A young man named Cameron Jilkes aka Kami al-Britani holding a grudge against his own government is sneaking back into to England after fighting with distinction for ISIS. He has a target in mind, a weapon on the way, and doesn’t expect to live through the next day. It is Jonas Merrick’s job to stop him. A man of habit, of file cabinets and index cards, Merrick is kept on at MI5 past retirement age to identify the fighters returning with grudges. He has been awarded for his extreme action in “a clear blue sky moment.” He knows the stakes of missing even one like Jilkes and is ready to take action again.

The story is masterfully plotted as Merrick anticipates Jilkes’ movements and takes the necessary steps to counter them. Gerald Seymour takes his time, lets the story flow, and fills in the details and background to bring his characters alive – both of whom are misanthropes in their own way. ( )

Jonas Merrick has worked for MI5 for decades, always following a fixed routine, arriving at and departing from the office at the same times every day, and avoiding any attention from his colleagues. This all changes on his last day before retirement. Dreading the imminent ordeal of a presentation, he ducks out of the office and goes for a walk, ending up in one of the park areas near the Houses of parliament. There his years of silent dedication to his work come to fruition, and he recognises the lonely figure seated on a bench as one of the potential radicalised targets whom his department had been tracking. Merrick accosts the man, and his actions avert a terrorist outrage.

As a consequence, he is asked to stay on beyond his scheduled retirement and to analyse high risk participants in jihadi campaigns overseas. This leads him to focus his attention on Cameron Jilkes, a young man who had grown up in Canterbury but had departed to join Islamist extremists engaged in military action in Syria. Various intelligence leads suggest that a new terrorist action is planned, and Merrick is watching for any possible suspects returning from radicalising experiences overseas.

The novel then follows various separate threads, including that of Jilkes’s return to the UK, and that of a couple of pensioners who had chosen to supplement their dwindling income by agreeing to act as couriers, bringing a concealed weapon back from their driving holiday in Germany. Seymour manages these separate story lines very capably, building the tension throughout. His characters are very empathetic and plausible too.

I was less keen on his writing style, which almost drove me to give up on the book at various points, but I am glad I persevered to the end. ( )

I wrote this review originally for NetGalley at this URL: https://www.netgalley.com/book/218125/review/670189

Defending one’s country from threats internal and external involves feats of extreme bravery, daring adventures and a group of dashing, strong, physically fit people fighting it out on the field. But, it also involves hours and hours of plodding through tonnes of data, identifying patterns and predicting the moves of the enemies—all the time working closeted somewhere inside a multistorey building amidst voluminous paperwork. Though extremely vital, the contributions of the latter population goes unsung, unknown even to their closest family and friends due to security concerns, and The Crocodile Hunter by Gerald Seymour is the story of one such plodder.

Jonas Merrick is such a non-entity to his colleagues at the British Secret Service that, even after serving for more than three decades, nobody is going to care a dime once he retires and leaves the office one final time. Not that he himself has ever done anything to gain popularity: he never socialises, is curt to the point of rudeness, has never gone to any of the fields where the work is done on ground, and follows his own rigid schedule like clockwork irrespective of what happens around him. On the day of his retirement, Merrick does something totally out of character and prevents a catastrophe—an action that earns him a lot of respect in addition to having his retirement cancelled. Several months into his extended stint at the Service, Merrick is on the trail of someone who is very likely to carry out a deadly attack on English soil. Through his characteristic plodding, Merrick tries to identify the terrorist and anticipate his moves so as to prevent the impending attack. This time though, when the time finally comes to go on the field and apprehend the terrorist, the Service has no team available to execute the operation and Merrick opts to do something he has never done—even in the prime of his youth. Supported only by a couple of greenhorns at the Service and a couple of cops without a clue about the operation, will Merrick’s first foray onto the field be a success? Will the elderly hunter catch his crocodile or will he be devoured?

Gerald Seymour is known for creating taut, gripping thrillers and The Crocodile Hunter is no exception. It is an intense, slow-burn of a thriller that has well drawn characters, deep know-how of the trade, believable action and a relevant theme. Seymour’s characters, right from the lead actors to the minor ones, are skilfully drawn and his descriptions of places and actions are likewise lifelike. In spite of having plenty of action, this novel is not for the reader who is in a rush. It deserves to be read at leisure to fully experience the author’s flair at bringing multiple strands of the story together. Though the climax is quite fitting for the overall plot, a few threads of the story have been left unfinished. Despite that, I found The Crocodile Hunter to be an absorbing read and would like to thank its author and publishers for the e-ARC through NetGalley in return for my unbiased review. ( )