BRIMSTONE
Reviewed By Ian Banks January 19, 2022
Author Russel Hutchings.
Distributor: Big Sky Publishing
ISBN: 9781922488985
Publisher: Big Sky Publishing
Release Date: December 2021
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A Mantra 6 Thriller
James Bond was a series that saw Ian Fleming gain wide notoriety for his imaginative, fast paced spy thrillers. Russel Hutchings with Brimstone has just moved the genre of clandestine spy thrillers into the modern world, with a very realistic agent in John Devereaux, plucked from the ranks of the SAS to be sent on a clandestine mission into the dark heart of Cambodia.
There is nothing to it, he is told by spymaster Magnus Webb, just parachute in and assassinate two of the high profile drugs lords and then leave! He will be operating on his own, and should things go wrong, he simply does not exist.
From this fast paced beginning the mission broadens out to become a complex operation with the Cambodian aspect already set to over throw the old leaders and make room for the young’ Turks ‘to broaden the reach of their syndicate. Devereaux simply did their job for them!
As the capacity for the spread of this new syndicate become apparent Deveraux is asked to continue his new role, which eventually leads him into the shadowed world of drug distribution and a dark, powerful, deadly syndicate that will stop at nothing to build an ever growing empire.
As Hutching was a long serving member of SAS he has drawn on his vast knowledge of the world of covert operations, where you have to be ready to move at a moment’s notice, venturing into dark and unforgiving terrain in pursuit of the ‘bad guys’ of this world.
This ring of truth takes an almost standard story formulation into the reams of reality, presenting a side of the Australian Security forces seldom seen. As a character, Devereaux is fleshed out with the very real issues that face many men in his former profession; that of the beloved family having enough of the dangerous nature of their work, but this simply adds to the reality of the story. Devereaux is a real man, facing real evil.
Hutching has also drawn on his first-hand knowledge of Cambodia, Sydney, France and Russia to the extent that, should you have ever graced the streets of these locations, they will be very real and if you have not, the descriptive phrasing will bring them to life.
Fast paced and just long enough, Brimstone is the first in a six-part series, Mantra-6, following John Devereaux as he moves up into the secret organization known as MANTRA-6.