Book Description:
An explosive thriller in the Spider Shepherd series
Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd’s career path – soldier, cop, MI5 officer – has always put a strain on his family. So he is far from happy to learn that MI5 is using teenagers as informants. Parents are being kept in the dark and Shepherd fears that the children are being exploited.
As an undercover specialist, Shepherd is tasked with protecting a 15-year-old schoolboy who is being used to gather evidence against violent drug dealers and a right-wing terrorist group.
But when the boy’s life is threatened, Shepherd has no choice but to step in and take the heat.
And while Shepherd’s problems mount up on the job front, he has even greater problems closer to home. His son Liam has fallen foul of the Serbian Mafia and if Shepherd doesn’t intervene, Liam will die.
My Thoughts:
I love a good series and the Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd series is a belter of a one by the author. This is the 16th in the series of which I am currently a bit behind but I love to nip in and out of these books when I have the time and being on holiday gave me the perfect opportunity to devour Short Range in a day.
There are a few threads in this particular story. One to do with country lines, another to do with buying illegal firearms to use them for no good as well as a more personal one for Dan. All had the adrenaline running through my body as one thing with Dan Shepherd, things are never dull where he is concerned! The personal thread especially had my heart in my mouth as Liam tries to step up in his dad’s absence and it makes for some very emotional reading to say the least.
You’ve got to love Dan even though he gets torn between work and his personal life. There have been a few times I’ve wanted to scream at him or give him a piece of my mind at putting his loved ones second over his job but I know in the real world, putting them first isn’t always possible. Plus Dan’s job is a very complicated one and he does so much good and has a heart of a gold which you can see in the thread to do with the country lines aspect of the story when it comes to the young character of Harry.
Short Range was a heart racing read that sent my pulse soaring. There is lots of action of which, some as always made me want to hide behind my hands. As in real life, there isn’t always a happy ending and this story makes for a stark reminder. I love that even sixteen books into this series, I enjoy the more recent books every bit as much as I did the very first ones. For an author to keep his readers interest so far into a series shows a great deal of skill and writing capability and look forward to many more in this thrilling series.
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