Book Review: EXILE by James Swallow

I've just read and reviewed James Swallow's EXILE, the sequel to NOMAD. There are currently four books in his Marc Dane available in the UK, but the first two have just recently been published in the US (with the third coming in February).

Both books are highly recommended, especially if you like international thrillers in the vein of Clancy, Ludlum, Forsyth, and Bond.

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While "Nomad" mostly followed conventional thriller territory, "Exile" goes in a more imaginative direction, despite the central premise of Soviet nukes, both real and fake, floating around the black market

"Exile" is also very current and modern. James Swallow depicts a world where the actions of disparate non-state actors, including corporations, mercenaries, terrorists, and warlords, determine the global balance of power while traditional governments are reactionary bystanders.

Instead of the standard CIA agents, navy SEALs, or SAS soldiers pursuing jihadists and Russian spies, James Swallow's lead protagonists Marc Dane, former MI6 technical specialist, and Lucy Keyes, former Delta sniper, work for the private security arm of Rubicon, an international corporation. In "Exile," the responsibility of recovering the aforementioned rogue nuke falls to Rubicon, because Western governments simply do not believe Soviet suitcase nukes even exists, and European and UN bureaucrats won't risk their careers by even entertaining such an outlandish premise. Also on a mission to recover the nuke is a team of mercenaries in the employ of the Combine, a shadowy international cabal that seeks to manipulate conflict and world events for their own financial profit.

The stand-out character, however, is Abur Ramaas, the Somali pirate warlord who harbors a bitter and legitimate grudge against the West. He is absolutely ruthless, cunning, and dangerous, but his worldview and motivations are surprisingly sympathetic. He is not the typical generic terrorist one often finds in these novels.

The first quarter might be somewhat slow, especially for readers who expect the action to kick in early, as the beginning of this portion of the story mostly sets up the characters and the scenario, but once the (real) nuke comes into play and Marc Dane is reunited with Rubicon, the pace picks up and doesn't stop. The action scenes are superb and very creative, with plenty of detail on weapons, ammo, vehicles, structures, and geography. The Mission Impossible-esque infiltration of a CIA black site to abduct a prisoner and the battle on Ramaas's pirate haven aboard an oil rig are especially highlights.

"Exile," as well its predecessor and subsequent installments constitute a superlative international thriller series that is ideal for fans of Clancy, Ludlum, Brad Thor, 007, Splinter Cell, and many others. James Swallow draws elements and themes from all of these, but also subverts genre tropes and adds his own unique flare. Highly recommended.