Sanction
A carefully drawn, interconnected cast of special agents and hired killers make Sanction a veritable chess game of intrigue.
Sanction by William Hunter is a brisk international thriller set in a world where everyone’s on the run. The novel is packed with spellbinding suspense, intricate schemes, exciting cliffhangers, and a carefully drawn, interconnected cast of special agents and hired killers that make it a veritable chess game of intrigue.
While on an unauthorized assignment at King’s College, Cambridge, operative Sean Garrett witnesses the assassination of a prominent Saudi professor and is forced to flee for his life. These incidents irreversibly set several plots into motion, exposing a tangled web of covert conspiracies that run deep. Organizations from the CIA to Scotland Yard are sent into a frenzy.
Banastre Montjoy of the Secret Intelligence Service/MI6 attempts to connect the mystery of the slain scholar to a deadly London bombing a year prior, all while fighting nefarious forces within his own agency. And an elite veteran assassin named David Laurent finds himself acting as both the hunter and the hunted as he flees from city to city.
When the whodunits multiply and best-laid plans go awry, the boundaries between ally and adversary begin to blur—there’s no telling who to trust. The book’s expansive character list and orchestrated plotlines set the stage for an exhilarating jaunt across the world, from England to Edinburgh and from London to Detroit.
Travel enthusiasts will enjoy the changes in scenery, while history fans will appreciate the fascinating background details woven into the story. These particulars often strengthen the plot, revealing discoveries such as one that sends the final pages of the book racing for the finish line: a bombshell secret buried since before World War II.
This book is a true win for lovers of the spy fiction genre. Equal parts Sherlock Holmes and James Bond, old-school mystery balances with modern intrigue to the soundtrack of snappy, quick-witted dialogue. The book also conveys the all-too-real, bone-chilling fear of myriad underground terror plots. Information is not taken for granted, but someone unfamiliar with the workings of government agencies and sleeper cells will still be able to follow the story.
Rather than settling into the psyche of one or two characters, the book inhabits agents and assassins with equal and believable fervor, making for a well-rounded, cinematic experience. The story line is highly complex yet easily digestible, a testament to the book’s empathetic sensibilities.
A quick pace, a kaleidoscope of savvy characters, and nonstop secret-agent-versus-assassin drama make Sanction a stimulating mystery with a little something for everyone.
Reviewed by
Meredith Hardwicke
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
