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Thomas Bladen #3
Cause & Effect
An ordinary surveillance photographer is drawn into a dark web of gangland favours and official corruption in this grounded British espionage thriller.
Never do a favour for a mob boss. Or a hitman.
Relegated to light duties after his last assignment, Surveillance Support Unit officer Thomas Bladen is spending freezing London mornings tracking low-level benefit cheats.
But the dreary work is soon cut short. His girlfriend’s father needs help clearing an old debt to an incarcerated gangster.
The price? Thomas must identify who attacked the criminal’s godson and recover a missing suitcase. God knows what’s inside it.
Determined to protect his family, he enlists his deadpan partner, Karl McNeill. But as covert surveillance draws them into an East End drug ring, Karl faces a complication of his own. An old army oppo has just assassinated a notorious child killer—and needs their help to disappear.
Unravelling a link between stolen drug stashes and the sniper’s hit, Thomas realises an official cover-up is already underway. Caught between gangland enforcers and corrupt handlers who view them as expendable, he and Karl must discover who’s pulling the strings…
Before their obligations land them in body bags.
For readers who
Fallible, reluctant protagonists dragged into high-stakes dangerGrounded British government surveillance and street-level spycraftDark gangland favours overlapping with official state corruptionEvolving partner dynamics and deadpan workplace banterAtmospheric London noir with an edge of dry, sardonic wit
Cause & Effect is book three in the Thomas Bladen Spy Thrillers series—gritty, grounded British espionage fiction perfect for fans of Mick Herron, John le Carré, and Len Deighton.
_________________________________________
Praise for the Thomas Bladen Spy
★★★★★ It had all the attributes a great suspense thriller should have and more.
★★★★★ Very much in the same genre as le Carré’s world and I would recommend it to any one who likes that type of novel.
★★★★★ You really care about the hero, and worry about him. I like the very British humor.
★★★★★ A good spy thriller with an appealing flawed hero in Bladen. I liked the London life evoked!
★★★★★ The story never lets up.
Never do a favour for a mob boss. Or a hitman.
Relegated to light duties after his last assignment, Surveillance Support Unit officer Thomas Bladen is spending freezing London mornings tracking low-level benefit cheats.
But the dreary work is soon cut short. His girlfriend’s father needs help clearing an old debt to an incarcerated gangster.
The price? Thomas must identify who attacked the criminal’s godson and recover a missing suitcase. God knows what’s inside it.
Determined to protect his family, he enlists his deadpan partner, Karl McNeill. But as covert surveillance draws them into an East End drug ring, Karl faces a complication of his own. An old army oppo has just assassinated a notorious child killer—and needs their help to disappear.
Unravelling a link between stolen drug stashes and the sniper’s hit, Thomas realises an official cover-up is already underway. Caught between gangland enforcers and corrupt handlers who view them as expendable, he and Karl must discover who’s pulling the strings…
Before their obligations land them in body bags.
For readers who
Fallible, reluctant protagonists dragged into high-stakes dangerGrounded British government surveillance and street-level spycraftDark gangland favours overlapping with official state corruptionEvolving partner dynamics and deadpan workplace banterAtmospheric London noir with an edge of dry, sardonic wit
Cause & Effect is book three in the Thomas Bladen Spy Thrillers series—gritty, grounded British espionage fiction perfect for fans of Mick Herron, John le Carré, and Len Deighton.
_________________________________________
Praise for the Thomas Bladen Spy
★★★★★ It had all the attributes a great suspense thriller should have and more.
★★★★★ Very much in the same genre as le Carré’s world and I would recommend it to any one who likes that type of novel.
★★★★★ You really care about the hero, and worry about him. I like the very British humor.
★★★★★ A good spy thriller with an appealing flawed hero in Bladen. I liked the London life evoked!
★★★★★ The story never lets up.
- GenresMystery
346 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 4, 2026
About the author
Derek Thompson
24 books45 followersDerek is a British author of novels and short fiction.
Thomas Bladen Spy Thrillers published by Vinci Books: STANDPOINT, LINE OF SIGHT, CAUSE & EFFECT, SHADOW STATE, FLASHPOINT, and PATHFINDER.
