A Damned Serious Business

by Gerald Seymour

'The novel is an absorbing briefing on cyberwarfare as well as a masterclass in characterisation' SUNDAY TIMES Thriller of the MonthFrom the author of Harry's Game - A Sunday Times '100 best crime novels and thrillers since 1945' pickThere is a new cold war raging and its frontline warriors are Russian hackers - gang-members working freelance for the FSB, successor to the KGB. Massive thefts of personal information, electoral interference, catastrophic disruption of commercial and social services, banks, airlines, even whole countries disabled - this is happening now.Nicknamed 'Boot' because of his obsession with the Duke of Wellington and the battle of Waterloo, Edwin Coker is a case officer at the Vauxhall headquarters of MI6. When a young hacker falls into his hands and reveals details of a secret meeting, Boot conceives a daring plan to strike back - not with a computer virus of his own, but with a bomb that will seriously damage the Russian operation, spreading fear and distrust.Now Boot and his little team need a 'deniable' handler to deliver the explosives across the border from Estonia into Russia and bring the hacker back out. They turn to Merc, an ex-soldier fighting in Iraq, a gun-for-hire who knows how to get out of a tight spot. They hope.From the moment Merc sets out to cross the River Narva things do not go to plan and when the hacker's sister becomes involved, his mission turns from tough to near impossible. The scene is set for a classic story of pursuit and evasion and an epic battle for survival.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Espionage

527 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 4, 2018

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

[Harry Burnside · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would call it a damned dull book. On the cover it quotes the Daily Telegraph as saying 'The Greatest Thriller Wtiter in the World' and on the strength of this poor effort I would think they said that many years ago when he was at his height. I wasn't thrilled once and no suspense was involved.
It is a turgid, going nowhere book. There is no clever dialogue, no interesting plot. He has thrown into the mix Russian Hackers to make it contemporary but it is a minor part of what plot their is.
The book could have been shorter if he didn't keep recalling Merc's time served in Iraq which didn't seem to relate to what he was doing at present.
We also have an MI6 agent called Boot whose only part in the story was to relate what they were doing against Napoleon and Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo.
The only good thing about the book was that it ended but it took a long hard struggle to get their.
I don't have any spoilers because there were none. Only spoiler was the book itself, a gross waste of time.

[Za Bakar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 3.75.

A good meaty spy novel involving the new more dangerous weapons of war: cyber attacks. A certain secret service wants to send a message of retaliation and cause damage to a bunch of state-sponsored cyber hackers. There are contemporary issues thrown up: in cyber warfare, how do you fight back, protect, retaliate, and win?
Main protagonists are Boot, the middle-aged agent running the ops, Merc, the young operative on the ground, and the Major, their sharp antagonist. Around them are equally interesting characters including Boot's female assistants, and three Estonians with an axe to grind against Mother Russia.
The characters are elaborately drawn up - back story, thoughts, hopes - delivered in the midst of escalating action, which got a bit tedious in the second half, when you really just wanted the thrills. Not that the story lacks this: it's there, and thoughtfully, tensely wrought. Less introspection would have smartened the pace.
The mood is melancholic throughout, and the state of the world depicted here won't leave you cheery. A good, dark mirror perhaps to the times we live in.
May give Gerald Seymour another go, once I shake off this dark cloud he's left me under.

[Peter Jowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the book. In real life action there are periods of calm and even boredom and then too much action and terror! I think in all his books he conveys these feelings well, and thus some readers find parts boring reading?

[Billy Lockhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different style from Gerald Seymour.A little slower than most of his books.

[stan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initialy I could not get my head around this novel. Too many sub-plots but gradually it all made sense . And at the end a first rate thriller

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A competent clever thriller. The boys own adventure of s superman is a little more subtle and the subject matter interesting.

