Andrew Turpin

David Kudrow wants more than anything to be the President of the United States. And in late 2011 he is in a good position to win the Republican Party nomination for the 2012 election. But his dreams are endangered by a revelation from the distant past. And so the riveting ride begins and it doesn’t let up.
I love a thriller that has complexity that makes you think. The Last Nazi does just that. It’s easy to read and once I started, it was hard to put down.

A climactic series of events is triggered when David’s brother, Nathaniel, hints to journalist Fiona Heppenstall David’s campaign funding may include Nazi money. The next day Nathanial is found dead. Joe Johnson, ex-CIA agent, among other things, joins forces with Fiona to uncover the truth. For Johnson, the quest is personal. He finds out the Nazi he seeks tortured his mother.
Joe and Fiona are joined by the disillusioned and capable UK secret intelligence service agent Jayne Robinson.

Two Jewish brothers who escaped the Nazis’ clutches are at the centre of the multi-layered revelations that Turpin skilfully unveils. The brothers have set up a complex business arrangement that rips off The Last Nazi. They’ve reaped the rewards of their deception for decades. But the Last Nazi’s son, Ignacio, suspects something is up and investigates. He soon discovers Joe is looking for the same thing.

The CIA doesn’t want secrets revealed. Joe’s former employer does all it can to prevent him knowing the truth. The forces opposing Joe, Fiona and Jayne gather apace culminating in a nail-biting climax.

Joe has history with Fiona and Jayne; the unacknowledged imperceptible tension gives the novel and added layer of stress. Andrew Turpin has woven a sophisticated web of intrigue that will engross, entertain and enlighten.… (mer)

Centuries of conflict characterise the history of the Balkans. The most recent war of the 1990s is the background for this riveting, multi-layered page-turner.

An eponymous 450-year-old bridge is one of the key players. Premeditated murders were committed on the bridge in the midst of battle during the Balkans war. A relative of the dead is imbued with deep-seated hatred triggered 20 years later. The opportunity to extract revenge is irresistible.

The Old Bridge is more than a revenge story. Ex-CIA agent and war crimes investigator Joe Johnson is hired to find a dossier compiled during the war people in high places don’t want revealed. One of those people is a high-profile television journalist.

Joe is joined by Jayne Robinson, a former MI6 agent. They discover his ex-CIA boss, Robert Watson, also to stop them finding the dossier – and uncovering other activities in which Watson is involved.

The web Andrew Turpin weaves is complex and complicated. But his clear and concise writing make for a rewarding reading experience. The avenger, the television journalist, the dossier and other thrilling threads are drawn together to culminate in a dramatic climax in New York. The novel is steeped in history and has a strong sense of place and time. Andrew’s former career as a journalist is apparent in the tight writing and meticulous research.

The Old Bridge is the second in the Joe Johnson series. The Last Nazi was the first and the third is Bandit Country.… (mer)

High-octane action, unpredictable twists and a great read. They’re the hallmarks of Andrew Turpin’s Joe Johnson series and the fifth iteration fulfills the promise of the previous novels.

An old CIA friend asks Johnson to help uncover a mole. Joe investigates with the help of former senior MI5 operative Jayne Robinson. They track down ex-KGB agent Gennady Yezhov, who might talk but his enemies murder him on his way to a debrief. When Johnson goes to St Petersburg to talk to Yezhov’s wife, those enemies assassinate her moments before he gets to her.

The Yezhov’s daughter, Katya, helps Johnson but her impetuous and risky behaviour is more hinderance than help. Yezhov’s KGB boss was Johnson’s nemesis Russian oligarch Yuri Severinov whose sidekick is the violent Vasily Balagula. They find out Johnson is in Russia asking difficult questions and want to stop him leaving the country. That involves an intriguing escape plan involving ships.

Johnson’s investigation uncovers a Russian agent, Antelope, based in London. She’s returning to Moscow in 10 days. Her replacement will be an unknown who’ll be hard, if not impossible, to trace. The race is on to find the mole.

The intricate plot and the skilfully escalated tension unfolds amid settings brought alive by exceptional detail and great characters.

The Joe Johnson series is quintessential thriller writing at it best. Hold on for a rollicking ride.
… (mer)

There are many books in which the starting point is items deliberately hidden by the Nazis before the end of World War II. This can be added to that list, but it is quite a worthy addition. The story links the end of the war with an upcoming nomination for the President of the United States. It involves a former Nazi hunter, his former girl friend in London and a journalist hot on the trail of funding questions for that nomination. It involves Washington, London, Germany, Poland, Israel and Argentina. The plot is quite involved, but doesn't stretch credulity too much, and the pace is well judged.

All the characters are reasonably well developed. Joe and his accomplices are easy to like and I look forward to further stories in this series. The story hinges on revenge, but an unusual form of revenge is taken, and one which might not have played out well with the Court at Nuremberg with a former Prison Camp Officer nearly getting away completely with his crimes, and indeed going on to commit even more offences against humanity in his chosen new country. Joe's mother having been one of his victims in the prison camp, various questions are raised about what should or should not be done. The ending is very nearly satisfactory, but leaves a slightly bitter taste in that justice had been severely delayed through the revenge that was sought.

A good read.… (mer)