Fabulous story that I could not put down. Would highly recommend to fans of this genre. Great writing, and I will look for more from this author.

Michael Bale is an elite protection officer. And while he's protecting the Minister of Defense, hes also plotting how to kill someone.

He's waged a personal war against a London gang. One of their dealers supplied a lethal pill to his sister. Beal is determined to take them down .. one by one.

But will he get away with it – or will his colleagues in the force realize that the man on an underworld killing spree is one of their own?

It's fast paced from the get-go with lots of action. The plot is engaging, the story line suspenseful. Characters are well-developed and work well in the midst of uncertainty. This looks to be the beginning of a page-turning series.

Many thanks to the author / #Aria & Aries, Head of Zeus / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

This author is best known for historical fiction, however this is the first dip into the world of thrillers. I can safely say the author has absolutely nailed it.

This is one that has completely pulled me in and been a read that has been completely impossible to put down. I’ve devoured this gem in just one sitting.

I adore the plot in this one, it has kept me guessing and been filled with tension and suspense. Riches has included a good range of characters some to like and some to dislike.

This has definitely been an interesting and intriguing read. I love the cover it really captures the attention of the reader.

This is definitely a book I will recommend

Lee Child fans are going to absolutely love Anthony Riches’ Nemesis. A deftly plotted high octane thriller packed with plenty of chills and thrills, Nemesis is a jaw-dropping tale that will keep readers glued to its pages.

Close protection officer Mickey Bale is the best there is. There is nobody who can come close to doing as good a job as he does which is why the Met have given him the toughest assignment of all: guarding the Minister of Defence when British-Chinese relations are at their very lowest ebb. There is danger and jeopardy round ever corner and Mickey must keep his wits about him because one never knows who is friend or foe. Mickey trusts nobody and never lets anybody come between him and his job, but could this assignment end up being the one that could break him? With everything to lose, the stakes have never been higher for him, but will he rise to the challenge and prove yet again why he is the best in the business? Or will deadly enemies manage to get to him and destroy him…for good?

Mickey is a man who thrives on danger. When he isn’t risking life and limb on the job, he wages war on a powerful London gang family who supplied his sister with a lethal ecstasy pill that had cost her everything – leaving Mickey determined to take them down and make them pay for the damage they had inflicted to his family and for destroying his sister’s life.

Mickey Bale is a man who has two identities and leads two lives that are at odds with one another: the cop who upholds the law and a lethal killer engaged in an underworld killing spree. Will Mickey be caught before he has completed his mission? One never knows who is watching from the shadows and when they will strike at the most inopportune moment…

A fast-paced thriller where the excitement does not let up, the action moves at breakneck speed and the suspense will leave readers with their jaws on the floor, Nemesis is an exciting, engrossing and mesmerizing thriller where the pages just turn themselves. Mickey Bale is a brilliant hero and somebody readers will find themselves rooting for – even when he makes rather questionable choices.

A slick, stylish and assured debut thriller, Anthony Riches’ Nemesis is a compulsively readable chiller perfect for Line of Duty addicts.

I love a good spy/ thriller novel, so you can probably understand why the synopsis for ‘Nemesis’ really did scream ‘read me’ at me. It sounded right up my street. I couldn’t wait to get started so I grabbed a cup of tea, grabbed my Kindle and settled down for an interesting afternoon of reading. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Nemesis’ but more about that in a bit.
I have to admit that I liked the character of Mickey Bale and I warmed to him from the very start. He is a police officer with the close protection squad of the Metropolitan Police. He has to protect the Minister For Defence at a time when international relations with China are a bit tense to say the least. Mickey is very good at his job. However Mickey has a whole different side to him, which sees him breaking the law. Mickey’s sister died after taking drugs and Mickey is going after those who he perceives as being responsible for his sister’s death. Even though Mickey breaks the law, I can understand why he does what he does.
It took me no time at all to get into ‘Nemesis’. In fact by the time I got to the end of the first few pages, I knew that I was going to be in for a treat and that I would find it extremely difficult to put the book to one side for any length of time. My Kindle wasn’t glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I just couldn’t bear to miss a single second of the story. For me, ‘Nemesis’ was the book equivalent of watching a James Bond movie. This was an action packed, dramatic, brutal read, which kept me guessing and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. I was so wrapped up in the story that I lost track of time and I didn’t notice just how quickly I was getting through the book. All too quickly I reached the end of the book.
‘Nemesis’ is extremely well written. The author certainly knows how to grab the reader’s attention and draw them into one hell of a fast paced read. Reading ‘Nemesis’ was like being on one hell of a scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with more twists and turns than you would find on a Snakes & Ladders board. Just when you thought that you could take a moment to gather your breath, collect your thoughts and reclaim your stomach then off the action would go again. I felt as though I was part of the story, which is all down to Anthony’s superb storytelling.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Nemesis’ and I would recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Anthony’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

