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Chapters (124)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Acclaim for Frank Gardner’s Luke Carlton thrillers
  4. Also by Frank Gardner
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. 39
  46. 40
  47. 41
  48. 42
  49. 43
  50. 44
  51. 45
  52. 46
  53. 47
  54. 48
  55. 49
  56. 50
  57. 51
  58. 52
  59. 53
  60. 54
  61. 55
  62. 56
  63. 57
  64. 58
  65. 59
  66. 60
  67. 61
  68. 62
  69. 63
  70. 64
  71. 65
  72. 66
  73. 67
  74. 68
  75. 69
  76. 70
  77. 71
  78. 72
  79. 73
  80. 74
  81. 75
  82. 76
  83. 77
  84. 78
  85. 79
  86. 80
  87. 81
  88. 82
  89. 83
  90. 84
  91. 85
  92. 86
  93. 87
  94. 88
  95. 89
  96. 90
  97. 91
  98. 92
  99. 93
  100. 94
  101. 95
  102. 96
  103. 97
  104. 98
  105. 99
  106. 100
  107. 101
  108. 102
  109. 103
  110. 104
  111. 105
  112. 106
  113. 107
  114. 108
  115. 109
  116. 110
  117. 111
  118. 112
  119. 113
  120. 114
  121. 115
  122. Epilogue
  123. Acknowledgements
  124. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

‘So what unifies them, these far-right extremists?’ she asked the room. ‘I’ll tell you. It’s an ideology of hatred, founded in fascism, racism, anti-immigration, nationalism or xenophobia. And sometimes all of the above.’

They were ten minutes into the briefing at Thames House, MI5’s London headquarters. No preliminaries, just the swiftest of introductions so everyone on the teams knew the parameters of the operation. In MI5 investigations the agent runners, the men and women at the sharp end who run the covert human informants, are kept separate from investigating officers. The firewall between them is so strict that the investigating officer on a case does not even have access to the database of agents involved; she or he is expected to make their own independent judgements. So, that morning, Luke and Jenny were sitting deliberately apart, on different sides of the briefing room. He found himself next to a Norwegian intelligence officer seconded from the NIS in Oslo; Jenny was beside a data analyst from GCHQ.

‘Since we’re all going to be working on this together,’ said Louise Band, ‘I need to bring you up to speed on what we know about FREs. And, believe me, we’ve been on a steep learning curve ourselves since we took this over from the Met, back in 2019. Most of us here in the Security Service have transferred from G Branch where we’ve been covering international counter-terrorism. Some of the methodologies we’ve been using there are equally applicable in dealing with far-right terrorism. Others have not worked so well.’

Luke was close enough to the front to see her purse her lips at this point. Was she remembering, perhaps, some of the early assumptions about this home-grown ideology that had turned out to be wrong?