This is a Spy thriller on a truly grand scale. Ostensibly it is a story of global interest with a billion dollar international oil deal threatening to shift the balance of power, returning the reader to the time of the Cold War and, of course involving the Super-Powers, Russia, the United States and even China. Surprisingly, Australia plays a small but significant part. So the stakes are high.
Graham Potts instinctively understands that this political grand opera will overwhelm his readers so he takes us behind the scenes to the individuals who are pulling the strings. The most important of these is Stepan Volkov, an extraordinary anti-hero who has been manipulated into working for the Organizatsiya, a powerful Russian Crime Syndicate.
We soon discover that Volkov has been forced into this position by his love for a woman from his past whose safety is insured only if he continues to work for the Russians. So, even though Volkov appears to be a murderous assassin, he is driven by noble motives.
Other characters in the background include an Australian Intelligence officer with his own traitorous agenda and a naïve, young female agent whose main expertise is in research.
The story primarily unfolds through the actions of Volkov [known as the Wolf] and his true love [known as the Serpent]. These two are frightening characters with extreme killing skills. As the plot unfolds and the forces of their enemies attack them in ever-increasing numbers, with ever-mounting ferocity, they manage to defeat whomever comes up against them, using guns, knives, grenades and their bare hands to destroy them, seemingly without conscience. Of course, the ultimate rightness of their cause means that the reader is persuaded to admire their expertise rather than decry it.
NO FREE MAN is an impressive debut novel, an engrossing read, fast-paced and absorbing to the very end. It will certainly appeal to players of video games, perhaps because many of the action scenes are closer to said games than to real life, and, dare I say it, the Wolf and the Serpent are perhaps the Avatars that some readers will aspire to.
For those whose interest is piqued, Graham will be giving a talk about his book at the Tom Keneally Centre (SMSA) on Wednesday 10th February between 12.30pm and 1.30pm. It may well be worth going to. Some in the publishing community have dubbed him the next Lee Child. The event details are:-
http://smsa.org.au/events/event/graham-potts-no-free-man/
Graham Potts’ novel NO FREE MAN will be released on Monday January 4, 2016. RRP : $29.99- ISBN: 9781921997556, Publisher : Bloomsbury. Imprint- Pantera Press. Published in Paperback.
A copy of NO FREE MAN can be pre-ordered via:-
https://www.panterapress.com.au/shop/product/871/no-free-man.