Book Review: 'Exile' provides plenty of action, but few thrills

You know when you really look forward to a book  and save it as a reward, a special treat for when you've finished the dreary stuff? And then the treat is a colossal disappointment? That's Exile.

Featuring former MI6 desk geek turned action man Marc Dane, Exile follows on from Nomad, featuring protagonists The Combine (a secretive multinational wanting to rule the world) and Rubicon (a group wanting international justice) from the first book.

Dane, now working with UN Nuclear Security, is ignored when he reports that Somali pirate warlord Abur Ramaas has stolen a Soviet-era nuclear device from Serbian gangsters. So he asks for Rubicon's help and, ultimately, saves the world from nuclear conflagration. Ho hum. Action - yes. Thriller - no.

• This article was originally published in The Times.