Everything To Lose

The chase is on

Fiction - Thriller - Espionage
314 Pages
Reviewed on 02/19/2020
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

I was born and raised in Glasgow but spent his student years in Edinburgh. On summer vacations, I learned plumbing, garden maintenance, and cut the grass in the Meadows. I learned some biochemistry and taught it for a while before I retired to write fiction. I do some aspects of DIY moderately well, and other aspects not so well. I gets very tired when it's time to clean up the mess. I live with his wife in Scotland where corrupt academics, mystery, murder, terrorists, and intrigue exists mostly in my mind. I write the Lambeth Group series of thrillers, which take inspiration from the 70's TV series Doomwatch about a group of scientists and spooks fighting crime and terrorism. I enjoy walking, 60s & 70s music, reading, and travel.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Lesley Jones for Readers' Favorite

In Everything To Lose by Gordon Bickerstaff, an amazing sport enhancing drug is about to be launched but the evidence of its safety points to corruption. When people involved in the research begin to disappear and athletes die, biochemist Dr. Gavin Shawlens of the Lambeth Group is sent to investigate. For Gavin's security, former SAS army captain Zoe Tampsin is sent on an undercover operation to protect him. Gavin must prevent the product launch of the drug and find a missing technician who may hold the answers. As Gavin believes he is coming close to finding the technician, he draws the attention of a brutal family and is kidnapped. Zoe must rescue him before he is the next to die. If Zoe's mission is not hard enough, she discovers that people with even more power have reasons to want Gavin dead.

In Everything To Lose by Gordon Bickerstaff, the author has cleverly blended a detailed scientific research plot with fast-paced action. I was wondering what the opening scene of Hitler's Germany had in connection with the main storyline but it all became clear later on in a very clever plot twist. I loved the character of Zoe, a hard exterior but with a softer side that only the closest people in her life have the pleasure of experiencing. Gavin was a tortured soul since losing his soulmate, Emma, but still has the most admirable values. The suspense, tension, and areas of conflict were spectacular. I also thought the scenes in the McVicken factory were brutal and realistic. The plight of modern-day slaves was also heartbreaking and gave the story yet another layer of interest. I am sure the McVickens have more horrors to unleash. I hope to find out in the next book, The Black Fox.

K.C. Finn

Everything To Lose is a work of fiction in the espionage thriller genre, aimed at an adult audience, and penned by Gordon Bickerstaff. The book charts the adventures of two special agents as they investigate the release of a sporting performance enhancer that is much too good to be true. As they link the product with scientists of a nefarious reputation as well as a number of deaths, it’s a race against time to stop the product being released on an unsuspecting market. Complicating matters is the kill order issued against one of the heroes by a high-ranking member of the US military who’ll do anything to protect a secret capable of tipping the scales of power worldwide.

With a few graphic descriptions of violence that are suited to the tone and style of the work, this is a high-stakes adult adventure novel that readers are sure to find absolutely thrilling. Author Gordon Bickerstaff has a real knack for plot, and he paces his scenes out and inserts the twists and turns just as the audience thinks that they know where they might be going. The events fit together really well, but come unexpectedly, which keeps you on your toes as Zoe and Gavin take on the perils of being hunted down even as they try to solve the conspiracy that surrounds them. Overall, Everything To Lose provides all the core ingredients of an excellent spy thriller mystery novel, whilst also delivering accomplished writing and some great surprises and thrills.

Sandy Masia

The Committee for Accountable Science and Technology Ethical Research is a secret UK government group that overlooks science research in UK universities, scanning them for corruption, fraud and unethical research practices. It is important to uphold these high standards and root out bad actors in order to protect the country’s interests, reputation as a research leader and for keeping the public safe. The group’s audit has revealed that one of the UK’s top universities, the University of South England, is running a research project that may be dangerous and fraudulent. It is up to the Lambeth Group to find out who is involved and stop them before any more damage is done.

Gordon Bickerstaff has put together a cerebral, detailed and suspenseful thriller without giving himself over to wanton wishful thinking and fantasy. He furnished Everything to Lose with a detailed and intricate web of a plot that gave the book a sense of reality, conspiracy, and unpredictability. If you are going to create a conspiracy thriller that grips and draws the readers in, then having this richness in situation and plot is essential. Gordon Bickerstaff advances each thread of the plot very well through realistic pragmatism, clever prose, and beguiling characterization. For a conspiracy thriller, Everything to Lose is a mid-paced thriller with a lot to offer to its readers. There is an abundance of aspects that makes Everything To Lose a series thriller that catapults its readers into an entertaining multiple-book journey. Everything to Lose is an expertly written conspiracy thriller that is masterful and generous.