Stir-crazy Brit is nobody’s hero

KEEPING UP WITH KERNEELS

Stir-crazy Brit is nobody’s hero

KERNEELS BREYTENBACH was immensely impressed by the first book he has read this year.

BEN KOENIG is cranky. Actually stir-crazy, but that's such an ugly, insulting word. In his day, he was a US marshall. These days, he's a lone killing machine fighting on the side of law and justice, and good entertainment.

M.W. Craven is the writer who brought Ben Koenig to life. First in Fearless (2023), and now in Nobody's Hero. A novel so masterfully put together as be a book marketer's wet dream. I reckon it will also serve in many writing schools as an example of exactly how a detective and action novel should be written.

Craven is a Brit. Ex-soldier, later social worker. He conquered the trauma of retrenchment by writing novels. First, two stories about Avison Fluke, a detective who prosecutes criminals in Cumbria. Fluke appears not to have been interesting enough for Craven, as he ended the series after two books.

The detective skills of a deep thinker

Then he wrote seven narratives about the detective skills of a deep thinker, Washington Poe, who does his thing in Britain's Lake District. He has an assistant, Tilly Bradshaw, and he's unconventional; does not like rules and regulations.

It was all just finger exercises. Washington Poe was still too predictable for his taste. In his spare time, I'm sure, he studied all of Lee Child's novels about Jack Reacher. He must have asked himself how he could improve on Reacher, and dodge Child's formulaic writing style. Craven has to be a lot smarter, for he's found the right answers.

Ben Koenig is Jack Reacher Pro Max, if you know what I mean. He has a genetic disorder. He is unable to feel fear. Pain doesn't bother him. The Russian Mafia has placed a ransom of $5 million on his head. A man doesn't kill one of its sons and get away with it. Now he roams, helping major British and American agencies to make thorny yet fate-defining problems (for humanity) disappear.

A masterpiece of planning

Jen Draper, a member of the CIA, is Koenig's “handler”. She doesn't like him at all, but gives him guidance and support. One soon realises it will make her life easier if the Russians take out Koenig. Meanwhile, she launches him onto the track that leads Koenig to saving the US from brutal economic and social collapse. I'm not going to spoil your fun, but I can say that this novel is a masterpiece of planning, written with the finesse of someone whose mission in life is to get readers hooked on the element of surprise. The novel has 132 chapters, which means there are 131 surprises. The last of them will ensure that the next novel in the series is going to be an absolute smash.

Nobody's Hero was the first book I read in 2025. I immediately put it at the top of the list of books I'd like to recommend to aspiring writers. Craven's uniqueness lies in the way he leverages action to create development. He complements this with the mutual tension between Koenig and Draper, which gives rise to witty, sarcastic verbal skirmishes. As the plot moves along, Craven uses all of his skills to present each chapter as compactly as possible.

Humour is the permanent bulwark

Every bit of dialogue is functional. Humour is the permanent bulwark against the horrors that adorn Koenig's life's path. There is not a single chapter that ends without an incident or development that makes it absolutely essential immediately to read the next chapter.

I was quite stunned by the end. I'll never be able to read Lee Child's books again.

Of course, I immediately got my hands on a copy of the first novel about Ben Koenig, Fearless. A little more hesitant writing here and there as Craven was still finding his feet with the new style, but also to be recommended.

Make a note for future reference: M.W. Craven. Ben Koenig. Yes.

Nobody's Hero by M.W. Craven is published by Constable and costs R440 at Amazon SA.

♦ VWB ♦


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