Ben Koenig was a dangerous man when he worked for the US Marshal’s elite Special Ops group. He hunted the really bad guys and removed their threats – permanently. A head injury rendered him immune to feeling fear – in some, this would be a crippling disadvantage but it just made Koenig even more effective.

Six years ago, he disappeared completely – nobody except for Koenig knows why. But when somebody abducts the daughter of Koenig’s old boss, Koenig is dragged out of the life he made for himself, off the grid, drifting from town to town, always looking over his shoulder.

But now he has a destination – the town of Gauntlet in the Chihuahan desert. And the people there have no idea what is coming…

Things on my CV that relate to books:

• Responsible for the republishing of 35 Brian Flynn novels
• Contributor to the Locked Room Murders Supplement – basically all the Paul Doherty stuff
• Possible inspiration for a revolting character in Paul Doherty’s The Herald Of Hell
• This blog, obviously…

And now I can add “Physics consultant to top thriller writer”. It’s the top of page 238 – not the Newton’s cradle bit, that’s too imaginative for me, but the bit before. Can you imagine if you read a 450 page thriller and there was a sentence with some dodgy physics in it? I know, exactly. If word got round about this, the book would never leave a bookshop again. So yes, I gave Mike a little (and I do mean a little) help on that. I am slightly worried about some of the other people who have given Mike advice on other parts, like the best part of the face to shoot someone in, or how to punch someone effectively. Or other things that really a person shouldn’t know too much about… You see one of the ways that Koenig’s lack of fear manifests itself is in his analytical approach to danger. You’d think that might be dull, but it’s a really interesting approach. The slightly skewed world-view makes the book seem fresh, given we are in relatively straightforward thriller territory, in structure at least.

Yes, I should point that out. This is a different kettle of fish from the Tilly Bradshaw (featuring Washington Poe) series, or even the Avison Fluke books, as this isn’t a twisty mystery-thriller. Superficially – and I do mean superficially – this reminded me mostly of one of the Jack Reacher books that I’ve read. There’s no mystery as to who the bad guys are, but there are surprises along the way as to what they’re up to, what Koenig will do to try and sort things out, how Koenig’s fearlessness will cause him to make a mistake (it’s an advantage in some ways, but in some situations, it can be a real problem). Secrets about Koenig’s past – some that he knows, some that he doesn’t – are revealed along the way, as the body count keeps rising.

The plot is beautifully paced, with enough hints and teases as to what is going on, along with a number of well-timed reveals. All in all, it’s one of the most satisfying thrillers that I’ve read in a long time.

Many thanks to Mike for the advance review copy – I managed to just get this review out on publication day. It’s worth mentioning that, as I’ve been behind on a lot of stuff recently, with distractions all over the place. This book was almost distraction-proof, it was the perfect escape. If the perfect escape has an awful lot of dead bodies in it…

Fearless is out today in hardback and ebook from Constable.