Sleeper (2018) by Mike Nicol

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Keywords: crime fiction, South Africa, spies, espionage, thriller

Mike Nicol has been one of my favorite authors since a friend introduced me to the Revenge Trilogy (Payback 2008, Killer Country 2010, Black Heart 2011). Mike has a clipped, lean style of writing that instantly appealed to me and is a welcome respite to door stoppers. He is high on my "will always buy" list of authors.

Sleeper is the latest in the Vicki Kahn and Fish Pescado series which follows after the Revenge Trilogy and converges with it. The other Vicki and Fish books are Of Cops and Robbers (2014), Agents of the State (2017), and, of course, this book, Sleeper (2018).

The main setting as with previous books is Cape Town, South Africa. As you can deduce from the title, espionage is a big part of the story but the author weaves together several threads before you figure out what's going on. As the story opens, lawyer and ex-spy Vicki has been pulled back into a branch of state security called The Aviary. She only needs to do a "few hours work" to sooth the jitters of a whistle blower in the department of energy. It turns out there is a serious problem in the Department of Energy involving atomic materials and Iranians. Soon Vicki's "few hours of work" turns into real spy work and dangerous as she tries to look after atomic scientist Robert Wainwright. 

At the same time, private investigator Fish Pescado is hired to investigate the murder of Victor Kweza by Caitlyn Suarez the suspected murderer. Victor's murder is high profile him having been a cabinet minister and international banker. Caitlyn herself internationally connected. At the same time, private investigator Fish Pescado is hired to investigate the murder of Victor Kweza by Caitlyn Suarez the suspected murderer. Victor's murder is high profile him having been a cabinet minister with energy portfolio and an international banker. Caitlyn herself is internationally connected in the banking/finance world. Complicating Fish's life is the suicide of his cop friend, Flip, who seemed to know something about Caitlyn Suarez.

The story is very well crafted and tightly plotted with, as I said before, several plot threads that have to come together and as they do the pace picks up along with tension, action, and danger. There are recurring characters and references to events from previous books that will leave a new reader with questions. The answer is simple, go back and read the previous five books. You won't be disappointed. Long-time readers will probably have an emotional investment in some characters which gives an added punch to Sleeper. 

Nicol is South African and includes expressions and cultural references that will be unfamiliar to US readers but that's what the Internet is for. Personally, I enjoy the sense of place you get reading one of Mike's books.

I know the phrase "unputdownable" is an annoying review expression but, literally, I had to keep reading despite the late hour. As an Amazon reviewer wrote, the only problem with the book is that I finished it.