4,5* rounded to 5
This is the first book I read by this author and I don’t usually read this type of stories but the reviews I read well all positive and decided to request it.
That said I had a lot of fun as it’s action pack, fast paced and with plenty of interesting characters.
It starts slowly but as soon as the action starts you are hooked.
I loved the tightly knitted plot, and I loved the characters. We can define them chaotic neutral or chaotic evil, using the D&D jargon, but almost all of the are morally grey.
You can love or hate some, but they are well written and fleshed. My favorite was Mickey and his character arc: he is on a mission and we read about his changes and how he becomes a killing machine whose aim is to kill everyone who was involved in his sister death.
Even if it’s a highly entertaining story I would also define it somehow disturbing: the bent policemen, the links between powers and gangsters and even the ending describes a world where law and order are something apparent and everything can be different.
Being Italian born and bred I saw this happening in Italian history and it somehow resonated and it could be more realistic than we think.
I learned a lot about arms and appreciated how well the action scenes were written.
I think this could be the first in a series and I would surely read the next installment as thoroughly enjoyed this one.
If you are a fan of action thriller this is strongly recommended.
Many thanks to Head of Zeus and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Nemesis by Anthony Riches

Sergeant Michael James Bale – “Mickey” – works as an Elite Close Protection Official for the Metropolitan Police force in Britain. He is happily married, enjoys his work, has good friends he meets with at the pub on Friday evenings, and stays fit boxing. He has one issue that bothers him and it is the niggling desire to get revenge for the “murder” of his sister so when that becomes an option, he seeks to mete out justice – vigilante justice. There is an unknown assistant he only knows as “Nemesis” that feeds him information that assists him in his endeavors. Will he be able to come through successful and unscathed or…not?

What I liked:
* Mickey: a good man with his own moral compass, sort of. He is professional, skilled, lethal, smart, and intriguing.
* Martin: Mickey’s friend from childhood, has a side business that comes in handy from time to time, and is a good friend to Mickey.
* The Friday night friends: a bit older than Mickey – seem to be true friends
* That there are two main storylines…with a third that might show up in future books. 1) the revenge against Jo and his gang 2) the protection job and threats encountered there 3) possible traitor in the govt with terrorist leanings
* The way the various threads of the story are brought together in the end
* That not all the good guys were totally good and the bad guys were totally bad
* Getting to read a new-to-me author
* Cavendish, Shaw, and Shaw’s team
* Being able to read the first book in a new series that has potential

What I didn’t like:
* Joe and his ruthless gang – they were evil and easy to detest
* Corrupt cops (there were a couple) and newspaper people
* Knowing that the evil in this book happens more often than we might think
* Roz didn’t seem the best fit as a spouse for Mickey but I am not sure why.

Did I enjoy this book? For the most part though I did skim parts of it to get to what I needed to know
Would I read more in this series? I think so

Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus-Aries for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

This book is absolutely jam packed with action – there is no chance of getting bored! Mickey gets himself into all sorts of situations, in and out of work, that are full of danger, guns, and gore.

As a character I loved Mickey. Determined to get revenge for his sisters death he gets himself mixed up in an absolute mess, but he is so good at it! He’s a bit like a James Bond, but a faithful and good husband at the same time. He has some fabulous characters surrounding him, although I wasn’t a massive fan of his wife, Roz. The definition between the ‘goodies’ and ‘badies’ isn’t clear in this and I loved that – you never know who is on the right side and who might be a traitor – and this kept me on my toes.

