Dark Forces is Stephen Leather’s newest Spider Shepherd thriller. Two separate stories are running together: there is a serious organised crime ring being penetrated, and a major terrorist operation being planned. Leather paints meticulous pictures of the planning, the preparation and the execution of these events. Spider Sheperd’s new boss, Jeremy Willoughby-Browne is as different from Charlotte Button as chalk from cheese, and yet despite the pomposity he displays throughout the story, it transpires that underneath that veneer is a decent human being. As the plots unfold, we are taken through the brash glamour of organised crime and the flash cash generated. We also see the detailed and patient planning of the terrorists. So detailed and realistic is Stephen Leather’s narrative that the line between fact and fiction becomes blurred, and one wonders if just maybe there is a glimmer of reality in the pages. Spider’s son, Liam features quite a bit in Dark Forces. In his late teens, Liam has done a lot of growing up over the years, and in this book, the father-son relationship is explored in greater depth than heretofore. Katra, the loyal au-pair makes a small, but very significant appearance. The finale is one of Stephen Leather’s most tense, most exciting and ,most mind blowing. I began reading Dark Forces on a 9.5 hour transatlantic flight. It kept me entertained for the duration of the flight, it was such a good read, I was almost disappointed to touch down. Dark Forces is Stephen Leather’s best work to date. Buy it, read it: it will not disappoint.