DS Wild Crime Mysteries published by Joffe Books:
LONG SHADOWS, WEST COUNTRY MURDER, and DEATH IN WILTSHIRE.
INTO THE VOID is a collection of short fiction by Sixpence Publishing.
Reviews
THOMAS BLADEN SPY THRILLERS
"Realistic rather than glitzy. This story did not disappoint with its gritty detail and credible characters. Kept me hooked right to the end. Great writing!" VC
DS WILD CRIME MYSTERIES
"...Slid down like a beer at the end of a hard day... engaging and entertaining story that kept me in suspense. A good balance of male & female characters, well written and believable." Helenmx5
Thomas Bladen Spy Thrillers published by Vinci Books: STANDPOINT, LINE OF SIGHT, CAUSE & EFFECT, SHADOW STATE, FLASHPOINT, and PATHFINDER.
DS Wild Crime Mysteries published by Joffe Books:
LONG SHADOWS, WEST COUNTRY MURDER, and DEATH IN WILTSHIRE.
INTO THE VOID is a collection of short fiction by Sixpence Publishing.
Reviews
THOMAS BLADEN SPY THRILLERS
"Realistic rather than glitzy. This story did not disappoint with its gritty detail and credible characters. Kept me hooked right to the end. Great writing!" VC
DS WILD CRIME MYSTERIES
"...Slid down like a beer at the end of a hard day... engaging and entertaining story that kept me in suspense. A good balance of male & female characters, well written and believable." Helenmx5
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 15, 2015
I'm the author!
December 2, 2015
***Note: Book provided by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***
I had a pretty hard time finishing the book but I did it! I guess the manner of speaking was difficult for me to follow so I missed a lot of the dialogue. I feel that the book dragged a bit and had to many moving pieces. Also, I feel the author should had done a better job at giving the reader more of a background story. There were pieces thrown out that seemed to have happened on a previous book but yet they were not explained so I felt like I was missing the full picture. I couldn’t grasp the conflict between Miranda and Thomas’ parents, I did not know why Thomas was so loyal to Ken, I didn’t understand the relationship between Thomas and Miranda’s parents. Definitely more information was required.
All in all it was a complicated read for me that I was unable to relate to or enjoy.
I had a pretty hard time finishing the book but I did it! I guess the manner of speaking was difficult for me to follow so I missed a lot of the dialogue. I feel that the book dragged a bit and had to many moving pieces. Also, I feel the author should had done a better job at giving the reader more of a background story. There were pieces thrown out that seemed to have happened on a previous book but yet they were not explained so I felt like I was missing the full picture. I couldn’t grasp the conflict between Miranda and Thomas’ parents, I did not know why Thomas was so loyal to Ken, I didn’t understand the relationship between Thomas and Miranda’s parents. Definitely more information was required.
All in all it was a complicated read for me that I was unable to relate to or enjoy.
December 21, 2017
I read this after the first two and feel that you need to follow the sequence if you are to understand the character and his way of thinking. If you just pick this up having not read the first two, then you could easy be lost. Much of what needs to be explained is found in the first two and this is a neat follow on in the same spy genre. It does show how a career changes over time, one time it's watching the docks, then looking at suspicious army types. I understand from Joffe Books that another of Bladen's adventures is expected.
June 12, 2017
A good book. The main character is often somewhat confused about what is really going on. I gather that that the author wants the reader to feel that way as well, so somethings are never completely explained.
January 3, 2016
Slow read
Long round about, difficult to follow. I stuck through it to the end. No real spark of interest for me
Long round about, difficult to follow. I stuck through it to the end. No real spark of interest for me
February 2, 2016
Crap, certainly not "unputdownable". Characters were not memorable at all. The ending was just naff. Don't bother reading, I only finished it coz I don't like to start books and not finish them.
March 2, 2016
Not as good as I expected
Too many characters. And hard to understand. Just forced myself to finish it. It definitely was not a thriller for me,
Too many characters. And hard to understand. Just forced myself to finish it. It definitely was not a thriller for me,
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews