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Jude Lyon #3
The Survivor
Jude Lyon of MI6 has narrowly foiled the traitor Fowle's plot to level London, but the public are demanding answers.
Answers the government doesn't have.
As the country reels, a new populist political figure carves a stratospheric trajectory - but is he all he seems?
In Moscow the President is furious. The world now knows the destructive power of the programme his people had been developing, and as the Russians scramble to understand how it got into Fowle's hands, they start to worry that perhaps it could be used against them . . .
But Jude Lyon has just one question on his
Guy Fowle is missing, with nothing left to lose,
So what is he planning next?
Seething with political machinations, burning with blood-thumping action, and featuring the best returning MI6 operative since James Bond The Survivor brings the espionage novel crashing into the modern day.
Answers the government doesn't have.
As the country reels, a new populist political figure carves a stratospheric trajectory - but is he all he seems?
In Moscow the President is furious. The world now knows the destructive power of the programme his people had been developing, and as the Russians scramble to understand how it got into Fowle's hands, they start to worry that perhaps it could be used against them . . .
But Jude Lyon has just one question on his
Guy Fowle is missing, with nothing left to lose,
So what is he planning next?
Seething with political machinations, burning with blood-thumping action, and featuring the best returning MI6 operative since James Bond The Survivor brings the espionage novel crashing into the modern day.
375 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 3, 2022
24 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Simon Conway
17 books115 followersSimon Conway is a former British Army officer and international aid worker. With The HALO Trust and later as director of Landmine Action he cleared landmines and unexploded bombs in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
As Co-Chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition he successfully campaigned to achieve an international ban on cluster bombs.In 2014 he returned to The HALO Trust to lead the organisation's effort to address urban conflict in the Middle East.
He lives in Glasgow with his wife the journalist and broadcaster Sarah Smith. He has two daughters.
As Co-Chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition he successfully campaigned to achieve an international ban on cluster bombs.In 2014 he returned to The HALO Trust to lead the organisation's effort to address urban conflict in the Middle East.
He lives in Glasgow with his wife the journalist and broadcaster Sarah Smith. He has two daughters.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 25, 2025
*4.5 stars*
MI6 agent Jude Lyon has foiled Guy Fowle’s horrific plot to cause utter devastation in London. Although there was much damage caused by these events, Fowle didn’t achieve his ultimate aim. Unfortunately that won’t be the end of it, and the British public are furious with the present government and in the wake of that fury, Lee Chapeaux takes advantage of a weak government and runs a campaign as ‘man of the people’ which allows him to snatch the position of Prime Minister. However, is the new Prime Minister all he makes out to be, or does he have his own agenda?
Gosh this is so authentic and frighteningly current that you have to remind yourself that this spy thriller wasn’t written this very week! The author’s military background makes the storyline even more plausible. The plotting was excellent and the pace just breathtaking. Highly recommended!
*I was invited to read The Survivor by the publisher and have given an honest unbiased review in exchange *
MI6 agent Jude Lyon has foiled Guy Fowle’s horrific plot to cause utter devastation in London. Although there was much damage caused by these events, Fowle didn’t achieve his ultimate aim. Unfortunately that won’t be the end of it, and the British public are furious with the present government and in the wake of that fury, Lee Chapeaux takes advantage of a weak government and runs a campaign as ‘man of the people’ which allows him to snatch the position of Prime Minister. However, is the new Prime Minister all he makes out to be, or does he have his own agenda?
Gosh this is so authentic and frighteningly current that you have to remind yourself that this spy thriller wasn’t written this very week! The author’s military background makes the storyline even more plausible. The plotting was excellent and the pace just breathtaking. Highly recommended!
*I was invited to read The Survivor by the publisher and have given an honest unbiased review in exchange *
November 2, 2022
Jude Lyon of MI6 has narrowly foiled the traitor Fowle's plot to level London, but the public are demanding answers. As the country reels, a new populist political figure carves a stratospheric trajectory - but is he all he seems? In Moscow the President is furious. The world now knows the destructive power of the programme his people had been developing, and as the Russians scramble to understand how it got into Fowle's hands, they start to worry that perhaps it could be used against them . But Jude Lyon has just one question on his mind: Guy Fowle is missing, with nothing left to lose.
The third book in the trilogy & another edge of the seat read. I loved everything about it. The character development was spot on, the pace so good. I luckily began this early in the day as I read it in two sittings & found it very hard to put down. The author is very talented & I highly recommend this thriller
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
The third book in the trilogy & another edge of the seat read. I loved everything about it. The character development was spot on, the pace so good. I luckily began this early in the day as I read it in two sittings & found it very hard to put down. The author is very talented & I highly recommend this thriller
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
November 1, 2022
Simon Conway's thrillers are highly entertaining and thought provoking at the same time as they always made left me wondering what is fiction and if fiction could become reality.
