Die Every Day: For The Rest Of Your Life is a work of fiction in the thriller and espionage genres and serves as the latest installment in the Lambeth Group Thriller series. It is aimed at adult readers and was penned by Gordon Bickerstaff. Following the activities of Lambeth Group operative Zoe Tampsin, the book sees Zoe embroiled in the build-up to a murder trial with international ramifications. With a suspect caught red-handed and enough evidence to put him away for life, the threat of his pleading not guilty in court starts a chain of events that could lead to a major diplomatic incident.

There’s a wonderful murkiness in thrillers such as this, in a story absent of the clear-cut answers to questions such as who committed the crime and how they did it. Gordon Bickerstaff has gone beyond where a traditional mystery would end to explore the complex question of why a person commits a violent crime. In answering that question, the author has created an intense and thrilling web of mysterious figures, each with their own objective and motive, and the deeper he takes us into this world, the further toward the edge of their seat a reader will get. Zoe Tampsin is a skillfully crafted leading character, perfect for being the reader’s eyes and ears in the world of Die Every Day. Her investigative skills are excellent, and the emotive characterization means that audiences invest in her quickly and feel a personal stake in the parts of the story where she is in jeopardy. Die Every Day is a brilliantly crafted thriller and a must for fans of the genre.

Die Every Day: For the Rest of Your Life (A Lambeth Group Thriller) by Gordon Bickerstaff is the latest in his British spy series, featuring a top-secret department of the British Security Services known as the Lambeth Group. Professor Gavin Shawlens is a top Scottish biochemist who has worked for the Lambeth Group in the past, when they have required his scientific expertise, and who receives much of his research funding from the group. When Gavin is arrested for the cold-blooded murder of a fellow agent, Hazel Manners, who was also his fiancée, the evidence strongly suggests a bit of sexplay that had gone horribly wrong. The Lambeth Group is terrified that Shawlens will plead not guilty and disclose to the court his history with the top-secret organization and expose many of its secrets. Top agent Captain Zoe Tamsin, who is also a friend of Shawlens and has worked with him on several assignments, is dispatched to talk to the man and convince him, for everyone’s sake, to just plead guilty and serve his time quietly. What neither of them realizes is that there are evil, greedy forces within the Security Services intent on seizing power at any cost. Shawlens and Tamsin will find themselves in a battle not just for their own lives but for the long-term security and stability of Great Britain.

This is not the first book I have read from author Gordon Bickerstaff and, like its predecessors in this series, it is an out-and-out blockbuster from go to woah. Die Every Day has characters that we can identify with and relate to despite the horrific business they are in and the perils to their lives that they regularly face. Gavin Shawlens is a wonderfully complex and interesting individual. Despite his academic brilliance, although Gavin would probably heartily disagree with that assessment of his intellect, he is a deeply flawed individual who often seems completely lost in both the worlds he inhabits; academia and espionage. As the series has progressed the character of Zoe Tamsin has become much more dominant and she now is the archetypal ex-army “spook” that is fearless, strong, and utterly dependable (unless you happen to be her young daughter, of course). I particularly enjoyed, in this iteration, the chance to see the softer, motherly side of Zoe and feel the immense weight of guilt she has over what she sees as her inability to commit to mothering her beloved daughter as much as she would want to. The country’s security must come first but you can feel the angst she experiences, especially as her daughter is at the age where all young girls need guidance and advice. This is a wonderfully powerful and action-packed story in the best traditions of the British spy novel, a true, twisty blockbuster. If you have yet to discover Bickerstaff’s stories, I would urge you to take a look at a writer I consider to be up there amongst the very best of this generation’s authors in this genre. I can highly recommend this read, as I can of all his books.