Every so often you are reminded that the best books are the most straight forward. Complex plots, twists and turns every few pages, dozens of intricate character arcs … they’ll never match something direct and well paced. Keith Turnbull’s newest outing, Rogue Warrior, benefits from a focused and taut narrative that eschews ostentation for solid, stripped-down storytelling. The fact that the protagonist is so immediately compelling adds the cherry to a cake that is rich in tempo and full of mood.
Beautiful, deadly … disciplined, haunted …, ruthless – Shoshanna Agnon is a character of juxtaposition and depth. These dualities are key to her appeal: honour, vengeance and morality fight a war within her mind, where the delineation between them is blurred and fuzzy. Turnbull keeps us toeing a line of admiration and respect despite rooting for a heroine that is equal parts monster and gentle soul.
Agnon’s background reflects her dualisms. Born in Israel to a Syrian Shia mother and Israeli father, she’s not fully embraced by any culture or creed. But her father encourages her to fight for Israel, and she joins the military, becoming the first woman to be initiated into the secretive Special Forces unit Shayetet 13. From confused child to lethal soldier, something comes undone in Agnon along the way. After the death of her mother at the hands of Israeli conscript soldiers, she becomes the titular rogue. The loss stokes a fire that burns for retribution …
There’s an element of uncertainty which runs throughout the work as Shoshanna starts hunting Special Forces operators. Ostensibly, she’s engaging in war between herself and those who have either disgraced or exploited the Service, but deep down, the reader always feels there is something unexplained – something more to the equation. Disgusted as much by ex-soldiers profiting from their experiences as she is by former indiscretions and acts of betrayal, her targets are operators she once worked with on international assignments.
The story involves a linear sequence of ‘missions’ that sees Shoshanna surveil and kill her targets, one by one, with a signature brutality that is hard to ignore. Her victims, all from the international Special Forces community, have each enacted some perceived slight or affront during an operation with Shoshanna over the years. The helicopter didn’t pick her crew up – kill the intelligence officer. A Russian Spetsnaz soldier burned a room full of children on an op – he’s marked for death. Female Danish SF officer who betrayed her team – a target to be neutralised. Shoshanna is working her way through the list and it is attracting attention.
In between the missions, we read about Shoshanna’s past, but there are also different stories unfolding. The first involves her current love interest, a beautiful young woman, Lisa, in London with whom Shoshanna feels a deep connection, even though her current and past ‘work’ make it impossible to fully share her soul and secrets. The second is centred around Connor Law, a past lover and special forces operative investigating the killings.
As the work progresses and Shoshanna’s paranoia and training keep her ahead of Law, the noose gradually tightens towards a conclusion. From a Scottish hunting estate to a beach in Angola to a Royal Navy destroyer in London, the fast pace is matched by Law’s suspicions and eventual action – but where do his allegiances lie? The dénouement sees Shoshanna not only confront her former Shayetet commander and Law, but something even more pressing, something unthinkable. With one of the most effective twists I’ve read in a while, Turnbull pulls off a dramatic and impacting turn, leaving the reader equally disturbed and satisfied.
Shoshanna Agnon is a really likeable character, despite her absolute lethality. There is a tortured quality to her that is most compelling. At some times she’s ruthless to precision; at others, she’s like a child peeking out from hiding – gentle, confused, fragile. Her femininity is never in question, even though it’s at odds to the military skills and position in a ‘man’s’ world. She’s hard as nails, physically and mentally scarred, but capable of great warmth and compassion, at least ostensibly … capable of being an elegant woman, one with a beautiful face and perfect, toned and largely tattooed body.
But at what cost does this training and lifestyle come? Shoshanna lives by a mistrustful and obsessive set of behaviours – ones drilled into her to keep her safe. She has very few, if no real friends. Her relationships are at arm’s length. She roils alone in an unhealthy place mentally. Yet, we feel for her, come to realise the struggles that covert soldiers must face within their psyches, which are then expressed back out towards the world. It is this … sympathy that causes the ending to be so effective, so haunting.
Rogue Warrior is an entertaining and brisk thriller that keeps you guessing but never lets you stray too far. There is a solid pace that is backed up by an easygoing writing style. With only a few central characters to play with, Turnbull affords just the right amount of backstory and exposition, never sacrificing velocity for needless filler. This book is about Shoshanna Agnon though, and her inner character is explored as thoroughly as her ferocious skill set. Without her, this would still be good, but with her, it is great.