Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

“The Englishman” by David Gilman introduces us to Dan Raglan, the Englishman of the title. He is (of course) a former paratrooper in the French Foreign Legion, a veteran of many shadow wars including a mission against ISIS on the borders of Mali and Algeria that forms the main backstory of this character.

After a brief foreshadowing scene from the ending, we start in the streets of London, where banker Jeremy Carter is ambushed and kidnapped by professionals. MI6 sends a low-level assistant, Abbie, to track down Raglan and get him to come back from France to help find Carter, a man and family who are close to Raglan’s heart.

Raglan returns, and along with Abbie and an attractive Moscow CID officer who has her own reasons for tracking down the kidnappers, starts working through London to find his friend before it’s too late. On the other side of the kidnapping is an old colleague from the Foreign Legion, bringing the past into the present for Raglan. His quest for justice will eventually lead him to get incarcerated in Penal Colony #74 in Siberia for the final showdown.

If you are looking for excitement then this is a book for you: this is a fast-moving action-packed modern thriller, with all of the pluses and minuses that this includes. Plenty of action, lots of blood and death, not everyone makes it to the end, exotic locations, very bad bad guys, loving descriptions of weapons, tender moments with kids/friends to show the killer has a heart, beautiful people getting frisky. Don’t expect too much in terms of character development, complicated plot, or dialog. Not a bad way to spend a couple of evenings.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Head of Zeus via NetGalley. Thank you!

A fast-paced international thriller.

Jeremy Carter and his son are on their way to a rugby match at his son’s school. They take a short cut to miss the gridlocked traffic only to face their worst and most terrifying experience – being ambushed. Jeremy Carter is kidnapped, his driver killed, but thanks to Jeremy’s training – his son Steven escapes and manages to get to a safe house.

Mr Maguire from MI6 must act quickly if there is any chance to rescue Carter. He immediately sends one of his staff, Abbie Khalsa, to find the man known as “The Englishman”, Dan Raglan who lives in a remote French village along with his other “family”, members of the elite French Foreign Legion to help with the rescue.

Raglan uses Abbie’s extraordinary knowledge of London’s roads to try to ascertain where the kidnappers are holding Carter. Will they get to him in time? I’d be on Raglan’s hitlist if I gave any further details.

David Gilman is an extraordinarily gifted author. His writing is so descriptive that I felt like I was right in the middle of this plot from the very beginning. I found myself reading at speed and well into the wee small hours of the morning to find out if Raglan would not only survive but also rescue Carter. The detail that the author gives on the places this book takes place in is fascinating, and I’ve learnt so much more about very remote countries.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. While in England the main character acts as a normal super-spy and the story moves along quite nicely. After he heads off to Russia to bring the story full circle the the story becomes a bit more incredulous. Still exciting but the reader must put logic and reasonableness aside. Fairly typical in these types of stories.

I didn't really warm to Raglan, the central character, although Abbie, his female MI6 sidekick, was an interesting creation. If you like cliff-hangers and shock twists then there's plenty here to surprise you.

The women aren’t quite front and centre in this military thriller / spy story, as the title quite accurately implies. But while the central character is definitely male, an ex-foreign legionnaire, veteran of Afghanistan and other shadowy combat zones, he’s ably supported by an interesting young woman, Abbie. She’s sent by MI6 to the English chap’s European hideaway when one of his undercover colleagues is kidnapped, to summon him back to active (if deniable) duty. As the plot twists into an international espionage adventure, so Abbie becomes an all-action Moneypenny of sorts. And speaking of Bond moments, the other notable female presence is an unfeasibly attractive Russian police detective: cue steamy descriptions and a slinky gownless evening strap…

The action is relentless, heading east to a remote region of Siberia as an international conspiracy and high-level corruption are revealed. The author definitely knows his martial lore and expounds at length on the subject. Some of the set pieces are a little too detailed: a London car chase felt like a long list of streetnames from Googlemaps, while the extended catalogue of weapons simply slowed things down. Very few writers (well, OK, only one) can bring about unbearable tension through the minutiae of ammunition and firearms. And this story feels more like Stephen Leather than Stephen Hunter.