It did take me a little while to get into the book but I think it’s because I don’t usually read such action packed books. There is quite a lot of reference to different guns and military/police strategies that went over my head but I know some people will thoroughly enjoy this part. Also in the beginning I found the way it was written a bit unusual – in short, sharp sentences, which didn’t flow well in my mind. But I did get used to it in the end, and it did ease off so again, I think it’s just because it’s something I wasn’t used to.

However, I absolutely loved the storyline. The plot was fantastic and even though there is so much going on, in and out of Mickey’s work, it was easy and enjoyable to follow. So if you’re looking for an action packed, exciting plot with a fantastic main characters, then you should definitely check this out. I’m looking forward to seeing what he gets up to next! Recommended by me.

This is definitely one for fans of Stephen Leather and Simon Kernick, a fast paced thriller with plenty of action.
Anthony Riches is well known for his excellent Roman novels (well worth catching up on if you haven’t already) but now turns his hand to thriller writing and pulls it off with considerable aplomb.
Mickey Bale is a Metropolitan Police officer, a member of the elite armed Protection Group. But when his sister is killed after taking dodgy drugs, Mickey decides those responsible must die and starts a one man war on a local crime boss.
It works very well, plenty of action in his “day job” but also in his new role as assassin. This is a well-researched page turner with a lot to enjoy. The author’s skills that were demonstrated in his Roman works have transferred well to this and I look forward to the next one in the series.

Mickey Bale has two personas. One - he guards the Minister of Defence at the most crucial of times. Two - he takes on gangland London, in the hunt for the supplier who gave his sister a deadly ecstasy pill.
He must use all his skills to pick the people off that are in his way so he can get to his quarry. But can he succeed and not get caught by the very people he works with?
Anthony Riches has created a character in Mickey Bale that will have other thriller writers wishing they could create someone so tough, ruthless and just downright brilliant. A novel that is hard-hitting with intense scenes that keeps hold of you and won’t let go until its spectacular end.
A blockbuster of brilliance. I highly recommend this book.

Nemesis is Riches’ first foray into the action-thriller genre and boy does he blow the competition out of the water with this scintillating setpiece. We are introduced to Michael ”Mickey” Bale, a Protective Command Officer for the Metropolitan Police who is hellbent on gaining vengeance and punishing those involved in his younger sister's death. Katie died from a drug overdose and Mickey knows stepping into the criminal and gangland underworld puts him in immense danger. Most often assigned as an Elite Protection Officer for the Minister of Defence, he has a calm, cool and collected exterior and is renowned for his professionalism on the job. Those under his care feel safe with him just as they should and protected from any threats but what Mickey quite simply can't get over is the fact that he wasn't there to make Katie feel safe in her time of need. Putting his skills and courage to the test he decides to go after drug kingpin Joe Castagna, the guy responsible for flooding the streets with all manner of dangerous and illegal substances, and Mickey is going to ensure he is sorry for the part he played. Katie died after taking a deadly ecstasy pill as unbeknownst to her Castagna’s subordinate had handed her the wrong drug resulting in the tragedy.

As he embarks on his mission to tear down a prominent and powerful London-based gangland family, we discover that a mysterious being, code-name Nemesis, is providing Mickey with information he can use to knock Joe and his ilk off their high horse. Joe Castagna is an evil, despicable excuse of a human being whose unbounded carelessness and his love of money over all else, including peoples lives, makes Mickey livid and he would love to do the world a favour and wipe him off the face of the planet for good but he knows there will always be another character waiting to fill his shoes. As his personal and working lives converge, can Mickey continue to evade both the police and Joe or has he taken his quest for revenge too far? This is a riveting, compulsive and scintillating thriller that moves at rapid-fire pace and is packed with non-stop action, danger, drama and a series of wicked twists. Riches knows exactly how to craft an exciting, page-turning narrative with plenty of palpably tense moments and a whole host of suspense. The action sequences were plotted brilliantly and it's clear that extensive research went into the discussion of tactical weaponry. Gritty, violent and explosive, this is a highly entertaining and enthralling thrill ride. Strongly recommended.

