My better half, Adrian, is a big fan of the Jack Reacher novels and introduced me to them with a signed copy of the first book of the long series when we first met. Whilst we enjoyed the Tom Cruise movies of the novels, Cruise was not what we had in mind when reading descriptions of the hero. The recent series on Prime featured a much more believable lead in the form of the supersized Alan Ritchson and is soon to return in a second season.

This month’s  first  book review, The Atenisti by Aidan K Morrissey and published by The Conrad Press ( http://www.theconradpress.com ) in August, reminded me in style and content of those Jack Reacher stories, in that the lead is a multiskilled and dangerous man, who moves from place to place with few attachments. Travelling under numerous aliases,. Ricci, a member of a secret organisation, finishes a mission in London. Apparently followed, he escapes to Italy. Seeking to avenge the kidnap, rape and murder of a young girl, he is plunged into battle against a worldwide paedophile ring of extraordinary extent and power. This battle leads Ricci from Italy, Through Germany, to India and beyond. Can he take on the might of this criminal network which seems determined to eliminate him?

Whilst Reacher would inadvertently stumble upon a crime wherever he happened to be, giving you the feeling several novels into the series that you should always be somewhere else, rather like seeing Bruce Willis in a white vest at any location, here the main character is sent on missions to eliminate wrongdoers rather than bringing them to justice. He has been trained as an assassin. This form of sentence without trial may not sit easy with readers, so the crimes are so horrendous that the reader feels there is justification. This results in stomach churning descriptions and veiled references to worse.

This is English author Aidan K. Morrissey’s ( http://www.aidankmorrissey-author.com } second book, his first was The Awakening Aten ( 2019). Prior to becoming a full time author he was a lawyer, and lived and worked all over the world, his time in Italy, Germany and India, all of which feature in this book, has given him a deep insight into their culture and everyday way of life. Morrissey was inspired to write ‘The Atenisti’ after
reading daily newspaper accounts of horrific attacks on young Indian women and children. An enthusiastic amateur Egyptologist, avid reader and writer, Aidan now lives in Northumberland.

This book was a exciting page turner and will appeal to thriller readers and spy novel fans alike. The author is well travelled and this is shown in the descriptions of both journeys and locations. My only niggle was the rather heavy-handed avoidance of product placement at the start of the book, for example’ my locally manufactured touring motorbike, named after an American west – coast State’.

The  cast of characters and the ending hint at future adventures for Ricci and I would be keen to read more. I also anticipate a Netflix or Prime series as the content, violence and stunning scenery would appeal to adult viewers.

Overall, a recommendation from this reader, but not for the faint-hearted.

Reviewed by: Georgina Murphy

This review is part of a Random Things Blog Tour, to see what the other reviewers thought, visit their sites listed below. Then, if you get a copy, comeback and tell us what you thought. We’d really appreciate the feedback.