Decently entertaining, but it hardly inspires desperation to read the next one.

The Englishman is a nail-biting fusion of action and intrigue. Raglan, the protagonist, has lived so many lives and seen too much. Orphan, French legionnaire and master of the deniable operation Raglan is dragged out of retirement by a series of violent attacks and a persuasive messenger.

This international thriller spans the globe and has an engaging sense of place which draws the reader into the story with its sensual imagery. Intricate plotting reveals some of Raglan’s past and secrets. The action is uncompromising with collateral damage that is both realistic and unsettling.

The climactic mission into the depths of Russia is authentic and gritty. Here again, the use of sensual imagery is notable and makes the action and the setting easy to imagine, even if you’d rather not.

If you like your escapism raw and relentless, this is the perfect book for you.

I received a copy of this book from Head of Zeus in return for an honest review.

The Englishman is a well-written, exciting, fast-paced, action-packed, edge of your seat thriller, which shows real promise this new series, I can’t wait to see what adventure’s Dan Raglan will take us on in the future.
I haven’t read a decent thriller for an age now, in fact, I haven’t come across a good thriller/action series I genuinely wanted to follow since the Payne/Jones series by Kris Kuzneski, but The Englishman has sucked me right back into this compelling genre. The writing is solid, being a typical thriller with an espionage edge you learn what you need to know about the main man; Dan Raglan when you need to know it because Raglan isn’t as developed in-depth as you get with stand-alone’s and characters from other genre’s it keeps the reader hooked with the series as we want to learn more about this mysterious, hardened and guarded man.
A man, I must say has got right under my skin, he is one of those characters who has this aura about him, he pulls the reader into his little sphere like a moth to a flame.
I was fascinated with Raglan, he is a complex, multi-layered man; on one hand, he is a deadly and ruthless trained killer and a bit of a lone wolf with so much in his past; good and bad that has made him the man he is. Yet, there is something beneath that hardened steel, something else that makes the heartbeat that much faster….yet, in other words, this guy is a stud, an action man a man who has the world on his shoulders – plus falling to his feet, and yet even at by the end when and his story was all revealed, i still think there is far more to this man then meets the eye. As a former Paratrooper and who was once apart of the French Foreign Legion, he has seen and done things that to this day still bring nightmares to his nights. Being an orphan his true family has always been his fellow comrades in arms,
David Gilman has done the most incredible job at grabbing the readers attention with such a thrilling, heart-racing opening, I was completely hooked, it’s heart-stopping, I wanted to know how this precise scene all came about, which was soon revealed as each chapter went flying past and we are soon zooming along at break-neck speed from London to Eastern Europe and over to Siberia. The story is intoxicating, with it’s a fast-paced race across Europe to Siberia the detailing of every country mentioned is second to none. The action scenes are gripping and very real, I must warn you though not to get attached to many characters as many don’t come out the other end and the is flawless, David Gilman literally pulls the reader into Raglan’s dark and dangerous world. I honestly, cannot quite put into words just how much I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
If you love twisty, action-packed, surprising, gritty, realistic thrillers that make you think as well as take you on an explosive journey, then this is the book you NEED to read, I cannot recommend it highly enough, and if I rated book on the blog – which I don’t – this would be a solid five stars, amazing!
This was a complimentary copy via Midas PR for Head of Zeus, which I reviewed as apart of this blog tour, thank you, Amber.

A man gasping for breath, running in frigid snow, escaping a spray of bullets.

A team of legionnaires taking on enemy terrorists in the relentless, arid heat of Africa.

A ruthless murder and kidnapping in the daylight of London’s crawling traffic.

The freezing expanse of a merciless, brutal Russian prison.

An exiled legionnaire. Rogue wolf. Trained to kill. Specialized in military secret operations. Raglan—a walking weapon of destruction.

Dan Raglan has been living in relative peace—ghosting it, but when he is lured out of his seclusion by MI6 to find an old friend who is kidnapped, the story ignites.