A fast paced, engaging and challenging book. You get a good sense of what the characters are going through. Thoroughly enjoyable and raced through it.

Nemesis is the first foray into modern thriller fiction by well regarded historical writer Anthony Riches, who is best known for his exciting Roman Empire adventure novels.

Nemesis features Mickey Bale, an elite close protection officer who is usually assigned to the Minister of Defence. Outwardly Mickey is a calm professional, but underneath that veneer he is troubled by the death of his younger sister from drugs. Determined to take revenge on the dealers who gave his sister the lethal ecstasy pill, Mickey launches a personal war on a powerful London gang family. Meanwhile his job as a body guard becomes more dangerous as relations between China and Britain deteriorate.

This is an enjoyable action thriller, with a brisk plot, some good scenes of violence and nice dose of moral ambiguity. The story starts quickly and Riches keeps it bubbling along with a couple of unexpected developments and the regular infusion of tough violence. The international elements add extra tension and give the story some meat. The two two storylines also come together nicely with an exciting explosion of violence at the end. Bale is an interesting character, and Riches does a good job of keeping him sympathetic, while not making him into a flawless hero. It would be good to see what Riches does with him in future books.

In all, an enjoyable thriller with a neat final wrap-up and a couple of good twists. Recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the book to review.

Good thriller which looks at the line between good and bad. Lots of twists, a wide variety of characters and mysteries galore.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for this ARC.

This is my first read by this author and I started it with no expectations and thought the premise looked like my kind of read.

Wow, this was one rollercoaster of a read. Mickey Bales younger sister dies and when revenge is offered to Mickey he grabs it with both hands. I literally couldn’t get enough of this book. I loved Mickey as a character and knowing what he was doing and the reason for his actions made him all the more likeable. The book starts off with a bang and just gets better and better. I was convinced I knew who Nemesis was and was wrong. Overall I thought this was a very well written book with a great plot line that was fast paced and thrilling. I hope there is a second book featuring Mickey, I would definitely read it.

This is going to be a serious contender for my book of the year. A page turning thriller from front to back, Nemesis is a powerhouse crime debut from Anthony Riches.

Now I’m a massive fan of Riches’ roman novels, however his latest 2/3 books have been extremely disappointing. His writing had become extremely stilted – the prose was dull and clunky, and the stories themselves were quite poor. So I was interested to see what I would get with this change of direction. Im so glad I picked it up.

The writing is brilliant. It flows so naturally, its obvious Riches has tweaked his writing style, and now it reads so fluently and naturally. The dialogue is brilliant, the storyline is believable and exciting, and its full of edge of your seat page turning action.

I loved this book and I seriously cant wait for book 2. And I would love to see this style carry over to his next roman novel, because that would be a match made in heaven.

I'm a bit partial to a good police procedural thriller and I love a sort of special forces hero wreaks revenge too.
Somehow, and in an extremely clever way, 'Nemesis' manages to combine the two.
A really pacy read which stretches the boundaries of right and wrong yet still manages to make us feel a little in love with the hero.
This novel has all the right ingredients for a superb, fuel filled ride into the early hours.

