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Orion The Castle The heart-racing new thriller with an incredible ending from Sunday Times bestseller John Sutherland.
The Castle The heart-racing new thriller with an incredible ending from Sunday Times bestseller John Sutherland ABISBOOK Orion.
- GenresThriller
352 pages, Paperback
Published April 24, 2025
About the author
John Sutherland
258 books199 followersJohn Andrew Sutherland is an English academic, newspaper columnist and author. He is Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
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May 24, 2026Yes, it’s an action thriller. Yes, it’s obviously fiction. But the author’s career as a high-ranking police officer and hostage and crisis negotiator gives this novel a real whiff of authenticity and it’s a great story!
Police officers, Alex and Pip, are both hostage and crisis negotiators and this book begins with an intense prologue, where the reader meets Alex in a very nasty situation. A drug-addicted thug has beaten his much younger girlfriend to a pulp and is now barricaded in his flat with his 4-month-old baby daughter, threatening to hurt her if the police don’t stand back. Somehow Alex manages to talk him down and the man agrees to let Alex hold the baby while the father rests his arms. The minute he releases the child the police are on him and the situation resolves without further violence.
After this incident, Alex and Pip (who has her own work traumas to deal with) decide it is time to take a holiday and so they rent a cottage in the grounds of a castle in the wilds of central Scotland. They are the only people there apart from Tom, the gamekeeper, who is an old friend, and an Earl and his friend who are both there for the fishing.
On the first morning of their stay they go for a walk around the grounds with Tom and hear shots ring out. With bullets flying, one of the fishermen drops dead, Pip is seriously wounded, and angry foreign voices rapidly come closer. Alex, Pip, the gamekeeper and the surviving fisherman (the Earl) manage to reach the castle and barricade themselves in. When the pursuers arrive, they learn the truth about the situation. The men are violent Russian thugs, hired by an American businessman and his daughter to kidnap the Earl and force his public confession to a violent rape a few years earlier.
Despite the odds, Alex, Pip, Tom and the Earl escape into the mountains, chased by the Russians and the Americans. What follows is a relentlessly tense story as the four try to evade their pursuers in the teeth of a storm, but they need all of Alex’s crisis negotiation skills when they take refuge in a remote mountain rescue cabin and get trapped by the bad guys. Being fiction, it all comes out well in the end!
My verdict
I thought this was a good story and very readable. The prose is straightforward, if a trifle factual in places, and the mountains and storm are well described.
Alex, Pip and Tom are the good guys, who are also well described and come across as decent people; the Americans not so much, although you do end up feeling for them. As for the Earl, he's a complete caricature of an overindulged, over-privileged excuse for a human being. Totally self-centred, he is uninterested in anyone’s safety but his own and so makes a useful foil for the others. And, as you might expect, the Russians are sketchily drawn, because they are only really there to provide the firepower and violence that keeps the plot running.
I liked this book, even though in places I found it dry and a bit long. Of course it’s also unlikely, but then it is fiction! If you like this sort of straightforward action thriller, you will enjoy this. I found it exciting to read and I did keep turning the pages, so 4 Stars.
Review by: Freyja, Oundle Crime
Police officers, Alex and Pip, are both hostage and crisis negotiators and this book begins with an intense prologue, where the reader meets Alex in a very nasty situation. A drug-addicted thug has beaten his much younger girlfriend to a pulp and is now barricaded in his flat with his 4-month-old baby daughter, threatening to hurt her if the police don’t stand back. Somehow Alex manages to talk him down and the man agrees to let Alex hold the baby while the father rests his arms. The minute he releases the child the police are on him and the situation resolves without further violence.
After this incident, Alex and Pip (who has her own work traumas to deal with) decide it is time to take a holiday and so they rent a cottage in the grounds of a castle in the wilds of central Scotland. They are the only people there apart from Tom, the gamekeeper, who is an old friend, and an Earl and his friend who are both there for the fishing.
