The murder of a controversial Muslim professor at Cambridge is the centerpiece of William Hunter’s SANCTION, a contemporary thriller that puts Hunter’s Ph.D. in history to good use. At first blush, the murder of Mohammad Ahmad, distinguished King’s College professor, seems to be a straightforward killing, possibly related to his criticism of Western policies or his perceived political status. However, the more Scotland Yard digs into the investigation, the more government agencies get involved and the more questions appear.
Who killed Professor Ahmad? Who was the mysterious witness outside his office that night? Why is a veritable alphabet soup of agencies, ranging from MI5 to the CIA, interested in Ahmad’s murder? Before those answers come, readers will be introduced to a wealth of characters working with and against each other, from a veteran MI6 section head hiding how clever he is behind an apparent fondness for drink to an up-and-coming Met sergeant dreaming of Interpol to the hit man responsible for Ahmad’s death, who may have met his match in his accidental witness.
Hunter’s writing is crisp and assured, and his facility in outlining the many nuances of modern global politics, and the historical events that shaped them, is evident from the first chapter. Although the ultimate historical motivation for one of the novel’s major McGuffins turns out to be less than surprising, if inadvertently relevant due to recent events, Hunter ties the past and present together well, which gives the actions of an antagonist introduced late in the book some clarity. However, despite these aspects, the overall flow of the book is weighed down by the sheer number of subplots and characters brought into play. In order to keep everything straight and to keep the overall plot from bogging down, Hunter takes a dispassionate, mechanistic approach to moving his characters and situations from point to point. This leads to flat dialogue and, occasionally, characters who are indistinguishable from each other; this is particularly noticeable whenever the minor functionaries of the various UK and US intelligence agencies take the stage. By the end of the novel, even the chapter headings, which helpfully identify the areas where the action takes place, have taken on a repetitive, staccato feel.
~Brandon Nolta for IndieReader