3.5 stars

This book is over thirty years old,but it doesn't feel it.
It's fast paced,so much so that I didn't miss the use of mobiles and the internet... something that makes older books feel a bit clunkysometimes.
Our journalist ,of course searching for the truth,is really put through the ringer when he investigates a double death.
There are attempts on his life,those he cares about,and a surprising ending in who started the whole thing rolling.
Enjoyable.

This is a re-issue of Peter May’s 1981 novel originally called ‘Hidden Faces’ and, in a preface to this new edition, May himself notes just how ‘topical’ the book is in the atmosphere of today’s fevered political machinations between the UK and Europe (well, fevered if you live in the Westminster bubble, for the rest of us, meh.)

A British politician and a journalist are murdered in Brussels, to where Neil Bannerman – erstwhile journalist and anti-establishment figure – has been banished by his editor. Bannerman finds himself investigating the deaths as the political forces of Belgium and Britain seek to shut down any possible scandal in the run-up to the 1979 General Election. The rest is an enjoyable thriller with our doughty hero being beaten up, shot at, breaking and entering, falling in love – oh, and becoming a father-figure to the autistic daughter of the murdered journalist. And all taking place against a snow-covered cityscape to set a suitable mood and tone.

Whilst May calls it ‘topical’ the book is, nonetheless, very much of its time. Every stereotype you can imagine is wheeled out: hard-drinking, hard-smoking journalists who are bitter at careers going down the pan; the enigmatic, world-weary local detective who does his best to help Bannerman; a hired assassin who turns out to have emotions after all; the love-interest who herself carries a burden of mistrust from a previous relationship; financial misdeeds from the Eurocrats…… And the topicality of the book is very much in the background – there seemed precious little about the election and even less about the relationship between the UK and Europe.

That’s not to say this isn’t a decent page-turner and an enjoyable romp, but it does read like a bit of a period piece and Peter May has gone on to write much better books and much more rounded characters in the years since. However, if you want a diverting read that will pass away a cosy winter’s evening, then you could do much worse than this. And it is interesting sometimes to revisit the early works of authors to see how they have progressed over time. 3.5 stars.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this edition in return for an honest and unbiased review.)

As I would expect from this author you are in for a rollercoaster of a read.
This time Neil Bannerman a Scottish journalist is sent to Brussels to see what dirt he can dig up. While he is there two British men are muŕdered. One is a journalist and the other is a Cabinet minister and there is a witness, the cabinet minister 's daughter who is autistic. The girl can recall everything about the double murder except what the killer looks like.
This book is a fast paced thriller, it gives insights on how journalists are drip fed what others tell them. How the workings of Brussels are not all as they seem and how one journalist puts himself in danger to get the big scoop.
This is an entertaining crime thriller full of conspiracy, what ifs and jam packed with action. HIGHLY recommended.
I would like to thank the author, Quercus Books and Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for giving an honest review.

This book was originally released in 1981 with the title "Hidden Faces". It is set in the 1970's and revolves around a Scottish reporter, Neil Bannerman, who is sent to Brussels by his editor to report on the EU. A series of murders soon follow his arrival in Brussels and an attempt on his own life leads Bannerman into an alliance with Detective Du Maurier This was an excellent political thriller with some issues in the EU still current today. It is well written and researched, with interesting characters and a very well thought out plot. I don't know how I missed the original version but I highly recommend reading this in January. Thank you to Net Galley for my ARC. A very easy 5* read.

This is a book, Hidden Faces, that was written at the beginning of Peter May's writing career, set at the end of the 1970s in Brussels, Belgium. According to May, he has lightly revised the novel that begins with Edinburgh Post's cynical and lauded investigative journalist, Neil Bannerman, aware that the cuts at the newspaper with its move into more tabloid territory under the ruthless new editor, Wilson Tait, might lead to him having a limited future at the paper. To get rid of him temporarily, Tait sends him to Brussels to report on the EU, staying with Tim Slater, the reporter based there. Less than happy with his latest assignment, he finds Slater less than welcoming, but surprisingly connects with Tim's autistic daughter, Tania, and her carer, Sally Robertson. Ex-army soldier Kale is a ruthless assassin for hire, known for his abilities and rewarded accordingly. He is travelling to Brussels to make meticulous preparations for the planned killing of two men, one of whom is a British Minister thought to have a glittering future in front of him, popular within the party as it prepares for a general election.

Amidst the dreary drabness of the rain and snow, the author gives us an atmospheric picture of this bygone era, the apathetic bureaucratic and political circles in Europe, the journalists that co-exist to report on what they are fed, worrying about their careers, hungry for an exclusive. The British Minister and Tim Slater are discovered dead in a tableau that appears to suggest the men killed each other. Tania Slater had the misfortune to be at the scene of the deaths, glimpsing the killer, left traumatised and placed in a children's psychiatric hospital in the city. As the British authorities and the EU collude to shut down the story, the Detective du Maurier forges a relationship with Bannerman and informs him that the men were definitely murdered. Forced to make an alliance with an ex-colleague, Richard Platt, a man he dislikes, Bannerman scrabbles to find leads that might explain why the men were killed. However, he has little idea of the danger he is in or the powerful forces that will do anything to get him to stop investigating.

This was an engaging thriller with issues in the EU that resonate today in our contemporary politics. Bannerman makes a interesting protagonist with a past that haunts him. As a younger and more arrogant man, he found himself in a position which he could not cope with and dealt with badly, but the repercussions have followed him through the years, eating into his confidence and abilities to sustain a long term relationship. His connection with Tania is what makes him seem so much more human than the ruthless and ambitious reporter that he is, he has sufficient self awareness to dislike this aspect of himself and its requirements in his profession. Definitely an entertaining, tense and suspenseful novel with well drawn characters that captures that period of time in history well. Thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

I enjoy reading Peter May books and really enjoyed his China Thrillers and the Lewis Trilogy so I was really looking forward to this one. The book was originally released in 1981 under the title 'Hidden Faces' but re-released next year as 'The Man with no face'.
This novel is about Scottish reporter Colin Bannerman who is sent to Brussels to write a series of articles about the Common Market. His editor asks him to stay at the home of a man named Slater, a newspaper colleague who Bannerman dislikes for the duration of his visit. While staying at Slater's home Bannerman gets attached to Tania Slater's young, autistic daughter and a strange relationship is made. Not long after Bannerman's arrival , Slater and a junior minister at the EEC, Robert Gryffe, are assassinated and Tania witnesses the crime resulting with the murderer been given instructions to kill her. While the local police are instructed to cover-up the double murder for political reasons, Bannerman is determined to find out and reveal the truth.
Well written with a well thought out plot.
I would like to thank both Net Galley and Quercus books for supplying me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.