[Ben Lewis Thriller 02] • The Gambit

Anger against the West is building amongst Russia’s elite. The Oligarchs are furious: they see sanctions and frozen bank accounts as an affront against them personally.

London-based Ukrainian, Arkady Nemikov, is earning billions from deals denied to fellow Russians – in particular a new gas pipeline contract that will give Europe alternative supply sources other than Russia. Nemikov’s life-long Russian adversary, Viktor Plushenko, is outraged – he had coveted that deal for himself. Taking matters into his own hands, Plushenko decides to commission some private enterprise instead. He hires legendary killer, Oleg Panich, a former Russian agent keen to settle old scores.

Former Royal Marine Commando, Ben Lewis, is still sorting his life out but when MI5 presents a short-term assignment, he agrees to babysit Nemikov and his family who has become a high profile target for the Russians. As attempts are made to kill and kidnap Nemikov’s family in London, Lewis learns that his former enemy, Panich, is behind the attacks. Panich has recruited a small army, quietly supported by Moscow, to make the Nemikov killings appear as acts of terrorism against the West.

Suddenly there is more at stake than just protecting the Nemikov family. Working hand in hand with Saul Zeltinger, a police Detective Inspector, time rapidly closes in as they race to find the kidnapped children and thwart a major terror threat about to be unleashed beneath London.

The Gambit is a high-octane thriller set in both Cambridge and London, with an uncomfortable authenticity that makes this a hurtling page-turner, with twists and turns without ever missing a beat.