[Nigel Pinkus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This person really liked the latest from Gerald Seymour because it had plenty of action all the way through the book and kept the reader in suspense for much of the time too. Whilst Seymour jumped the story around in the first half, the back of the book tells the reader what he or she needs to know. Without giving away the plot, things got really tricky, however, after a flash goes off and a building explodes, then there's mayhem and people have to run for their lives because the police are after 'them'. Yeah, it's a great read.

Gerald Seymour has been writing thrillers for more than thirty five years. Here are a few ranked accordingly:
5 Stars ~ ‘A Line in the Sand’ and ‘Home Run’.

4 Stars ~ ‘The Waiting Time’, ‘Holding the Zero’, ‘The Dealer and the Dead’, ‘’No Mortal Thing’, The Outsiders’, ‘A Deniable Death’, ‘A Damn Serious Business’, ‘Archangel’, ‘No Mortal Thing’, ‘The Collaborator’ and ‘Killing Ground’ ,’ The Journeyman Tailor’, ‘Field of Blood’ and ‘Harry’s Game’.

3 Stars ~ ‘A Song in the Morning', 'In Honour Bound’ & ‘The Untouchable’

2 Stars ~ ‘The Corporals Wife’ & 'The Unknown Soldier’.

Other similar authors that this person has read include: John le Carre, Len Deighton, Graham Greene, Alan Furst, Ted Allbeury and Robert Ludlum who focused on spy novels, conflicts or on espionage. Oh yeah, if haven’t read, “A Damn Serious Business” please do so because it is a great thriller. It was a damn good read! 4 Stars

[James Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say? The master is back on form with this absolutely cracking read. I have to admit to not enjoying Jericho's War and so was awaiting the release of this one with some anticipation. Happy to say, I was not disappointed. Very prescient when you consider that this manuscript would have been completed long before the breaking news of Russian digital warfare campaigns, so again, hats off to Mr Seymour for being ahead of the curve once again.

The plot and characters are second to none and I raced through this book, thoroughly invested in the narrative and the protagonists. We are back in good, old-fashioned MI6 tradecraft and operations under the guiding hand of an ageing Cold-War spy. The digital element of the plot brings the storyline to the forefront of today's headlines and proves that Seymour's writing remains as valid and as pertinent as ever.

I would thoroughly recommend this book to any thriller fan looking for a riveting read from an author still at the top of his game.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nearly a great book, but fails because it is too long, and the action is too slow to evolve. The lead characters are all really interesting, but there are rather too many of them and we find out rather too much about each of them slowing down the pace of the book significantly. I struggled to get into the book with its plethora of viewpoints, but then was sucked into the plot and the characters. Great writer but he needed a stronger editor on this one. I am looking forward to the next one on my list.

[Tom Lindsay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Far too rambling for my taste. Anyone who spends all his spare time visiting and re-visiting the site of Waterloo is a candidate for psychoanalysis and should not be in charge of counter-espionage in this most fearful of conflicts. Sorry, but I didn't find any empathy with the seriously over-repeated dialogues or memories of a rather simple plot. The awesome horror of the Soviet threat, is, however, all too believable.

[Duncan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good plot line but almost unreadable. Appalling writing style with rapid fire sentences on one hand and then great long sentences rambling off on several different tangents on the other.
Ludicrous and highly repetitive references to Waterloo throughout where we idiot readers are expected to draw parallels with this novel?
I can hardly believe the number of 4 and 5 star reviews that this garbage has attracted!

[Paddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished well but rambled a bit in the middle. About 100 pages too long!

[Edmund · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found it difficult to get through. Didn't hold my attention and I kept putting it down. Not one of his best, I'm afraid.

[Nick Sanders · Rating 1 out of 5]

Barely readable, boring, and possibly the worst spy novel I've ever read.

[Leigh Harrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

What it is now, his writing. Less than it was. Talking like this, every character. Still good at ratcheting up the tension, yes. Romance? Softer feelings? Doesn't know how, old thing. Shame really.

