| Matthew
Dunn's latest book, Slingshot, is a continuation
of the powerful series involving MI6 operative Will Cochrane.
He lets the readers enter the dangerous realm of intelligence
through powerful storylines. Many sub-plots that attempt to
explain the lonely world of an operative surround the story.
MI6 officer Cochrane searches throughout Europe to find out
who is responsible for a document that will cause the annihilation
of the population of China. He soon realizes that someone
very powerful, a shadowy former high-ranking East German Stasi
officer, is behind this horrific conspiracy along with rogue
intelligence officers from the US and Russia. Beside these
adversaries, Will must also tackle a Soviet "Spycatcher"
who is seeking to find the culprits and will stop at nothing
to achieve his goal.
Because the East German Stasi officer will stop at nothing,
he has threatened the only family Will has left, his sister
Sarah. It is during these potent scenes that Dunn attempts
to debate the issue, at what cost should an operative go to
protect their country and fellow citizens? Dunn describes
Sarah as the older sister who is anti-violence and repelled
by the anger Will displayed while protecting her during their
childhood. Dunn stated, "The issue that I am playing
with is how Will makes her uncomfortable with his sharp end
of violence. I think in this book she is portrayed as selfish
because she puts herself in a bubble." She can be a metaphor
for the liberal who chooses to ignore the overall picture
of what civilian protectors must do to keep them safe. The
theme throughout his novels is that there are no right or
wrong answers.
To counter Sarah and expose her hypocrisy, Dunn introduces
the former MI6 officer, Betty. Dunn describes her as "very
British, off the mold, who fought in WWII, and a non-liberal
who straight-talks, saying this is what must be done, knowing
that the reality is neither a black or white issue. I wanted
to have the readers think when push comes to shove where are
you going to stand as opposed to discussing this over a nice
glass of wine in a safe environment. I put in the famous Churchill
quote; 'People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only
because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who
would harm us.' I wanted to show that faced with a catastrophic
situation at the end of the day you need somebody with guts
to do something."
It is obvious that in this book there is a shout out to senior
citizens. Beside Betty, three others are enlisted to help
Will. The author described in the book, "The old operatives
were well past their prime, but they had something that a
younger and more agile team couldn't have: wisdom, and a been-there
and seen-it-all wealth of experience." Dunn is hoping
people will understand that there is the ability to learn
from their elders. He explained that one scene in the book
was straight out of a personal experience. A senior, fragile
woman at the shooting range of a training MI6 facility asked
him about a handgun he was testing. He showed her how to position
it to fire, and after getting the gun, she completely ignored
his instructions and proceeded to fire bullseye target shots.
Dunn's
next book will have Will falsely accused and on the run in
the US. He is framed for something he did not do, which will
be the book's starting point.
Slingshot is a very character driven book that dictated
the plot. Dunn enjoys writing about the Will character because
it is loosely based on himself. Anyone who wants to understand
the world of espionage will find this storyline interesting
and insightful.
Reviews
of other titles in this series
Spycatcher
#1 [review
1] [review
2]
Sentinel
#2
Sling
Shot #3
Dark Spies #5 [review
1] [review
2]
The
Spy House #7
|