This is the third in the Jude Lyon trilogy and kept on the edge till the end as it's a fast paced and complex story.
Mr Conway is a talented storyteller and I loved the plot and character development.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
This is the third in the Jude Lyon trilogy and kept on the edge till the end as it's a fast paced and complex story.
Mr Conway is a talented storyteller and I loved the plot and character development.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
November 20, 2022
A battle of wills of epic proportions
They are both indelibly scarred from their last confrontation. The unhinged terrorist mastermind with a nihilistic desire to see the world burn and the damaged but determined MI6 officer who has pulled London back from the brink of annihilation. But there duel is far from finished. There is still one final battle ahead of them. And this time, it’s not only London’s survival at stake, the fate of the whole world is hanging in the balance…
Over the course of THE STRANGER and THE SABOTEUR, Simon Conway has woven in intricate story of betrayal, vengeance, love and loss. In THE SURVIVOR, it’s all coming to a head… Or is it? Well, that’s for you to find out!
All you need to know is that Conway again uses his ability to create memorable characters and bring visceral action scenes and breathtaking locations to life with words that you won’t forget, to great affect. The SURVIVOR is a powerful story about strong people getting pushed to the breaking point and beyond.
The action is cinematic and bone-rattling and the geopolitical stakes are staggering but it is the emotional heart of the tale, which elevates it above the competition. Simon Conway has established himself as the new master of the thinking man’s action thriller. A worthy successor to Ian Fleming.
Disclaimer: I got a free ARC in exchange for an honest review but I also bought a copy because the author has become one of my absolute favourites!
They are both indelibly scarred from their last confrontation. The unhinged terrorist mastermind with a nihilistic desire to see the world burn and the damaged but determined MI6 officer who has pulled London back from the brink of annihilation. But there duel is far from finished. There is still one final battle ahead of them. And this time, it’s not only London’s survival at stake, the fate of the whole world is hanging in the balance…
Over the course of THE STRANGER and THE SABOTEUR, Simon Conway has woven in intricate story of betrayal, vengeance, love and loss. In THE SURVIVOR, it’s all coming to a head… Or is it? Well, that’s for you to find out!
All you need to know is that Conway again uses his ability to create memorable characters and bring visceral action scenes and breathtaking locations to life with words that you won’t forget, to great affect. The SURVIVOR is a powerful story about strong people getting pushed to the breaking point and beyond.
The action is cinematic and bone-rattling and the geopolitical stakes are staggering but it is the emotional heart of the tale, which elevates it above the competition. Simon Conway has established himself as the new master of the thinking man’s action thriller. A worthy successor to Ian Fleming.
Disclaimer: I got a free ARC in exchange for an honest review but I also bought a copy because the author has become one of my absolute favourites!
June 5, 2023
Disappointing! I read a lot of this when my daughter was either asleep or trying to fall asleep and it is the sort of book that you can read while very tired. But even though it’s got a *lot* of action (deadly virus released on the Tube, the Russian president nuking a bio weapons facility in Siberia, much else besides), it still manages to be…a bit boring at points? It suffers a bit from trying to set up a sequel without a clear idea as to why. Although the bit where a surprise MP is elected leader of a political party only to fall in love with a trans journalist who he appoints as his Comms Director and…no-one is bothered is quite fun.
November 13, 2022
Reading Stuff 'n' Things
This is a book filled with action, tension, thrills and spills and follows on from the previous 2 in the series and whilst this can be read as a standalone, I would definitely recommend reading at least the 2nd in the series, The Sabateur, as it is easy to get a little lost on the characters and the story but you won't be disappointed.
Once again, we are treated to a tense plot, fast pace and excellent characters that, although I found it hard to get into for the first couple of chapters, once there I was absolutely riveted to the very end.
Highly recommended to those of you who enjoy an excellent thriller and many, many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Survivor.
This is a book filled with action, tension, thrills and spills and follows on from the previous 2 in the series and whilst this can be read as a standalone, I would definitely recommend reading at least the 2nd in the series, The Sabateur, as it is easy to get a little lost on the characters and the story but you won't be disappointed.
Once again, we are treated to a tense plot, fast pace and excellent characters that, although I found it hard to get into for the first couple of chapters, once there I was absolutely riveted to the very end.