Raglan’s call to duty sets fire to an explosion of page-turning action. Teeming with brilliant use of military narrative, stealthy special operatives, fierce international extremism, The Englishman has the power and intensity of a blockbuster movie. Hollywood should come calling.

Riveting from the first page. I cannot wait for more of The Englishman.

Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for the read of David Gilman’s, The Englishman.

Opinions expressed in my reviews are my own.

I was first introduced to the books of David Gilman when I read Masters of War the first in the series of the same name set in the 14th century and featuring the adventures of archer Thomas Blackstone. The author took a break from that series to write Night Flight to Paris, set in WW2 occupied France, a book I absolutely loved. In The Englishman, he moves from historical fiction into the world of the contemporary thriller and what an adrenaline-fuelled thrill ride it is.

The book's protagonist, Dan Raglan - the Englishman of the title - is a bit of a man of mystery. Taken in by a couple when he was orphaned, his only real 'family' are his former comrades in the French Foreign Legion. Although a trained killer and a loner by nature, he's not the cold figure you might expect. The things he's seen, endured - and done - have left traumatic memories that occasionally rise to the surface; only his incredible willpower keeps the nightmares at bay. Raglan's own life experiences also mean he has instinctive empathy for those who suffer loss at an early age. I'll confess even this happily married lady got a bit hot under the collar at the thought of Raglan's lean, muscled physique and other attributes. However, I suspect I would have a formidable rival for his affections.

Moving from its dramatic opening in a remote part of Russia to Mali in West Africa, to the streets of London and then back to Russia again,The Englishman has everything you would expect - and want - from a contemporary thriller. There are plenty of bone-crunching, blood-splattered action scenes, the bad guys are really bad, the plot is satisfyingly intricate and there are twists, turns and surprises aplenty. The author is pretty ruthless when it comes to his characters so don't expect all of them to make it to the end. In the first part of the book especially, the author makes good use of his own military experience in detailed descriptions of military equipment, weaponry and tactics.

If you're looking for a compelling, well-told story incorporating topical issues such as international terrorism, money laundering, covert military operations and state-sponsored organized crime, then The Englishman is the book for you. All that's missing for it to be a complete picture of the world we're living in is a global pandemic but perhaps Raglan will be called on to grapple with that in a future book.

The Englishman promises to be the start of a terrific new series and I for one can't wait to see what Raglan gets up to next.

After six years of peace and quiet, former French Foreign Legion Black Ops soldier Raglan gets a call that will drag him back into a life he hoped was in his past.
A kidnap and a missing child along with a string of assassins, Raglan must hit the ground running if he hopes to save a friend and stop an old nemesis.
From the streets of London to wilds of Russia and it’s toughest prison, the former soldier must go up against odds that even the maddest of men wouldn’t risk but this is personal and Raglan will risk it all or die trying.
David Gilman has created a thriller that keeps you on edge throughout with its intrigue and deception and it’s high impact scenes.
A heart pounding page tuner that grips the reader from start to finish. A bloody brilliant book which I can’t recommend enough. Read this, you won’t be disappointed.

Wow, I just finished this book and felt I needed to light a nice fire, run a hot bath and prepare a nice mug of hot cocoa for our hero Dan Raglan. This book has just taken him through the most tense and harrowing time and although this former French Legion member is a tough professional, this story has pushed him to his limits.
The novel starts in Mali in the middle of an attack against a terrorist group and carries on through London, Moscow, Siberia, all at a very fast pace and always tense and full of action. The scenes are always set so vividly that as you read the book you feel completely drawn into it. You feel the rush of adrenalin, the aches, the cold, the loss … and the fear.
David Gilman has put together an explosive mix in this international action thriller, with the intertwined and dangerous worlds of terrorists, spies, professional warriors, the Russian-backed organised crime, and the interesting inmates at Penal Colony 74 in the pits of Siberia.
It is a rough read and, like our hero, you are completely sucked into this well constructed plot and well written story, and you will only catch your breath when you reach the last page.
I would not be surprised if our hero Dan Raglan would reappear for new exciting challenges, after a well deserved holiday in his secluded village in France. In fact I am looking forward to his return!

Thank you to Netgalley and to the author David Gilman for the privilege of this advance reader copy of The Englishman.

