“The Conspirators” is a riveting international journey through the world of organized crime, cybercrime, and the dark side of the pharmaceutical industry. The story centers around Jacob Meaney, an English translator with a knack for languages but struggling financially. His life takes a dramatic turn when Eloise, an Australian digital marketer, offers him a job that seems too good to be true. Lured by the promise of a hefty paycheck, Jacob finds himself in a luxurious villa in Carinthia, Austria, but quickly realizes he’s trapped in a dangerous web. His employer, Bondarenko, is deeply entangled with an Indian criminal gang led by Nazim, who has taken control of a lucrative fertility drug’s manufacturing and distribution. Jacob’s role is to interpret between Hindi, Russian, and English during clandestine Zoom calls, but as the gang’s grip tightens, the villa becomes a gilded prison. Alongside Vlada, a trafficked maid, Jacob faces moral dilemmas and life-threatening situations, forcing him to choose sides to survive.

The characters are well-developed, particularly Jacob, whose everyman persona makes him relatable and his predicament all the more compelling.The settings are vividly described, from the opulence of the Austrian villa to the tense atmosphere of the Zoom calls. I enjoyed this crime thriller.

Enjoyed this. Yes it's a little unrealistic at times and does require you to suspend your disbelief in places but it's a good read and kept me hooked.

Jacob Meaney’s girlfriend has given him an ultimatum – find £20,000 towards the deposit on a flat or their relationship is over. He is a translator with a gift for languages, and this is what brings the mysterious Eloise into his life. She makes him an offer that would help solve his money problems, but just what would he be getting himself into – if something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Transported by private jet and helicopter to a remote luxury villa in Austria, Jacob soon realises all is not what it first appears. The villa belongs to Myroslav Bondarenko, head of a Russian organised crime gang engaged in selling illegal drugs on the internet, and Jacob is now cut off from the outside world as they have taken his passport and mobile phone. Due to the unusual combination of languages he speaks, they want him to help communicate with new suppliers in India.
Unusually for a story like this, Jacob is just an average man trying to escape from a dangerous situation. He does not have a military background or special training, but must rely on his wits and intelligence. He is completely out of his element and does not know who to trust, but his language skills give him an edge. This standalone thriller, from the author of the DI Alex Cupidi detective series, is in no way predictable, as just when you think you know what is going on, everything is turned on its head. The characters are believable, the plot is complicated and requires you to suspend disbelief in certain places. There is a lot of double-crossing and violence, but this is mitigated by humour and great descriptions of the Austrian landscape. I am a fan of William Shaw’s writing, and really enjoyed this unusual contemporary thriller where intelligence wins over violence every time. Great ending that ties up all the loose ends. Thanks to Quercus and NetGalley for a digital copy to review.

I enjoyed this. Jacob Meaney makes very little money as a translator, and his girlfriend wants to buy a flat, but how can he raise the deposit? As the relationship falters, he is approached to do two weeks of work for a significant amount of money.

Nothing in life is free, and he soon discovers that all is not what it seems, and he is trapped in a complex web of criminal gangs. Not knowing who to trust, plenty of twists and turns and brilliant from start to finish.

Would recommend this book.

This sounded like something I would enjoy. But sadly this started off too slow and didn't grip me early enough. Then the rest of the book stayed the same feeling for me.
While the atmosphere and even intensity was there I still struggled to really get into the story.
Most if not all of the characters were unlikeable but that was the point but while I acknowledge this it also played a role in me just not caring what happened.

The second standalone thriller (Dead Rich being the first) from established author William Shaw donning his G. W. Shaw pseudonym. With a change of pace from his Dungeness series featuring Alex Cupidi, Shaw immerses us in a world of gangsters, corruption and human trafficking, sweeping up Jacob, a naive translator as an unwitting conduit in criminal activities. This tale of duplicitous criminals is pacy, sharp and compelling. I fair raced through it, and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Unfortunately this book was not a good choice for me. I could not get into the story at all, as I found it all too implausible. The more I read the crazier it got. This was a DNF for me. I’m sure it will appeal to other readers, just not for me.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

A brilliantly twisted and messed up story that keeps you hooked in from start to finish.

