Beyond Recall

By: Gerald Seymour

Narrated by: Leighton Pugh

Length: 17 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

He had been to the limit. Then they sent him further.

Gary - 'Gaz' - Baldwin is a watcher, not a killer. Operating with a special forces unit deep in Syria, he is to sit in a hide, observe a village, report back and leave.

But the appalling atrocity he witnesses will change his life forever.

Before long, he is living as a handyman on the Orkney islands, far from Syria, far from the army, not far enough from the memories that have all but destroyed him.

'Knacker' is one of the last old-school operators at the modern MI6 fortress on the Thames. He presides over the Round Table, a little group that meets in a pub and yearns for simpler, less bureaucratic times.

When news reaches Knacker that the Russian officer responsible for the Syrian incident may be in Murmansk, Northern Russia, he sets in motion a plan to kill him. It will involve a sleeper cell, a marksman and other resources - all unlikely to be sanctioned by the MI6 top brass, so it must be done off the books.

But first, he will need a sure identification. And for that, he needs a watcher.

Full of surprise, suspense and betrayal, Beyond Recall is a searching novel of moral complexity and a story of desperate survival.

©2017 Gerald Seymour (P)2017 W F Howes

Critic Reviews

"Seymour produces the most intelligent writing in the thriller genre." (Financial Times) 

A Few Chapters Too Far

Book is at least 3 hours too long and therefore lost tension and reader interest

Good Story Good Narration

Loved it from start to finish. Was gutted when it finished . Well worth a listen

Good listen

I have not read mr Seymour for some years. I forgot how good he is.

Atypical Seymour Novel

Too long, too slow and the central character given too many inane speeches. Disappointing.

Great Story. Way Too Long

Seymour is, without doubt, one of the great storytellers of modern fiction. His plots are ingenious and well thought through, his characters have credibility. But ... this novel is probably at least one third longer than it needs to be. The author never uses ten words when one hundred will do, and I found myself - uncharacteristically for a Seymour novel - wishing he would please get a damned move on. A good editor would have addressed this. If you have patience and plenty of time, you will nevertheless find this a rewarding novel.

Great story

Narration is superb, good storyline, great accents for all characters.
This is one of Seymour's best.

Troubling Duplicity in Today's World

you have got to give this book time to grow as a reader.The constant flashbacks are unsettling until you realise their importance later.Seymour books are always slow burners.Endeavour is part of being a fan.

Excellent

Excellent. Gripping from start to finish. Perfectly narrated, too. I'd give this more than 5 stars if I could.

Classic Seymour

Great story telling and superb characterisation. Easy Listening from start to finish. Good action romp

Long, winding and exciting. Unexpected. Cruel. Beautiful .

A new fan of GS here but steadily going through the lifetime of stand alone novels while I wait for Mr Merick to return. I so wish the GS had written more episodic books as the characters are always so meticulously detailed. I get sad knowing that I won’t have more journeys with them.

This book very special. As a ‘blow in’ myself to the islands, I did not want to read this one but of course, GS got it perfectly. He finely drew out the odd job, the gravestones, the boats, the seals and the darkness. He even noted to always call them The Orkney Isles, never the Orkneys. Of course, The Mainland is Scotland. Mainland is Orkney. No ‘The’.

Hero’s and Villain’s. So many wonderful humans and a fair few horrid ones, selfish and just nasty.

Read exquisitely skipping between voices accents and gender.

Not a wasted moment had. Often rewound to catch a nuance missed.