#TheEnglishman #NetGalley

If you enjoy books full of action, then this one is pretty much non-stop. It opens with a planned attack in the Republic of Mali and, before you have caught your breath, you are in London in the middle of a kidnapping. Personally, I prefer more characterisation in my novels, but it is worthwhile hanging on, if like me, you find this a bit of a breathless assault in the beginning, as it does – if not slow down – then certainly become more invested in the characters as the novel progresses.

The central character is Dan Raglan, who we meet in the initial attack in Mali, a former member of the French Foreign Legion and someone known to the intelligence services of both Britain and France. Wanting someone independent to investigate the kidnapping of banker, Jeremy Carter, who has links to Raglan himself, the Englishman is approached.

As the book progresses, you manage to learn more about his character. The central part of the novel involves Raglan attempting to break into a modern day, Russian gulag. By the time we had arrived in Siberia, I was far more interested in what would happen and in the survival of Raglan and his small team. Be warned, though, like the wonderful Mick Herron’s Slough House series, there are characters lost along the way – not just minor ones either. Personally, I think this makes a book more exciting, but if I read on in this series, I have a feeling that I will be saddened by the loss of main characters. The fact that Mr Gilman made me care about them is testament to this series, as I did nearly abandon this, but I am glad I persevered.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Wow! Where to start with this one. A veritable firecracker of a story.

My first read by David Gilman is the first in his new series starring ‘Raglan’ an exiled ex legionnaire who is drawn back into the line of fire when an old friend is brutally kidnapped on the streets of a London.

The kidnap lead to all kinds of cinematic thrills and a finale in the cold tundra of deepest darkest Russia

A tale that spans Africa, Europe and beyond, David Gilman brings a new hero to the table, the indomitable and effervescent Raglan.

Called in by desperate Mi-6 chiefs, they need Raglan to pretty much run ‘black ops’.

Action packed, searingly paced brutal stuff, this book never lets up. Thrills a minute , it’s a crackerjack!

Comparisons are hard not to make. your mind immediately goes to Jack Reacher. But Raglan for me doesn’t deserve the comparison. He’s a new and fresh face..

This is a blistering thriller that pulls you along in its tailwind..

It’s tense, brutal, rip -roaring and engaging reading.

I look forward to more of Raglan,

Recommended

4🔥🔥🔥🔥

When Jeremy Carter, a 49-year-old banker is ambushed in his car, his driver murdered by men with assault rifles in an ambush in London, his boss at MI6 (who he once officially worked for, and still does unofficially) wants someone off-the-books to help him investigate. Enter Dan Raglan, the Englishman of the title, a former French Foreign Legionnaire and a man who has worked for both French and British intelligence since. Raglan sets about investigating, his familial relationship with Carter spurring him on. Soon, he finds himself up to his ears in international intrigue and espionage.

I shan’t give too much away about the plot, but this is a good, solid, high-octane spy thriller. The blurb on the back gives it away that at some point Raglan will need to sneak into a penal colony deep in the snowy wastes of Siberia, a near-impossible mission. But this happens towards the end of the book, and in actual fact, I found the body of the plot, which occurs in London, far more compelling.

This a novel that fits into that muscular genre of action/espionage, more Lee Child, Vince Flynn, or Stephen Leather than John Le Carre. There’s enough here to make it stand out from the crowd, it’s well-plotted and the characterisation is good, but I did find the odd irritating flourish of cliché. Am I the only one who finds the femme fatale a little tiresome? Why does the action hero have to fall into bed with a female colleague? Is this just a convention that thriller readers on the whole expect, and are my complaints just me being a little stuffy?

That said, this is a small flaw - and as mentioned, it might be just me who sees it as such - in an otherwise well crafted and enjoyable novel. One thing I did like about the novel, is that people you don’t expect to die, do. This is something that Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones excelled at and elevated them above the competition: never knowing whether a cherished character might get killed does wonders for the tension. I won't give anything away, but there are a couple of times in this novel when a character who you think won't end up on a mortuary slab, does, in fact, do so. The author is certainly not scared to kill his darlings, always a good thing with a thriller writer.

