Crisis is the first non-fiction work by Frank Gardner, and as befits his day job of BBC Security Correspondent he has chosen a spy thriller as the genre for his debut novel. I couldn't emphasise with the lead hero and found myself skipping sections as a respite from the relentless pace. Oh, and no ex-SBS current MI6 agent would ever agree to (let alone quite enjoy) the prospect of an Ellie Goulding concert at the O2. Sent into the steaming Colombian jungle to investigate the murder of a British intelligence officer Luke finds himself caught up in the coils of a plot that has terrifying international dimensions. The action swings back and forth between London and Colombia as the story moves to a thrilling climax.

Readers who want a high level of realism and a modern story should find this really suits their tastes. This effects the pace of the plot as well as character development and due to the underdeveloped characters and character relationships I didn't really feel connected to any of them throughout. The idea of a Colombian drug lord, incensed by successful, British lead attempts to curtail his business, scheming with the North Koreans to set off a nuclear dirty-bomb in the UK sounds like the stuff of a lesser Bond movie, and if the rest of Crisis was similarly fantastical it might have worked as a plot hook.

Drawing on his years of experience reporting on security matters CRISIS is Frank Gardner’s debut novel. BBC’s fulltime Security Correspondent reporting on events from Afghanistan to piracy off the Somali coast to Arctic challenges. In 2009 he published Far Horizons, a much praised account of his life as an inveterate traveller and explorer.

The main character of Luke Carlton is likeable but not always invincible and that adds to his attraction. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I bought this book, but with the name of Frank Gardner attached I was probably expecting more. He just needs to tighten up his plotting, take some more time in crafting his characters and find a ruthless editor who will cut out the narrative deadwood and keep his stories focused and moving forward. The only bit of the plot I didn’t find far fetched was the idea of smuggling a weapon of mass destruction into the UK.I suspect I'm not really the target audience for this book but I like a good thriller so thought I'd give it a go. As a somewhat newbie to this sort of book, it felt like James Bond meets Alex Rider with a healthy dash of grown-up thrown in. You just presume that his telling of how MI5, MI6, and the other security services work is as accurate as it can be. I thought the ending was poor after all the build up but, I do think that I will read the follow up 'Ultimatum' and continue the Luke Carlton adventures. Frank Gardner however, whilst not resorting to Le Carre-style kitchen-sink realism, definitely wants the reader to feel they’re being shown an accurate portrayal of contemporary intelligence gathering and espionage, not a world of tricked-out Aston Martins and bikini-clad babes (the former even gets a jokey reference in the book’s dialogue, as if the author was trying to make a none-too-subtle point).