[Cropredy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why do I read these books by Gerald Seymour -- somehow, a sense of loyalty at having read every other book he wrote -- the first of which I found super compelling. But was he as formulaic in the first few as he is now? I should re-read Harry's Game, the ur-novel.

I'd give this one 3.5 stars as it was somewhat better than the other recent novels. All the familiar elements are present:

* A tired, at the end of his career senior intelligence officer
* A war-weary, high standards, high moral compass protagonist tasked with doing a mission with high payoff and high risk
* A civilian who rises to the occasion
* Some other civilians who seek small pleasure in righting old wrongs
* A thinking enemy protagonist who still has a shred of conscience
* A female intelligence officer who is extremely capable but is yearning for something more
* A hostile environment (in this case, winter on the Estonian/Russian border)

But god, these characters are tormented by inner thoughts at every move. These range from time travelling back to Waterloo in 1815 to defending a trench against ISIS in Kurdistan to memories of grandparents in the Estonian resistance, betrayed by British moles.

It doesn't matter what the character is doing in the book - crossing a river, driving a car, contemplating a mission but they have to reflexively think over something from their past. No one just "gets on with it" and stays focused in the moment.

You could argue this is Seymour's style and you'd be right. It what distinguishes him for more rapid page turners like Lee Child or Michael Connelly. But, I felt this inner dialogue just made the book too long.

Of course you'll read along, wanting to know what happens - does the mission succeed? what goes wrong? do the higher ups pull the plug? who makes it out?

The book has especial relevance today as it involves Russian cybercrime and I read it amidst the Ukraine war (though it takes place in say 2018-20 or so).

If Seymour, who is 81 as of this writing, keeps going, I can imagine a novel set in Kherson or the Donbas, once he can figure out a British Intelligence operation that makes sense.

Read this book if you are a Seymour fan; otherwise I'd skip.

[Philip Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gerald Seymour is one of my favourite authors with his thrillers filling my bookshelves - this is his 34th I think. It concerns a British sponsored mission to bomb a gathering of 'black hat' hackers in St. Petersburg. These are the only 'black hats' present as the author provides an authentic cast inhabiting the morally grey world of espionage.

Classic Seymour characters are present and correct: veteran spymaster with devoted secretary, loner agent ("Merc") and Russian gangsters of the criminal plus state variety. The spy chief is obsessed with Waterloo (hence the Wellington quote in the title) and there's a parallel with the action of 1815 - history's shadow looms large in all the author's works.

If there is a theme, it's the pervasive malign influence of Putin's Russia. I really hope the author is exaggerating the Russians' ability to cripple the Western world via cyber attacks: knowing Seymour's meticulous research, I fear it's all too accurate. Alarming passages stress our vulnerability to cyber sabotage of our infrastructure - banks, transport, benefits system etc. A teenage hacker can do more damage than a squadron of bombers.

The book resolves into an escape tale of hunter vs. hunted, reminiscent of "The Contract". Some of the characters sound a tad similar, possibly due to their clipped dialogue. Pronouns are often omitted and I had to re-read a couple of sentences to check the meaning. That said, nobody builds tension like Seymour and the bitter-sweet ending was up to the master's usual high standards. I was rooting for "Merc" every step of the way.

[rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is yet another very well plotted and written Seymour novel based on cold war enmities ... but cleverly updated into the age of cyber crime. This is really just a framework however for another thrilling story of hot pursuit. This novel has many similarities with the latter parts of "Jericho's War", "The Corporal's Wife" and several other Seymour novels. The circumstances and locations change, but the basic plot seems much the same.

So, the negative on this novel IS that it is much the same (in plot) as several other Seymour novels.

The positives are that (a) it is still very thrilling - a cannot put down read; and (b) the sense of place is quite different; and (c) without providing a spoiler, some aspects of the hero's main adversary are not quite what you might expect from previous Seymour novels of this type.

