After branching out into different genres, Adam Hamdy comes back to spy thrillers with a genuine masterpiece. Packed with almost non-stop cinematic action sequences situated in a timely narrative with allies and adversaries constantly switching roles, White Fire cuts through to you like a knife through butter. It demands and rewards your complete attention with the no lulls in the rhythm.
Picking up on the dark mission of Scott Pearce, we find him on a vengeful mission to stop an old adversary back from the cold. When Pearce works the leads to a radical environmental group known as White Fire, his mission complicates tenfold. Not only does he have to contend with a thirst for vengeance but he also must locate the bigger picture with his team to stop the radical group from unleashing a new terror on the world, even if they’re being manipulated by Pearce’s enemies.
Hamdy’s thrillers can be best described as a mesh of brilliance, sheer violence, and overwhelming emotions that give you pause for the struggles of the protagonists. Scott Pearce and his team are memorable because their past and present circumstances are worked into the action to make a lasting impression. This makes for a wonderful blend of character-driven and story-driven narrative that pushes the best of both worlds. Whether it’s Pearce himself, his mentor, or his kickass Syrian techie, there’s heavy emotional baggage that is associated with every character and it’s this emotional resonance that feels inviting to readers seeking to form strong bonds with the heroes they’re reading about.
I picked up White Fire right after I came back from a showing of Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One, so naturally I had high hopes for my next thriller. It may sound unfair at first but White Fire genuinely lived up to the hype I had created in my mind. Boisterous action lined the pages with fantastic execution of shootouts, hand-to-hand combat, and chaotic merriment in general. Pearce performs a symphony of carnage with MP7s and HK45s that is impossible to not visualize in crisp mental imagery. The final fight is a showdown the narrative builds up heavily towards and it pays off big time with spent emotions and bruised nerves.
White Fire is a guaranteed A-Lister when it comes to extraordinary espionage thrillers and it was all I wished to read in this highly-awaited book. Its propulsive pace leaves no room for winding down until the last page where you’ll feel a tinge of resentment that you must now wait for the sequel to answer the burning questions raised expertly by Hamdy in the closing moments. White Fire is guaranteed to scratch that deep itch for reading something truly fantastic!
Follow Kashif on Twitter or contact him via the site.
Purchase White Fire
(Note: most indie bookstores can fulfill an order as quickly as larger retailers. Please consider contacting them for your next purchase.)
Barrington Books
Chapter 2 Books
Murder By The Book
Once Upon A Crime
The Book Dragon
The Poisoned Pen
