Latest Readers' Favorite Review for The Black Fox

Reviewed by Darryl Greer for Readers' Favorite

The Black Fox is third in author Gordon Bickerstaff’s Lambeth Group Thriller series. Lead character is Zoe Tampsin, a feisty, exceptionally resourceful former British Special Services officer seconded to MI5 (also known as the Security Service), who is asked by her boss, Sir Milton Johnson, to babysit Dr Gavin Shawlens. The scientist has been targeted by the CIA for assassination.

The Company knows he has a secret hidden in the depths of his subconscious which, if it ever surfaced, would cause an international incident of monumental proportions. To justify itself to its British counterparts, the CIA maintains that Shawlens is a national security threat. Things get complicated when Sir Milton tells Zoe that no one, not even colleagues in her own organization, can know the details of her assignment.

As the pressure to find Shawlens intensifies, Zoe finds herself pitted not only against the might of the CIA and resources available to it from other American security and military organizations, but those of her own country as well. 

Eventually, the pair is tracked down by her former mentor and they are surrounded, trapped in their own nightmare. As the hunters move in, Zoe must make the decision of a lifetime. If she is wrong, she will die with the man she has been entrusted to protect. If she is right, she will discover the secret locked in a vault in his memory and become a target for assassination herself.

Gordon Bickerstaff knows his stuff. If he doesn’t, he sure sounds convincing. The Black Fox covers operational matters pertaining to the CIA, Britain’s MI5, as well as military and law enforcement procedures. This is why it is such a riveting read. You tend to believe what’s going on, even though the subject matter is, in fact, unbelievable. 

The Black Fox is a joy to read, particularly if, like me, you are partial to thrillers in this sub-genre. Bickerstaff meanders seamlessly from the Oval Office in Washington to MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London, and to various other geographical locations in the UK and North America, keeping his readers enthralled at all times.

Just when you think you’re getting a breather from this fast-paced thriller, something happens to get your adrenaline racing again. Just one word of caution: there are many characters and a lot of scenes on both sides of the Atlantic so you need to keep your wits about you. But this is a book you won’t want to put down.