THE OUTSIDERS

Overrun with spies, cops and Euro mobsters, Seymour's 29th novel concerns a female MI5 veteran's obsessive need to avenge the death of a young colleague who was kicked to death by a Russian crime lord.

Years after the brutal killing, word reaches Winnie Monks, former head of a since-dissolved organized crime group within MI5, that the mobster, known as the Major, is heading to Marbella on Spain's Costa del Sol. That intel is provided by "the Gecko," a young computer whiz working for the Major, in retaliation for getting beat up for a minor theft he didn't commit. Plans are made to set up surveillance in the vacant house next to the one in which the Major, a former KGB man, will be staying with a drug-smuggling associate. But when Monks and her team arrive at their appointed spot, they encounter housesitters: a moody and not easily handled young British couple, Jonno and Posie. This will prove to be more than a complication; it will alter the course of events. Working on a larger canvas than usual in terms of the sheer number of characters, Seymour keeps the book's motor humming, changing scenes and points of view with expert timing. The overall tone is lighter than in his pulse-pounders; some of the scenes could even pass for satire. And various elements here will recall bits and pieces from some of Seymour's better-known novels. But none of that diminishes his hold over the reader.

A fresh Spanish setting, a stream of characters with great nicknames like “the Tractor,” and a mix of British, Eastern European and American crime fighters make Seymour's 29th novel one of his most entertaining.