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David Wolstencroft is rapidly establishing himself as one of the new major players in the thriller genre. He is the creator of the British television series "Spooks" (seen in the United States on the A&E network under the name "MI5"), which is in the midst of its fourth season in Britain; published a brilliant novel last year entitled GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS; and is now repeating the latter feat with CONTACT ZERO, his latest --- and better --- work. CONTACT ZERO is one of those books that gets under your skin and crawls all around you every minute you're reading it, a story you can't put down not only because you can't wait to see what happens next but also because you can't wait to find out what is really, really going on.
CONTACT ZERO centers primarily, though not entirely, on Ben Locke, a recent graduate of the MI6 School of Spycraft. Locke is on assignment when he is framed, Hitchcockian style, for a crime he did not commit. He quickly finds out that most of the other members of his graduating class have been framed in mid-assignment as well and in fact have been murdered.
The only exceptions are Ben and two others, Nat Turner and Lucy Matthews, alive and on the run. The three share an uneasy and at times painful past, the memories of which they are forced to set aside in order to focus on the future. Cut off and abandoned by their superiors, their only hope is a legendary, and probably illusory, entity known in the spy craft mythos as contact zero --- a hope of last resort, when all one knows is wrong and the world stands against you.
The trio --- and one other --- set forth on a journey that takes them literally around the world, a journey fraught with danger and mistrust, where they have to follow their instincts as to when to rely on one another and when to rely on themselves. Think of Dirty Harry being led by his nose around San Francisco, running from pay phone to pay phone, and you'll get a faint glimmer of what Wolstencroft puts the fledgling agents through. He does a masterful job of rendering his complex plot line understandable, exciting, and very, very readable, all the while maneuvering everything toward a highly satisfying conclusion.
Wolstencroft demonstrates that he has talent and ambition in equal and complimentary parts. And --- not to give anything away, of course --- I have the feeling he is merely getting warmed up. Highly recommended.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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