. I started thinking that there were a few loose ends to tie up just as Leather does just that. A fun read, made even better with Stephen Greif's narration and voices.
I loved this one!