The Englishman holds its own in a crowded field and I certainly hope that there’s a sequel. The characters left standing at the end could certainly carry one.

This is a exciting, solid contemporary espionage thriller from David Gilman, more at the action orientated spectrum of the genre, so do not expect much in the way of in depth characterisation. The protagonist, Dan Raglan, in exile in France, is at the heart of the novel, a professional killer and a former paratrooper who had a distinguished career in the famous French Foreign Legion, his close relationships with fellow serving soldiers providing a family for him. In 2013, Raglan was part of a compromised secret multinational operation in the caves on the borders of Mali and Algeria targeting a heavily guarded high value ISIS terrorist in hiding. This repercussions of this operation have deadly consequences on the streets of West London in 2020 where banker Jeremy Carter is abducted in an well planned ambush.

Carter is married to Amanda, with a 13 year old adopted son, Steven and 5 year old daughter, Melissa. His driver is murdered, and Steven is missing, feared taken by the kidnappers. Colonel Ralph Maguire of MI6 sends his assistant, Abbie, to France to persuade Raglan to return in an off the books role. Raglan returns, he is closely connected to both Jeremy and Amanda, a Jeremy who was more than just a banker, and he manages to locate the young Steven. He races against time to find Jeremy, knowing he is being interrogated and tortured to death, helped to negotiate his way round a London by a driver he insisted on, Abbie. He is joined in his task by a tough Moscow CID officer, determined to gain justice for 4 murdered Russian police officers, despite the corruption that leaks down from the very top of the Russian government.

In a narrative that moves from London to Eastern Europe and the remote, isolated bitterly icy regions of Siberia, Raglan embarks on a well nigh impossible deadly mission of vengeance that is to take him into Penal Colony 74, aka White Eagle, housing Russia's most lethal and dangerous killers. Gilman writes a well plotted and compulsive thriller that grew on me the more I read of it. There are plenty of well described fight and action scenes, and the author does a terrific job in the atmospheric portrayal of Siberia, its landscape, the woods, and a well guarded secure prison from which no-one has ever escaped alive. This will appeal to many readers who love their thrillers. Many thanks to Head of Zeus for an ARC.

Non-stop action, exotic locales and very believable plot! Can't beat it!
Raglan, if you know him, is the man who can help with your problems; no matter how difficult they seem. Not flashy but portrayed as a character who has been in difficult, uncomfortable situations before and now has the experience to handle the current circumstances.
Really enjoyed this book so keep Raglan coming!

In The Englishman David Gilman has written an excellent thriller that keeps you hooked from the first to last page.

An ex Legionnaire is faced with what are virtually insurmountable odds to achieve retribution and justice for his friend but who is an ally and whom an enemy.

The author manages to weave all the strands into what is a very readable and entertaining thriller

Highly recommended

In fictional genealogy terms our latest “hero” could trace his roots back to Thomas Blackstone such is the seamless style and quality of this book. A Master of War in his own right Dan Raglan is requested as “outside” help by MI6 in a particularly sensitive abduction in London which then culminates in a revenge mission deep in Siberia. I enjoyed the story and depth of detail particularly the Russian end and glad to have a continuity with this author. My thanks as ever to both publisher and NetGalley.

A gripping and thrilling Adventure book. You become invested in Raglan and want him to succeed in his quest for justice. Thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was very well written and described the wastes of Russia in great detail.

The hero of the book is Dan Raglan, an English ex foreign Legion member who is called back from his semi-retirement to help resolve an abduction case in London. The plot takes him through London and across Europe.

The book was very well researched and all the action taking place, described beautifully but without much ornamentation.
As a first time reader of one of Gilman books I found it a little tricky to get into the narrative and follow how different characters related to each other. But after a while I did get to grips with it and really enjoyed the pace of the story. I really like how the author took time to explain how the fake tattoos are fitted and made. A detail I have always been curious about.

I did enjoy reading the book but am generally more of a person that likes a character to develop and I could not see that in Dan Raglan. I’m looking forward to seeing whether some character development can be found in the next book about him.