Nemesis is an exciting and mystique-laden revenge action thriller that packs in exciting twists and badass action sequences written with an eye for accurate tactical and weaponry details to create a fantastic reading experience for readers. For an author’s first foray into the action thriller genre, I was amazed by the superb action sequences that felt well suited for a big screen adaptation.
Nemesis introduces readers to Michael Bale, a Protective Command officer who is seeking revenge for the death of his sister, Katie, who died due to a drug overdose. Mickey Bale puts his formidable skillset to use on tearing down the drug kingpin of a vicious criminal, Joe Castagna, whose underling had slipped Katie the wrong drug that led to her death. As Michael embarks on his revenge warpath, we learn he is being aided by a mysterious entity, code named Nemesis, that is providing Michael with the necessary information to take Joe down. While it might have seemed prudent to only keep the revenge till the drug dealer directly involved with Michael’s sister’s death, Joe Castagna is depicted as a vile character, whose unchecked evil propels Michael’s desire to protect people take on the mission of ridding Joe once and for all. As he takes on the bad guys, the police close in on the armed professional who leaves a trail of dead bodies in his wake. As Michael’s professional and personal lives clash, the question arises if Michael can escape both the police and Joe unscathed, or has he bitten off more than he can chew?
Nemesis is a fantastic example of the crime genre infused with the tactics-and-details-focused action we read in espionage and military action thrillers. Michael Bale’s character is developed through his job and his vengeance more than anything else. His willingness to step into the harm’s way to take down evil men who prey on the innocent mirrors his job in Protection Command where he is assigned protection details to make sure his assignments are kept out of harm’s way, explaining his desire to go beyond simply assassinating the direct link to his sister’s death. I loved how he does not become a cliché in his warpath by questioning if he is too brutal to the monsters he goes after. He takes down the evil-doers proportionally in pain and agony to how the bad guys prey upon innocents. A protagonist with nerves of steel and willingness to bring justice.
The action is fast-paced and easy to visualize, thanks to the author’s vivid descriptions of the tactical movements of Michael Bale and his arsenal, including a Ruger .22, Glock 17 Gen 4, HK G36C, silenced MP5 and MP7, along with creative ways to inflict pain involving nasty alkaline burns. I was pleasantly surprised to see such fantastic hard-hitting action in a crime thriller.
I enjoyed how Michael’s professional and personal violent endeavors intertwined, not in a big picture kind of manner, but in a rich world-building manner that allowed new characters and situations to develop and factor later into the story for a realistic vibe of the story where the experiences that aren’t directly related to the Michael’s private war on crime ended up helping him out of tight spots when you wouldn’t expect him to make it out. The author’s knowledge of Protection Command’s inside workings felt extremely well researched and interesting to read about and visualize how the brave men and women of the ‘Job’ put their lives on the line to protect those they are tasked with guarding.
While I believe the character’s interactions can be made slightly better by incorporating more expressions for the characters, I found Nemesis to be an exciting, action-packed, gripping crime story that explored the criminal underworld of London in a violent fashion. The final mind-blowing twist ends the story on a high note as we finally find out who Nemesis is and what Nemesis’s grand plan has been for Michael Bale. I was way off course with my guess, and I commend the author for his crafty twists! A must-read action-crime-thriller!

This book is extremely well written and very detailed and comprehensive. The storyline is fantastic and I loved how Mickey went from his very well respected job to a vengeful hit man. Quite obviously a huge amount of research was done for this book. Not my usual type of book but a very refreshing change.

(Review)

Anthony Riches is one of my favourite authors, he is well known for his (Roman) Empire series and its band of soldiers who pull off impossible missions with humour, flair and bloody skill. So when I heard that he had branched out into thrillers I was desperate to read it, and emails flew off to the publisher begging for a copy, if anyone could inject something new and exciting into the genre its Anthony Riches.

Nemesis is set around the life of Mickey Bale an elite protection officer for the Met, this set off a small red flag for me because my girlfriend works for the police and gets very irate if there are "mistakes" in police procedure... she has dismissed many a good read based on basic errors, but reading the first few chapters you could soon see that the author had done plenty of research (not a surprise) and made sure that the authenticity shines through. Mickey Bale is at the top of his game as a protection officer, but he has a past that includes the loss of a family member, and he wants payback.

What I wanted from the book was something, that felt real and totally new, not a new Jack Reacher or Win Lockwood, and I'm glad to say that what we get is new enthralling and pure Anthony Riches, a dark gritty action  thriller with the authors own blend of sardonic irreverent  humour, which works so well in his books and his characters, for me better and more readable and relatable than Jack Reacher.

There are so many thrillers out there that have American / Hollywood action and humour, but this book is pure Brit, in style, humour and action, action that is exciting but in no way over the top, if I had to find any comparison it would be Guy Richie meets the bodyguard (that's the Richard Madden one... not Kevin Costner), and this book has brilliant TV series written all over it. This is my favorite thriller of this year and the last few years. There is so much more to come from Mickey Bale, and I hope we get to see it soon.

Very Highly Recommended

(Parm)