On the first morning of their stay they go for a walk around the grounds with Tom and hear shots ring out. With bullets flying, one of the fishermen drops dead, Pip is seriously wounded, and angry foreign voices rapidly come closer. Alex, Pip, the gamekeeper and the surviving fisherman (the Earl) manage to reach the castle and barricade themselves in. When the pursuers arrive, they learn the truth about the situation. The men are violent Russian thugs, hired by an American businessman and his daughter to kidnap the Earl and force his public confession to a violent rape a few years earlier.
Despite the odds, Alex, Pip, Tom and the Earl escape into the mountains, chased by the Russians and the Americans. What follows is a relentlessly tense story as the four try to evade their pursuers in the teeth of a storm, but they need all of Alex’s crisis negotiation skills when they take refuge in a remote mountain rescue cabin and get trapped by the bad guys. Being fiction, it all comes out well in the end!
My verdict
I thought this was a good story and very readable. The prose is straightforward, if a trifle factual in places, and the mountains and storm are well described.
Alex, Pip and Tom are the good guys, who are also well described and come across as decent people; the Americans not so much, although you do end up feeling for them. As for the Earl, he's a complete caricature of an overindulged, over-privileged excuse for a human being. Totally self-centred, he is uninterested in anyone’s safety but his own and so makes a useful foil for the others. And, as you might expect, the Russians are sketchily drawn, because they are only really there to provide the firepower and violence that keeps the plot running.
I liked this book, even though in places I found it dry and a bit long. Of course it’s also unlikely, but then it is fiction! If you like this sort of straightforward action thriller, you will enjoy this. I found it exciting to read and I did keep turning the pages, so 4 Stars.
Review by: Freyja, Oundle Crime
October 28, 2025
Another great read from John Sutherland!
Couldn't put it down
Couldn't put it down
November 27, 2025
Really enjoyed this one and actually knew where it was set
April 12, 2026
Sadly couldn’t believe in these characters or their parts within the story. Russian mercenaries hired to exact revenge and then turn rogue? Really?
In real terms, the castle has a relatively small part in this story- unless there’s a metaphor I’m missing?
Themes of friendship, vengeance, legal system failures, sexual violence and love are all there but just don’t jell within the framework of the novel.
For those who enjoy a happy ending with no loose ends, you won’t be disappointed.
But for readers who want a plot you can get behind and care about, not so much.
In real terms, the castle has a relatively small part in this story- unless there’s a metaphor I’m missing?
Themes of friendship, vengeance, legal system failures, sexual violence and love are all there but just don’t jell within the framework of the novel.
For those who enjoy a happy ending with no loose ends, you won’t be disappointed.
But for readers who want a plot you can get behind and care about, not so much.
January 6, 2026
The dog survives, that's important. don't know that I loved it but I appreciated the realistic weight of Ashleigh's motivation vs. Alex's continued protection of Rafe. What moved it up to a full 4 stars for me was getting to drink the Scotch specifically blended to pair with the book while I read it. Cheers!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 18, 2026
I found the plot a bit implausible going from experiencing sexual assault to then hiring Russian mercenaries to get revenge just didn’t make sense to me. There was a big build up but then the big ending I was hoping for didn’t happen. On a personal note I found the overly explanatory sentences a little bit off putting as they stopped the flow of the story.
July 25, 2026
A great thriller set in the Scottish Highlands. Fast-moving, straightforward and with a surprisingly happy ending despite all the action and gunfights going on! I did think that it took Ashleigh a bit too long to be involved in the story despite her central role in the conflict. Honestly, I sympathised with her more than I did with the protagonist Alex.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 6, 2025
A great read! Thought provoking, emotional and suspenseful. My only negative comment: I felt as though I was dodging F bombs constantly!!
November 25, 2025
Two good books in a row? What’s going on?! Good story line and interesting characters - shame about few proofreading errors but then I’m picky! Will read another by this author.
November 29, 2025
Chilling (not least because of the weather descriptions) and high tension, and an enjoyable battle of wits in order to solve several hostage situations, this was gipping and thoroughly entertaining.
January 1, 2026
Really enjoyed this gritty and emotional. Met the author at the Bloody Scotland Crime Writers Festival in Stirling 2025. Lovely guy
April 2, 2026
Enjoyed this book. Was nice to not have a twist at the end and have a simple ending
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews