#Blogtour #Bookreview #EndGame by Matt Johnson @Matt_Johnson_UK @OrendaBooks

‘Even though she displayed no sign of life, he aimed at her temple and squeezed the trigger again. Her head jerked slightly as the bullet entered her skull’

End Game, is the final part in the critically acclaimed Robert Finlay trilogy and is published by Orenda Books. Written by Matt Johnson, an ex-soldier and ex-Met Police Officer, he uses his own personal experiences in his writing, which brings great authenticity to the novel.

Described as ‘an intricately plotted and terrifyingly fast-paced race’ I can honestly say I was knackered after finishing this!!

Read on for my review as I join the Blog Tour today for the grand finale of this series.

Book Blurb:

Robert Finlay seems to have finally left his SAS past behind him and is settled into his new career as a detective. But when the girlfriend of his former SAS colleague and close friend Kevin Jones is murdered, it’s clear that Finlay’s troubles are far from over.

Jones is arrested for the killing, but soon escapes from jail, and Finlay is held responsible for the breakout. Suspended from duty and sure he’s being framed too, our hero teams up with MI5 agent Toni Fellowes to find out who’s behind the conspiracy. Their quest soon reveals a plot that goes to the very heart of the UK’s security services. 

Book Review:

Robert Finlay is moving on with life. He is married with two young kids in a lovely home and seems finally to be coming to terms with his past as an SAS soldier. Now working on the police force, he hopes to ease into retirement and draw no trouble from any quarter. He is successfully dealing with his PTSD, following stints overseas in the war against terror, after bearing witness to some horrendous atrocities. In other words life is okay for Robert Finlay….for now….

But as we all know, life likes to throw a few curve balls in the way and for Robert Finlay it comes in the shape of a missing person, a dead body and his best friend being accused of murder.

Robert Finlay is a man’s man, one who takes no s**t from anyone, but he soon realises that this attitude will get him into deeper trouble as he searches for the truth. With old vendettas and folk from his past making sudden appearances, Robert discovers that his comfortable life is about to get a serious shake-up.

SAS, MI5, MI6, politicians, dirty players – End Game has it all. With the help of one or two trustworthy colleagues, Robert Finlay delves deep into the underworld of espionage and spies. He needs every ounce of his army training, every survival skill learned to discover the truth behind a plot that goes right to the core of the UK’s security services.

In a world where trust is a very highly sought after commodity, Robert Finlay uses all his wits to stay alive. When his friend Kevin Jones is in trouble, it all becomes very personal for Robert. He and Kevin go back a very long way together. There is that bond that exists between people who have come back from the jaws of death together on more than one occasion.

Can Robert Finlay survive this time or is it really End Game?

Okay admission time from me….I have not read the first two books in this series, Wicked Game and Deadly Game, so I went into End Game completely blind. I have no idea of the previous two books and, as ever, this carries a little trepidation when jumping right in to an already existing series. Did I struggle? Yes I did a little, but through absolutely no fault of the author. There are references to historical situations which did clear up a few uncertainties for me, but I do think this is a series that needs to be read from Book 1 to give it full justice.

Matt Johnson has openly spoken about his own personal trauma with PTSD, after witnessing the horrors of war both at home in the UK and overseas. His writing has developed as a method of dealing with his own personal experiences and this shines through in End Game.

End Game is fast. It will leave you breathless and almost traumatised. This stuff happens, that’s the scariest bit. Whilst this series is fiction, the author is real and his thoughts and memories are very very real.

I will be recommending to my OH to get Book 1 and start this series from the beginning. I know it’s a series he will thoroughly enjoy, although it may be awhile before he gets through it!!

Is it a man’s series? I think not. It’s the perfect read for all lovers of John Le Carré, for all lovers of secrecy and spy thrillers, for anyone looking for a heart-pounding, fast-paced, page-turning series.

Matt Johnson, I hope, has something new coming down the tracks and this time I intend to start his next books in the right order 🙂

I hope you enjoyed my review. Please do let me know!

Purchase Link ~ End Game

Bio:

Matt Johnson served as a soldier and Metropolitan Police officer for twenty five years. Blown off his feet at the London Baltic Exchange bombing in 1993, and one of the first police officers on the scene of the 1982 Regent’s Park bombing, Matt was also at the Libyan People’s Bureau shooting in 1984 where he escorted his mortally wounded friend and colleague, Yvonne Fletcher, to hospital.

Hidden wounds took their toll. In 1999, Matt was discharged from the police with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

While undergoing treatment, he was encouraged by his counsellor to write about his career and his experience of murders, shootings and terrorism. One evening, Matt sat at his computer and started to weave these notes into a work of fiction that he described as
having a tremendously cathartic effect on his own condition.

His bestselling thriller, Wicked Game, which was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Dagger, was the result.

Deadly Game and now End Game, the final book in the Robert Finaly series, once again draws on Matt’s experiences and drips with the same raw authenticity of its predecessor.

Twitter  ~ @Matt_Johnson_UK 

Website ~ https://mattjohnsonauthor.com/