There is so many layers to this book, it is great.

I thank Net Galley and the publisher for a review copy in exchange for a fair review. I am a fan of William Shaw's crime books and as such, I have already purchased the first in these non series adventure thrillers but not read it yet.
This is perhaps an entry into the "what have i got myself into?" sub-genre with a lead character who grabs our empathy from the off and holds it throughout the book . I found it hard to put down and read it in a day. As with so many thrillers it requires a bit of suspension of disbelief at times, but the twists and turns wind round on every page and the writing is very effective and efficient. Excellent entertainment and I will go back and read his earlier book in this name very shortly.

I have long been a fan of William Shaw and his excellent Alexandra Cupidi novels. This is something of a change of style from his police procedurals but equally enjoyable. It is a rip-roaring old-fashioned adventure tale with a fast pace and an interesting array of characters. Well-written and stylish as always, this was the perfect summer read.

Jacob Meaney is in a bit of a slump. He’s been dumped by his girlfriend as he’s so unsuccessful. He’s pretty surprised to be approached by a slick digital marketer called Eloise who offers a large sum of money for some on the spot translating. How can he refuse?
The offer is of course too good to be true. The catch is that he’s taken out of the country and under house arrest in some part of Europe. He’s going to be translating for an oligarch, Bondarenko, who needs to make a deal with an Indian criminal gang to sell a new wonder drug. Bondarenko is a sadistic criminal who takes pleasure in exerting his authority but the new partners have other ideas and there will soon be a power play to take control.
Jacob learns fast that he will need allies to survive when the deal is done but life comes at him fast and he’s soon wishing his for his mediocre career without the whole life and death situation.
This is a very enjoyable thriller which takes elements of the world we live in and spins a fantasy on a grand scale. Jacob is not sold to us as some James Bond wannabee but more like an average person stuck in an impossible situation. There is misdirection and quite a lot of edge of your seat moments which bring to mind some of the thrillers from times gone by such as Alistair McLean and Len Deighton and more recently Lee Child. This is not quite a techno-thriller but it does share elements of that genre. I think the characters are more inked in and I felt emotionally attached to Jacob and his allies. It manages to pull some rabbits out of hats and make reading it a worthwhile journey. Shaw has previously written Dead Rich, a timely thriller about an oligarch falling out of favour. Prior to that he wrote some excellent detective fiction as William Shaw and hopefully will do again.

A somewhat introvert academic translator is unwitting inveigled into working for criminal syndicate. A well-meaning innocent in a nest of treacherous events and how, with odds against him survives, makes a unique and thrilling story.

This was a good read but a little unbelievable at times. I did find it hard going as well but I kept going and rea he'd the end. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

An overall ok book.

I enjoyed the tie-ins with the real-world issues, however, all of the thriller seemed unbelievable to me.
In no way it is a bad thing, it just wasn't to my liking.

The plot was exciting and fast-paced and I read it super quickly, considering.

I enjoyed the dedication and thanks section :)

Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley!

If a job offer is too good to be true then... well it probably is! Dodgy that is! And that is exactly what Jacob finds when he accepts a translator job from digital marketer Eloise. Megabucks for just a couple of week's work. But he needs that cash and fast or his girlfriend will leave him.
So a private plane and helicopter ride later and Jacob arrives at a luxurious villa. After meeting the other residents and owner, he start to realise that maybe he has unwittingly signed up for something very very dodgy indeed.
There's more to be said in the blurb but other than that, saying anything else would spoil things. Suffice to say that after a short build up, some scene setting and character introductions, once it gets going, it's a veritable race to the end.
In amongst all the action, it's extremely well plotted and that plot ably executed. Played out by some really cracking characters that I will leave to the author to introduce properly.
Ok for full disclosure I did have occasion to roll my eyes once or twice but nothing that proved excessive. Certain motivations and plot points were a tad questionable but also plausible.
I was also confused a couple of times but that was only cos the author withheld something, but then a scene was replayed from a different character's perspective explaining things. A neat trick once you get what's happening!
All in all, a good addition to what is shaping up to be a cracking back catalogue. Roll on next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