Highly recommended to those of you who enjoy an excellent thriller and many, many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Survivor.
April 17, 2024
I really enjoyed this uber-kinetic trilogy, which I paced over a year or so. You need time for your hands to stop shaking and ears ringing after each instalment. I often work in the City PF (Pre-Fowle) and look at the intact millennial architecture through filter of Conway’s apocalyptic imagination.
I enjoyed the fact that GF doesn’t appear til late doors but could pop up at anytime and the Reichenbach Falls are substituted for Downing Street in the Mother of all Straighteners. We were subtly reminded of elements of the back story rather than waterboarded as is the case with less skilled scribes and editors.
A recipient of the Ian Fleming Dagger for his previous work,it’s apt that Conway’s humour isn’t too curbed by sensitivity concerns and had me laugh out loud several times. It’s said that sneaky peakies don’t salute but if they did I’d happily oblige. What’s next SC?
I enjoyed the fact that GF doesn’t appear til late doors but could pop up at anytime and the Reichenbach Falls are substituted for Downing Street in the Mother of all Straighteners. We were subtly reminded of elements of the back story rather than waterboarded as is the case with less skilled scribes and editors.
A recipient of the Ian Fleming Dagger for his previous work,it’s apt that Conway’s humour isn’t too curbed by sensitivity concerns and had me laugh out loud several times. It’s said that sneaky peakies don’t salute but if they did I’d happily oblige. What’s next SC?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 20, 2024
With the previous two installments playing out against the background of a slightly fictionalised version of the clownshow that passed for government in the UK over the past decade, the lurch into an apocalyptic/dystopian conclusion to the last one continues its trajectory into this third part, with the sociopathic Bondesque villain Guy Fowle determined to be recenged on all thosevwho have wronged him, and do some Malthusian "thinning out of the herd" via a biological agent. Reading this on holiday in the week that the first installment of Baroness Hallett's post-pandemic came out, it again makes me think, "It could gave been worse!" There will apparently be another 7 reports to follow... I don't know whether Simon will be following up this book with any others, although we still don't know what has happened/will happen to some key characters, as well as a thoroughly beaten up UK!
January 25, 2023
The third in the series - plot builds and twists, intriguing bits of misdirection - also maybe a hanging end???
February 16, 2023
Third in a trilogy. Best of the three. Psychotic terrorist versus an engaging UK crime-fighter. The subsidiary characters are as interesting as the primary.
November 19, 2022
This is an extraordinarily trilogy of top thriller writing, I found myself trying to remwember the first (The Saboteur) as there are numerous references made to the earlier two books and Lyon's nemesis.It is all very hung ho and guns blazing (in 10 Downing Street in one instance, possible wishful thinking .LOL)A devious far right politician, as the earlier books had nuclear meltdowns et al in the UK, Conway maintains the pace of wanton destruction.
It is pure escapism, but no less of a story for that.
It is pure escapism, but no less of a story for that.
July 31, 2025
The Survivor is an absolute powerhouse of a thriller. Simon Conway delivers a masterclass in espionage fiction, blending razor-sharp writing with morally complex characters and a plot that refuses to let go. From the very first page, I was hooked.
The pacing is relentless, yet Conway somehow makes room for rich character development, gritty realism, and those quiet, unsettling moments that stay with you long after you’ve finished. The protagonist is exactly the kind of flawed, fascinating character I love—haunted by the past, walking a fine line between right and wrong, and utterly compelling.
The geopolitical layers are sharp and timely, but never overdone—Conway trusts the reader to keep up, and that makes the whole thing feel even more immersive. The action scenes are cinematic, but it’s the emotional undercurrents and moral ambiguity that really elevate this book.
The Survivor is smart, gripping, and unforgettable. If you love thrillers that challenge you while keeping you on the edge of your seat, this one’s a must. I can’t wait to dive into more from Simon Conway.
The pacing is relentless, yet Conway somehow makes room for rich character development, gritty realism, and those quiet, unsettling moments that stay with you long after you’ve finished. The protagonist is exactly the kind of flawed, fascinating character I love—haunted by the past, walking a fine line between right and wrong, and utterly compelling.
The geopolitical layers are sharp and timely, but never overdone—Conway trusts the reader to keep up, and that makes the whole thing feel even more immersive. The action scenes are cinematic, but it’s the emotional undercurrents and moral ambiguity that really elevate this book.
The Survivor is smart, gripping, and unforgettable. If you love thrillers that challenge you while keeping you on the edge of your seat, this one’s a must. I can’t wait to dive into more from Simon Conway.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews