Beyond Recall
Sunday Times favourite paperbacks 2020
Published on 12. November 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
448 pages
978-1-5293-8600-4 (ISBN)
Description
'Seymour produces the most intelligent writing in the thriller genre' Financial Times
***
He had been to the limit. Then they sent him further.
Gary - 'Gaz' - Baldwin is a watcher, not a killer. Operating with a special forces unit deep in Syria, he is to sit in a hide, observe a village, report back and leave.
But the appalling atrocity he witnesses will change his life forever.
Before long, he is living as a handyman on the Orkney islands, far from Syria, far from the army, not far enough from the memories that have all but destroyed him.
'Knacker' is one of the last old-school operators at the modern MI6 fortress on the Thames. He presides over the Round Table, a little group who meet in a pub and yearn for simpler, less bureaucratic times.
When news reaches Knacker that the Russian officer responsible for the Syrian incident may be in Murmansk, northern Russia, he sets in motion a plan to kill him. It will involve a sleeper cell, a marksman and other resources - all unlikely to be sanctioned by the MI6 top brass, so it must be done off the books.
But first, he will need a sure identification. And for that, he needs a watcher...
Full of surprise, suspense and betrayal, Beyond Recall is a searching novel of moral complexity and a story of desperate survival.
***
He had been to the limit. Then they sent him further.
Gary - 'Gaz' - Baldwin is a watcher, not a killer. Operating with a special forces unit deep in Syria, he is to sit in a hide, observe a village, report back and leave.
But the appalling atrocity he witnesses will change his life forever.
Before long, he is living as a handyman on the Orkney islands, far from Syria, far from the army, not far enough from the memories that have all but destroyed him.
'Knacker' is one of the last old-school operators at the modern MI6 fortress on the Thames. He presides over the Round Table, a little group who meet in a pub and yearn for simpler, less bureaucratic times.
When news reaches Knacker that the Russian officer responsible for the Syrian incident may be in Murmansk, northern Russia, he sets in motion a plan to kill him. It will involve a sleeper cell, a marksman and other resources - all unlikely to be sanctioned by the MI6 top brass, so it must be done off the books.
But first, he will need a sure identification. And for that, he needs a watcher...
Full of surprise, suspense and betrayal, Beyond Recall is a searching novel of moral complexity and a story of desperate survival.
Reviews / Votes
Depicts the desperate world of an agent adrift behind enemy lines as few others can * The Times * The always classy Seymour expertly stacks up the elements of his story to create another intricate, absorbing thriller * The Observer * Highly enjoyable * Guardian * 'A novel displaying all the author's many strengths, from his John le Carre-like ability to portray the intelligence world from top to bottom, to its line up of memorable supporting characters' * The Sunday Times * The plot is well engineered, the insider detail precise, the tension ratcheted up turn by turn * Financial Times *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Hodder & Stoughton
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
314 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5293-8600-4 (9781529386004)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Gerald Seymour exploded onto the literary scene in 1975 with the massive bestseller HARRY'S GAME. The first major thriller to tackle the modern troubles in Northern Ireland, it was described by Frederick Forsyth as 'like nothing else I have ever read' and it changed the landscape of the British thriller forever.
Gerald Seymour was a reporter at ITN for fifteen years. He covered events in Vietnam, Borneo, Aden, the Munich Olympics, Israel and Northern Ireland. He has been a full-time writer since 1978.
Gerald Seymour was a reporter at ITN for fifteen years. He covered events in Vietnam, Borneo, Aden, the Munich Olympics, Israel and Northern Ireland. He has been a full-time writer since 1978.