"The rich are careless about their wealth" - the opening line of William Shaw's latest standalone thriller sums up the plot perfectly.
But as readers we must weave through the murky and murderous world of pharmaceutical fraudsters and Russian thugs to discover who really deserves the cash.
Poor poet and language teacher Jacob Meaney is worried about finding his share of a deposit on a trendy flat with which to impress girlfriend Carla when strange events start happening in his life.
Australian businesswoman Eloise turns up looking for a man fluent in many languages and despite worrying about a scam Jacob is drawn to the idea of instant riches to at least help him over his momentary blip in romantic home making plans.
Soon twists and turns land him up in a vast millionaire's paradise house in Austria where the big boss Mr Myroslav Bondarenko is the man in charge of a project going slightly awry once their contact back in London Mr Rakesh Garg goes missing. Needing a Hindi speaker and quick results Jacob finds the oddballs gathered around this set up are frankly very scary.
Why also is their maid Vlada (with badly cut hair) cooking great food but seeming to have been kept at the house because of a wider criminal cause?
The links with Ukraine and the wider corruption of past Russian oligarchs are fertile ground for Shaw as he has shown before in his writing and this plot raises the stakes in threats of violence and murky underworlds to a high degree. Politics and issues are very typical but never lost are the human connections and the basic instincts as to what drives humans to be greedy or perhaps just to rationalise that a little more money can make life worth living.
A touch of spy thriller meets poetry lover. Loved it!

This interesting novel about a translator and how he becomes involved with a Ukrainian gangster is enjoyable. The story descends into chaos but can the translator get out alive?

*4.5 stars*

I love situations where a very ordinary person is placed in very extraordinary circumstances, and this is exactly what happens to Jacob Meaney.

Jacob earns very little money in his job as a translator, as his girlfriend is more than happy to keep reminding him, in fact she’s just about given up on him - she wants him to come up with a deposit on a new apartment, and he can’t deliver.

Suddenly the answer to all his dreams appears in the form of Australian digital marketer Eloise. She offers him a fantastic sum of money for a few weeks work, well you know the old saying “ If something seems too good to be true “? Yes exactly.

The dream job takes him by private jet to a stunning villa in Carpathia where his task is to interpret between Hindi, Russian and English with an Indian criminal named Nazim. As it happens, Jacob’s boss Myroslav is no better than Nazim, and Jacob finds he’s got himself mixed up in a very dangerous criminal operation involving gangsters, human trafficking, and a very lucrative scam that reaps a fortune.
Fast moving, well plotted, and very enjoyable!

The Conspirators by G. W. Shaw (AKA William Shaw) features Jacob Meaney a translator by trade, struggling to make ends meet and who has a financially demanding girlfriend.

Given an ultimatum to find £20,000 for a deposit for the couples first home together, Jacob takes a short term contract as an interpreter facilitating both sides negotiating a secretive business deal, which could help him secure the deposit in one fell swoop.

Whisked by private jet to a mysterious and lush hideaway in Austria, with food and drink available on demand, Jacob thinks he's won the lottery, but is it too good to be true?

When Jacob begins his duties with megalomaniac Bondarenko, Jason quickly begins to determine that he is out of his depth and will need to live on his wits to survive. Then, when the business negotiations start to go badly, Jason finds he's facing both sides of the deal, and neither are opposed to brutality to get what they want.

Pacy, nicely written and with a perceptive plot, this is another enjoyable book by the author who seems to be able to shift from style to style and era to era effortlessly. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ from me.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

A gripping international thriller. Tense, twisty and fast-paced.
A unique protagonist using his linguistic skills as a translator to move the plot along.
Great setting in a luxury compound in Austria with zoom calls between different countries as a massive counterfeit scam and various nefarious individuals reveal themselves. An entertaining mystery full of charm, style and intrigue. Lighthearted, enjoyable and contemporary. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley UK.