Wicked Game
By Matt Johnson
5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Royalty Protection Team officer Robert Finlay is looking forward to a quieter life, when two police officers are killed and their links to his own past becomes clear … putting everyone’s lives in danger. A startlingly authentic debut … first in a page-turning, searing new series.
**NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER**
**Shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger**
**LoveReading Debut of the Month**
‘Terse, tense and vivid writing. Matt Johnson is a brilliant new name in the world of thrillers. And he’s going to be a big name’ Peter James
‘From the first page to the last, an authentic, magnetic and completely absorbing read’ Sir Ranulph Fiennes
____________________
2001. Age is catching up with Robert Finlay, a police officer on the Royalty Protection team based in London. He's looking forward to returning to uniform policing and a less stressful life with his new family. But fate has other plans. Finlay's deeply traumatic, carefully concealed past is about to return to haunt him.
A policeman is killed by a bomb blast, and a second is gunned down in his own driveway. Both of the murdered men were former Army colleagues from Finlay's own SAS regiment, and in a series of explosive events, it becomes clear that he is not the ordinary man that his colleagues, friends and new family think he is.
And so begins a game of cat and mouse – a wicked game, in which Finlay is the target, forced to test his long-buried skills in a fight against a determined and unidentified enemy.
Wicked Game is a taut, action-packed, emotive thriller about a man who might be your neighbour, a man who is forced to confront his past in order to face a threat that may wipe out his future, a man who is willing to do anything to protect the people he loves.
But is it too late?
____________________
‘Utterly compelling and dripping with authenticity. This summer’s must-read thriller’ J S Law
‘Out of terrible personal circumstances, Matt Johnson has written a barnstormer of a thriller. Nothing is clear-cut in a gripping labyrinthine plot, which – despite thrills and spills aplenty – never falls short of believable’ David Young
‘Wicked Game has the authenticity I look for in a thriller. While the plot kept me turning pages, the characters made me care. Matt writes like a man who has lived it’ Kevin Maurer
‘Johnson litters his tale with the plotting equivalent of incendiaries: cops we don’t quite trust, a career that came abruptly to an end, a secret needing to be kept … Gripping stuff’ New Welsh Review
Matt Johnson
Matt Johnson, PhD is a speaker, researcher, and writer specializing in the application of psychology and neuroscience to marketing. He is the author of the best-selling consumer psychology book Blindsight, and a regular contributor to major news outlets including Psychology Today, Forbes, and BBC. As the co-founder of the neuromarketing firm Pop Neuro, he also consults with a wide range of brands, including as an expert-in-residence for Nike. He is a Professor of Psychology of Marketing and Hult International Business School, and an instructor at Harvard University's Division of Continuing Education. You can find more about his work and writing at mattjohnsonisme.com.
Read more from Matt Johnson
How Hitchens Can Save the Left: Rediscovering Fearless Liberalism in an Age of Counter-Enlightenment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAviation secrets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Getting Jesus Wrong: Giving Up Spiritual Vitamins and Checklist Christianity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCapacity: Create Laser Focus, Boundless Energy, and an Unstoppable Drive In Any Organization Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBuckingham Army Air Field Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobert Finlay collection Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Reflections on…The Proverbs of Solomon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Wicked Game
Related ebooks
The Kurt Vetter Trilogy: The Reluctant Hero Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Winning Side Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Direct Action: An SAS Thriller Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDark Asset Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Confessions of Eden: Michelle Reagan, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTake or Destroy: The WWII Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bet On Black: Orlando Black, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSecond Strike Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Proud: The Return of the Marines, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKnuckle Down: CARTER MATHESON SERIES, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBolt Action Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Special Deception Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFace Off: A Kirk McGarvey Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Regret No More: A scintillating suspense thriller Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Undertow: Cliff Hardy 30 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Blood is Power Hunter Book 2: The Hunter Series, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaster's Mates: Cliff Hardy 26 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Blood Ivory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Challenging Heights Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWarriors Of God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Flower Man: A Steve Jobz PI Thriller, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEcho Six: Black Ops - Box Set (Books 1-6) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Dangerous Game Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhistleblower Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Ditch In Egypt Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpecial Deliverance Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Small War, Far Away Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsViolent Science: Kyra Sarin, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLocked Down: A Nicole Grant Thriller, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFeed the Crow Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Political Fiction For You
Everything's Fine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Quiet American Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Master & Margarita Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Animal Farm Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Prophet Song: A Novel (Booker Prize Winner) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Jungle: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Night Agent: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing to See Here: A Read with Jenna Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Grapes of Wrath Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Animal Farm: A Fairy Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Nefarious Plot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unsheltered: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Am Pilgrim: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meridian Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Well-Behaved Woman: A Novel of the Vanderbilts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prodigal Summer: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All The King's Men: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnimal Farm And 1984 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Notorious Life: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51900: Or; The Last President Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enter Ghost Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Against the Loveless World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dog's Heart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Darkness at Noon: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Chairlift Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man in Full: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51984 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5House of Cards Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Wicked Game
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wicked Game – Stunning DebutWicked Game is an absolutely stunning debut thriller that will take your breath away at its pace, its writing, like me you will be blown away. To think that this book started out as therapy to help him deal with PTSD after working in both the police and army. This is an absolutely breath taking, compelling that will just blow your mind, this sort of work you expect from an experience writer, not a novice. All I can really say is WOW!Robert Finlay is a police inspector with the Royalty Protection team and he is starting to feel his age and with a young family and it is time for him to move on. One thing that he does have is a secret past that neither his employers the Metropolitan Police or his family know anything about. That past is known only to a very select few, he is a former officer of the SAS, was at the Iranian Embassy in 1980 and had served out in Northern Ireland.A police inspector is blown up while on duty and another is shot while cleaning his car outside his house, both former colleagues of Finlay’s from the regiment. Finlay starts to see a pattern, one which his former commanding officer in the regiment tends to support. When Finlay becomes the target he knows the truth will have to be told if he is make sure his family are safe. So begins a game of cat and mouse as Finlay and another police officer also former SAS comrade know they need to find out who wants them dead. With the help of their former CO they track down IRA operatives but cannot do too much. They are trying to avoid their colleagues in the Anti- Terrorist Branch, while trying to stay alive, while they work out who their unidentified enemy is, while being hunted by the police and terrorists alike.Wicked Game is one of the most compelling thrillers that will be read this year, Matt Johnson’s experience as a police officer and soldier brings the authenticity that other thrillers lack. Just like in real life nothing is clear cut, this is an intricate well planned thriller that packs a real punch. It is even harder when the smoke and mirrors tends to put Finlay in further tougher spots.From the first page through to the last the reader is completely hooked and drawn in by the writing and the descriptions, this is such an absorbing and thrilling read. The authenticity of the writing, and the knowledge of what happens in particular situations raises this above other thrillers. This is really a case of the writer having been there, done that, got the t-shirt, his experience searing through the pages. Experience and knowledge always trumps research, because one has been there and the other can only talk about it.Wicked Game really does give you, flash, bang, wallop and like bullets no words are wasted but hit the target every time. Matt Johnson is a new name in thriller writing and with his brilliant writing we have a new star writer.