# Panic
Luke Jennings
(John Murray, 2023)
Jaleesa, Kai, Dani, and
Ilya are super fans of cult TV sci-fi show City of Night. Living in
different countries, the challenges they face and the online friendship that
give them strength. Out of the blue, they get the chance to travel to America
to meet the show's star Alice Temple. Their idol has troubles of her own and within
hours of meeting for the first time in real life, the four friends are on the run,
pursued by the police, the Russian mob, and a sinister right wing militia.
As the author of the
cult Killing Eve trilogy, Luke Jennings knows a thing or two about writing high
concept thrillers. He also has a tough act to follow, something he does here
with a handy turn of speed.
The action comes thick
and fast and is rooted deep in the cultural conflicts going on in the US and
beyond. Using a cult TV show as the frame for a novel that, judging by the
loose ends left enticingly hanging, could become one itself is a neat touch.
Jennings does more than
just tell a ripping yarn. What he has delivered is a story about friendship and
the importance of being true to yourself that is powerfully topical.
This could have come
out as either mealy mouthed and cynical, or worth and didactic. In his hands,
it is neither, instead, it is hopeful and life-affirming.
Luke Jennings might
just have another cult hit on his hands. About which, using the text speak of
the title all this reviewer can say is #goodjob #bringonthesequel.
Shots, March 2023
