Ancient. Unstoppable. Unleashed.

This might initially sound like a strap line more suited to a fantasy novel, or perhaps one set in ancient Egypt, but this is a thriller firmly rooted in a very modern and deeply frightening scenario.

I'm delighted to be hosting a stop on the blog tour for L.A. Larkin's 'Devour', an action thriller which introduces journalist Olivia Wolfe and a veritable host of threats to her life.

-- What's it about? --

Murder, conspiracy, politics, secrets and lies. Olivia Wolfe is used to minding her back and hunting down the truth in war zones, but when we meet her she's become personally involved in a case, which leads her editor to send her to the Antarctic to report on a science story and gain some distance. Unfortunately for Olivia, the phrase "out of the frying pan and into the fire" has never been more apt.

It seems someone may be sabotaging the scientists' research, and they won't tolerate Olivia getting in the way. From Antarctica to Cambridge to Las Vegas, Olivia's search for the truth becomes a hunt for a person prepared and equipped to end civilisation as we know it. Can she really save the world? She's certainly going to try.

Not enough drama for you? Olivia also has her very own stalker, which could be any one of a number of people she's infuriated over the years - including her own estranged and imprisoned brother.

-- Opening sentence: --

'On the flat, featureless ice sheet, katabatic winds swoop down the mountain slopes, whipping up ice particles and hurling them at a solitary British camp.'

Ok, so I had to look up a word in the very first sentence of the book, but I didn't find this off-putting. I loved the violent energy and brutal isolation evoked in this and subsequent sentences which set the scene by likening the settlement to a monopoly board.

Excellent opening. 10/10.

-- What's it like? --

Exciting. Gripping. Chilling. The story opens with two murders on two continents and the pace barely slows after that hectic opening.

The "quietest" period of the book occurs while Olivia is in Antartica, but there's still constant intrigue: suspicions of tampering with equipment, the excitement of the scientists' discovery, and a tense visit from some Russian scientists, to name a few key events.

Throughout the story the tension remains high as Olivia increasingly careers from one fraught situation to another, gradually realising the full consequences at stake.

This isn't a book for the faint-hearted but it is a gripping thriller.

"Like so many scientists before them, the Lake Ellsworth team never questioned what they were doing. Too wrapped up in a quest for glory, too obsessed with proving they could, rather than considering whether they should."

-- Final thoughts --

This is a tremendously satisfying action thriller which introduces a character I'm looking forward to seeing more of, though, as is the case with many characters and stories like this, I do wonder how much more personal trauma the author can throw at their poor heroine!! Judging by the narrative threads left open at the end of this story, an awful lot!

I really enjoyed the way Larkin uses names. The narrative consistently refers to characters by their surnames - Wolfe and O'Leary, for instance - but when the characters are speaking they naturally use each other's first names - Olivia and Daisy, for instance. It's a minor detail but it helped create the ambience of threat and danger by keeping the reader on a less personal footing with the characters than they were with each other.

A thrilling opening, a fascinating and thought-provoking visit to Antarctica, a dramatic and constantly evolving plot and an exciting denouement with just the right amount of resolution combine to make this an excellent thriller with a central character I look forward to meeting again and again.

Many thanks to the author and the publishers for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

L.A. Larkin’s Devour is a cleverly plotted and action packed tale of biological warfare mixed with espionage, fear, anger and despair. By page 7 I was totally immersed and didn’t want to leave this book.

Larkin’s protagonist Olivia Wolfe, an investigative journalist, is gutsy and determined. She will stop at nothing to get the truth.

The story runs along two plot lines, both mysteries, with Wolfe at the centre of both. Small offshoot plots leave scope for future novels featuring Olivia Wolfe.

The character of Wolfe was well developed as we get to know what does and doesn’t make her tick.

As Wolfe follows stories on the streets of Afghanistan then the chilly stations of a scientific exploration centre in Antarctica the danger and action never stops.
With just enough romance to show that she is only human after all and an eerie stalker who is seeking their own revenge the Olivia Wolfe series is sure to be devoured by all crime thriller readers.

With my thanks to the author for my copy to read and review. ( )

LA Larkin’s Devour features investigative journalist Olivia Wolfe’s world of big stories, hair’s-breadth escapes from danger and fearless reporting on the worst of human excesses. Newtown Review of Books ( )