‘Cold Warriors’ – Rebecca Levene (Abaddon Books)

I’ve only read a couple of Rebecca Levene’s books from Abaddon (‘Anno Mortis’ and ‘Kill or Cure’) and while they were entertaining enough, they didn’t stand out for me in the same way that Abaddon books from Jonathan Green, Al Ewing, Gary McMahon and Simon Bestwick have. This record could well be about to change though with Levene’s latest offering.
I’d been lulled into thinking that Abaddon had settled in to all the series that they were going to publish but it turns out that they have at least one more new series up their sleeves. The only thing really missing from their repertoire was something along the Urban Fantasy line. Abaddon have plugged in this gap and have done so in some style with Levene’s debut offering in this series. If ‘Cold Warriors’ is anything to go by then I’m already looking forward to Levene’s next work in ‘Ghost Dance’...

The Hermetic Division was Britain’s answer to supernatural threats that came about over the course of the Cold War. The Cold War may be over but the Hermetic Division’s sole mission is still very much at the fore of the defence of the Realm. The Ragnarok artefacts have the power to bring about the end of the world; the only problem is that no-one knows where they are or even what they look like... Now information has come to a light that a corrupt Russian oligarch may know of their whereabouts, or even have them in his possession. Two of the division’s most powerful agents are soon on his trail, a trail that will lead them across Europe and into the midst of secrets that should have stayed hidden...

This is going to sound more than a little contradictory but when it comes to Urban Fantasy, I like it to be as ‘real’ as possible. It’s all set in the real world after all and I find that the extra dose of reality emphasises the weirdness that’s going on just below the surface. If the balance is right then you feel that this sort of thing could almost be happening outside your window. Levene gets the balance just right in ‘Cold Warriors’, a novel that really did have me feeling that the events it portrays could be happening right now...

‘Cold Warriors’ gives the reader everything you would expect from a Cold War style spy novel... and then adds demons and the undead to the mix. The living dead are always welcome in my reading so it was an added bonus to see them here :o)
This is a book full of double agents being followed down dark Eastern European streets, double crossings over the exchanging of mysterious packages and comrades who aren’t quite what they seem. If that wasn’t enough for you, there’s at least one moment where a taxi driver is to ‘follow that car!’ There is an argument to be had here that this has all been done before in other spy novels and, to be fair, it has. Demons and zombies aside, you’re not actually getting a lot that is new here. I’d say that is almost the point though. Levene uses these familiar tropes to create just the kind of atmosphere a book like this needs, a brooding and dark affair that draws you into the shadows just enough to jump in shock at what comes flying out at you. The over familiarity lulls you into a false sense of security; you’re sure that you know what’s coming but you couldn’t be more wrong. The only slight drawback is that this approach does have a tendency to slow the plot right down to a crawl at times when it could do with going a little faster. Maybe there’s a little too much description of the scenery when a little more action is required...

The plot itself lures you in with it’s accessibility and then proceeds to turn things inside over the next two hundred and ninety five pages. The reader is never sure who is on whose side although I have to say that I saw the revelation about Morgan coming a lot earlier than the book pointed to it. Balancing that out though, I thought Levene handled the plot thread involving two particular characters superbly (I can’t say much more than that without spoiling the plot). In the meantime, Levene proves herself more than adept at setting scenes up and allowing them to play out either in a hail of bullets or a swarm of the undead/possessed animals. ‘Cold Warriors’ is a novel that’s just as good as hitting you with the supernatural as it is with all the other more mundane stuff. As I said earlier, these two aspects of the novel balance out well and make the reader feel that this stuff could really be happening just beyond the corner of their eye...

For such a gripping tale (plenty of twists that kept my attention), with characters that are interesting to get to know, it was a bit off a shame that the story felt a little flat just as the climatic scenes came to the fore. The energy was there but Morgan’s actions felt a little too predictable to me; I wasn’t surprised by what he ultimately did and that’s where it all fell down for me, only slightly but just enough to make a difference.

It’s a shame that the ending felt a little flat, especially as the story leading up to that point was generally excellent. ‘Cold Warriors’ is an opening shot in the ‘Infernal Game’ series that has got me itching for more of the same. Look out for 'Cold Warriors' around the middle of May.

Eight and Three Quarters out of Ten