Somewhere, someone has made a plan. A plan that will bring the world to its knees. But the plan was only a theory, a theory that was shrouded in secrecy. Nobody knew the sum of its parts, so the plan could never be acted upon.

When two Romanians are killed by a homeless woman, who promptly abducts the woman they were trying to kill, the wheels of the plan – the Acacia Avenue Protocol – start to turn. The powers that be turn to a list of four names who can stop it, but three of the names are dead. And Ben Koenig, the fourth name, has never even heard of this plan…

I’ve been feeling rotten over the past few days. A stinking cold, my strange leg pain playing up again, just generally grotty. So what better medicine than the latest from one of my favourite modern writers?

This is the second Ben Koenig novel following on from Fearless. If you’ve only encountered Craven via the Washington Poe books, this might not be what you’re expecting. Actually, come to think of it, it’s gripping, funny, dark as hell in places and the sort of book that you can’t put down. So maybe it’s exactly like the Washington Poe books. And the Avison Fluke books, come to think of it.

Rather than a criminal investigation, this is more of a spy thriller, with, I suppose, the closest parallel being Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, especially with Koenig’s capacious knowledge of almost everything necessary to deal with almost any situation. What is different here is the notion that Koenig doesn’t feel fear, due to a brain condition. While this makes him effective in many situations, it can render him a liability in others. Not that he’s reckless, just that he’s extremely pragmatic. I can’t see any other lead character make Koenig’s choices in the final section of the book…

This is fast-paced, edge of the seat stuff. There’s no hanging around in this book, and the speed it goes at makes the twists – at least two absolute crackers – all the more shocking. And the finale… I’ve wondered before where Mike Craven gets his ideas from, but now I’m worried where he gets his ideas from. But by Zeus, it’s a bloody effective scene.

Oh, and I’m in complete agreement with Koenig about the Arndale Centre…

Nobody’s Hero is out this Thursday from Constable. Many thanks to Mike for arranging a review copy.