INCENDIARY by Carl Rackman @CarlRackman

4.5 out of 5 stars

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How I discovered this book: After reading Jonah by this author, there was no way I was not going to read his next novel! 

Genre: Thriller, horror, military, government conspiracies, dragons.... yes, really.

When I read that this book was a naval military type thriller that featured a fire-breathing, wingéd monster, I couldn't see how the two would work together, to the extent that when Mr Rackman first tweeted about it I thought he was joking.  But he has totally pulled off the challenge with Incendiary ~ the dragonesque Horla and her species are completely plausible and I hope they are real.

The story starts with a gripping scene from the Vietnam war, then moves onto a ship with a top secret cargo ~ all the stuff of which good action horror stories are made.   The novel is pacy and suspenseful, factually convincing and cleverly put together, told from the third person points of view of Dr Mel Villiers, researcher, and the man with whom she has recently become involved, Captain Steve Warren from the elite SBS unit.  Threads of governmental falsehoods, cover-ups and conspiracies run through the book as it moves from Porton Down research centre to a submarine in the Arctic ~ which is where the greatest twist of all takes place.  Got me there; I love a surprise I didn't see coming, and it's one that turns the whole story on its head.

The thought of a world in which the human is not the dominant species gives much food for thought, as do several passages about the way in which those in power keep hold of it; the book has a fair bit to say, as well as being a good story.  It's an unusual, intelligently-written page-turner, and the Author's Note stuff about dragons at the back is worth reading, too.  Tick! ✔