I suspect a real challenge for Seymour with his next novel (and I hope there will be many more) is to get away from what is starting to look like a formula. I wonder if the apparent assassination attempt on Sergei Skripal and his daughter this week might not provide fodder for his imagination.

That aside, this is an excellent political thriller, very readable and realistic.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the fastest paced of his books... Got me because Boot the motivator like me is obsessed with Napoleonic Wars specifically Waterloo, the title is the start of a famous quote by Wellington on the Battle, a modern Spy novel, featuring cyberwar with a mercenary and an echo of the Cold War era.

Three extra sub storylines the Mercenary 's back story The support staff that service "Boot" and the
conclusions of the Security gate staff as the tale unfolds of a Hacker brother and his naive agitator sister.

"Hold the Line" the watch word of Mercs life? or the echo of an Era over since the Wall came down.

Readable and thought provoking









2

[Jill Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initially I could not get my head around this novel. Too many sub-plots but gradually it all made sense. Towards the second half of the book I became more engrossed. Some characters reminded me of Tom Stoppards Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and the style of the writing reminded me of Gunter Grass The Tin Drum - which was also difficult to follow and covered the horrors of war. Several of the characters were similar to those in Rogue Heroes. All in all an interesting read. I learnt more about the Wolf's Lair and Wellington Boot and cybersecurity. I am not sure about the ending though.

[Doug Rawden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have absorbed everything Gerald Seymour has written since Harry's Game and have always enjoyed, some less than others buy they're always good books. This is an interesting modern thriller dealing with the state sponsored hacker issue. It's a good story but I never really got onto it. This may be down to me and how I chose to read it ( have other books on the go and this was my bedtime read ) . So would still recommend it.

[Stuart · Rating 2 out of 5]

It must really tedious to wait for spies and saboteurs returning from places of extreme danger. It was certainly tedious reading about all the waiting. I usually like Gerald Seymour adventures and the hero, Merc, had a reasonable story to recount. But I nearly gave up on all the rest of the book and eventually resorted to skipping over the 75% that was not directly about Merc. Really disappointing!

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I appreciated reading a long book, and one that required concentration, I didn't actually enjoy this book. First time I've read this author & I'll try & read one more but I don't think this author is for me. Struggled with the lack of certainty about what happened with the characters. There was lots of 'this might have happened' and 'he/she may have said this' which left me a little bewildered as to what took place.

[Niqui Stanforth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not being a huge Cold War spy novel enthusiast, I hesitated. But this is the modern day Cold War, the virtual Cold War, the ever present threat of foreign powers destroying countries from the inside out with hacking.
Turns out nothing much has changed. There are still totally deniable “heroes” risking all for little reward because it is what they do.
I liked this. The characters were a mix of then and now, and I recognised many of them.

[Kosta Sapovalov · Rating 2 out of 5]

What makes Seymour's "Irish" books so harrowing to read is his in-and-out knowledge of the subject and a very good take on psychology of the people involved. Sadly, this is completely missing in this book. Apart from some geographical "name dropping" (my home town of Haapsalu mentioned a few times) and a tourist - guide-level knowledge of the region, there was little plausible in the book.

[Warren C.Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breathtaking! A damn fine read.

Again, Mr. Seymour takes a topic straight from the real world, and brings his inimitable attention to detail, his unique cadences, and weavers a gripping narrative. Powerful, thrilling and totally believable. First rate thriller!

[MR DAVID ROSE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Seymour page-turner

Full of action and surprises. A damned good read, typical Seymour complexity, which at times requires referring back and re-reading. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[Samuel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rubbish...couldnt even make it through the first 50 pages. Especially going into this book after just completing Jonathan Maberry's 'Rage" which was a 5 big stars for me! From that high a bar this one is total crap!

[JR Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great thriller, great characters

If you like lots of action and a thrilling chase this book has all that. But if you like to get into characters heads, into their minds and their thoughts you'll really like this book. Longer than I'd normally read but well worth it.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. Can't wait for the next one.