A Deniable Conspiracy has been in print for four months. After the Christmas rush, I thought I would try to summarise the feedback.
Readers are remarkably consistent in their reaction to A Deniable Conspiracy: this is a debut thriller that feels anything but tentative.
Many describe being drawn in almost immediately, noting how the writing establishes trust from the opening chapters through its sense of authenticity and lived experience.
Rather than feeling like a conventional spy novel, the book is widely praised for its emotional realism and grounded perspective, blurring the lines between fiction and the uncomfortable truths of real-world intervention and intelligence work.
One of the most frequently highlighted strengths is pace. While a few readers describe the novel as a slow burn at first, nearly all agree that once it finds its rhythm it becomes a genuine page-turner – one that makes “just a few more pages” an impossible promise to keep.
Vivid settings such in Mogadishu and Nairobi are repeatedly singled out, with readers saying they could almost feel the heat, tension, and paranoia of the locations. The characters, too, are described as deeply believable and well developed, leaving many hoping they will reappear in future books.
What truly sets A Deniable Conspiracy apart, according to readers, is its credibility. The insider feel of the intelligence world, the moral ambiguity, and the lack of genre clichés give the novel a weight that lingers long after the final page.
Fans of gritty, intelligent political thrillers—particularly those who enjoy authors like Frank Gardner or Gerald Seymour—consistently recommend it, with several reviewers calling it an impressive, thought-provoking debut and the arrival of a serious new voice in modern espionage fiction.
Ade Clewlow MBE 