The Fourth Movement

The Fourth Movement
Daniel Kane
Vanguard Press
ISBN: 978-1-84386-299-4
Fiction, Futuristic, Suspense
Reviewed by Eugen M. Bacon

The beginning of this suspenseful odyssey carries us to the spine of a cold, wet crag in Snowdonia, a mythical place of King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake. Continually interspersed with historical elements in this fashion, The Fourth Movement is a futuristic thriller that spans across large cities of the world, from Mexico City to London. As its sleeves brush yet more worlds as far as the Savannah grasslands of Africa, the tale oscillates between past and present. A broad cast catapults us from a sacrificial death in the face of a hiking accident to a series of gruesome slayings in the Aztec tradition of human sacrifice right in the heart of London.
A new breed of initiates. A cult of fear. Followers of Atum participate in grotesque near-voodoo crime, skinnings and mutilations under the ruthless leadership of James Vittel, a charismatic billionaire and his untouchable world. Such involvement of power-players in political and financial arenas amplifies the difficulty of a major protagonist’s task: Karen Whittington is keen to unveil a mystery that spans across generations. But she is plagued by ghosts of her past and is mystified by her relationship to two men who independently straddle the core of her heart in different fashion, men who are destined to destroy each other.
The novel packs an expansive array of imagery, methodical arrangement and a web of events that sweeps through gripping prophesies and evil full pelt. The story is riveting and surrounds a pseudo-Darwinian crime ring that is perhaps bigger than the grip of M15. While the tale embodies a concept that has been done to death (the idea of good twin/ bad twin), the component of genetic breeding for the perfect soldier, year zero: a new world order, adds a fresh angle. Cryptic in most parts until the end, the book fairly encourages a second read, as there is danger of lost history, missing pieces, until the whole is grasped. Highlights include Part 2: Smell, a sadistic sizzler that is as erotic as it is deadly.
Daniel Kane knows his whorls, loops and ridges. A solid foundation of forensics throughout adds forte to the integrity of a book that already paints such shocking display of blood, it is not for the fainthearted. The ending is beautifully set up for a hopefully more refined sequel that will confidently marry concepts already implanted, transition smoothly between them and effectively foreshadow the expansion of them in the formation of a staggering second novel.