The Reticent Executioner: A dystopian world deserves a dystopian detective, and London just got hers

by John Fullerton

'The first in a cracking new series featuring DI Kramer by accomplished author John Fullerton.' 

A female politician is shot dead in the capital. A talented detective, Kramer, is charged with leading the investigation; trouble is, he’s both much more and a great deal less than mere cop. His brilliance is at least in part due to a permanently skewed moral compass. 

This is less whodunnit than whydunnit and a will-he-get-away-with it crime novel set in an England several years in the future - a world of labour camps, capital punishment, mass deportations and imprisonment without trial.

Genres: Dystopia, Fiction, Ebooks, Mystery

212 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 20, 2019

About the author

John Fullerton worked briefly during the Cold War as a 'contract labourer' for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, an episode that fired up his interest in fictional espionage. He failed spectacularly in his efforts as a farmer in Zimbabwe and as a trainee financial manager in Cape Town. As a newspaperman, freelance journalist and then Reuters correspondent, he lived or worked in 40 countries and covered a dozen wars. The latter provided some of the settings for his fiction, including Beirut and Sarajevo. His latest thriller, Emperor, was published in 2022. He has an MA with distinction in Buddhist Studies and was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund at Roehampton University in 2006/7.

Reviews

[Cookie M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is another book that fooled me completely. I thought to myself, as I began reading it, "Does John Fullerton think he can write 'Brave New World' better than Huxley did?"
That was certainly the vibe I got from the beginning chapters of " The Reticent Executioner. "
So I have to admit I wasn't paying all that much attention when the lid blew off the murder mystery at the heart of this novel. I had to go back and pick up the clues again. They were there, if you were looking for them, but ONLY if you didn't allow yourself to become distracted as I did.
Good book.

I received this book free from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

How does a decent man behave in dark times to preserve a sense of decency, at least in his conscience? John Fullerton has addressed the question before, but in "The Reticent Executioner" he shifts it from the harrowing backdrop of besieged Sarajevo in his 1996 "The Monkey House" to an imagined London not too far in the future where ancient freedoms have been hollowed out to the point of dictatorship. In such a setting, his DI Kramer finds a distorted kind of decency - perhaps the only kind available - in immoral action against an immoral enemy. His code is his own, and as far as the corrupt, xenophobic society he serves as a policeman permits, it's as moral as can be achieved. Kramer comes across as a literary cousin of Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko set loose in the landscape of "Nineteen Eighty-Four", and is darkly entertaining company, like Fullerton's Superintendent Rosso in "The Monkey House", amid deeply unsettling explorations of the dangers of political collapse and the dark side of human nature. In some ways "The Reticent Executioner" could serve as a companion volume to the London sections of Nick Harkaway's "Gnomon", another dystopic take on Britain's future. Is the doom-mongering too portentous? For some tastes, perhaps. But it's still a cracking read.

[Natalie Hightower · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! The pacing is wonderful, the characters are interesting, and the murder is complicated. Even if you see the twist before the reveal, it doesn’t detract for the overall experience.

Is the book perfect? No. But this is the first in a new series and it seems like it’s going in an interesting direction. I look forward to the next book being released!

[Nicky Moxey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting fellow, Kramer...

Well. John Fullerton can write; I do enjoy stumbling over an author and wanting to read everything they've ever written. Immediately. I loved the way you get under Kramer's skin, and the way that Fullerton builds tension through tight, closely observed description. I enjoyed the plot twists, too, and am happy that the ending allows for more...

[Roxie Klinksiek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark and absorbing

In this rather bleak and horrific future DI Kramer is the anti-hero. A "good" cop gone "bad". I found myself understanding why he chose his less than honorable plan. It was too easy to understand why he decided the amoral politicians deserved their fate. If you like police procedural mysteries set in a dystopian future you most likely will like this book.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark and compelling, this reminded me of 1984. I don't want to give too much away but I read it in one sitting and I'm still reeling.

[Lavender]

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I won this book via Goodreads Giveaways.

[Tammy Goodwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting concept and kept me intrigued the whole way through!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kept my attention from the first page to the last

[Dayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing, well-paced, & convincing. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. I received a Kindle edition from a Goodreads giveaway.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads Kindle Copy Win

When a female politician is murdered, a brilliant but morally skewed detective is assigned to the case. Enter a world of a future where everything exists that once was banished.

A dark look of society at its darkest which will make you ponder the world we live in.

[Ned Thacker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthony Burgess always preferred the word cacatopia to dystopia, and it certainly describes the setting for this excellent thriller. The Party, “generously funded by two aged American billionaires with links to nationalist-religious zealots in a Near East pariah state” has gained power in England, and the country has descended into Big Brother tyranny with added ethnic cleansing and guillotines.
Enter our anti-hero, a seedy detective who has his own ideas for fighting back.
Very pacy, relevant, and keeps you guessing. More please

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is wonderfully fun to read, although quite dark. I looked at London differently after reading it.

[Zeb Kantrowitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

what does England look like after a far-right government takes over not to long after Brexit. Well according to Fullerton, it turns into Nazi 1984. Except for those in the KNOW or the upper levels of the government, not much. That's the totality of this story. Dystopia is easy to imagine but taking it from the basics to a realistic universe is very very hard. This world never gets to the point where it is in anyway threatened by the Detective Arden. Hard as he tries, he is stopped or turned away whenever he gets close to something effective. Ok but not worthy of a sequel.

[Erin Hudgens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this as a goodreads giveaway. This one is a weird one for me. I can't quite settle on how I feel about it. The writing is very good. I really enjoyed his writing style. I also really enjoyed the characters. They were very well done. But I didn't really enjoy the story itself, if that makes sense. It connected, but it didn't. I felt like I wanted it to be a bit fuller or something. It felt kind of like I was skimming through the story. I would read the second one, but I just didn't super click with this one. I actually would recommend it, as it's a very unique, creative read.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating mystery taking place in an England that has descended into a tyranny that seems to resemble Nazi German. A murder of a high ranking Party official occurs and two fascinating police detectives, Kramer and Arden, are assigned to solve it. The story is well-plotted and well-paced with some very thought provoking moral issues. It moves at a quickly and leaves a good deal to ponder at the end. I really enjoyed it.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway for this honest review.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting and intense read, with quite the unusual twist. Released in 2019, I was a bit disappointed to see that the second book in the series is still unavailable. I don't even know if it's been written. If and when there is a second, I would probably want to reread this before moving on to the second one. The whole story line just ended up way different than what I expected...which makes for a good read!

[Janice M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Excellent use of characters to keep the plot moving along as good battles evil in a tortured, totalitarian England. Hard to decide which is worse: the heinous crimes of the government or the retribution of the executioner. Interesting and timely.