The God of Chaos

by Tom Bradby

1942. The Nazi hammer is about to fall on the beleaguered city of Cairo. As tension mounts, a key British officer is found brutally murdered. Nobody can fathom the motives behind the killing, and it is certainly the wrong time to
start asking questions.

Former New York cop Joe Quinn is a maverick whose methods run against the grain of the British military police. But he is tasked with uncovering the truth and in spite of the circumstances determines to do so — in his own way. Is this
merely a straightforward case of espionage or something rather more intimate?

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Thriller, Crime, Espionage

439 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Tom Bradby is a British journalist and novelist. He has been political editor for ITV News since July 2005.

Reviews

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never really cared about the characters or the outcome. So so

[Joseph Doherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a few of Bradby's books now, and I'm well used to the level of detail he throws into creating the scenery of foreign lands nearly 100 years ago, with Cairo in the 1940s in this novel no different to Russia under the Tsars, Shanghai in the time of the Brits and other locations seen in other Brady novels. 5* for the ability to immerse the reader on that front.

There are some characters who come from other novels too. Quinn himself is the main character in Blood Money, but I did not read that prior to God of Chaos, and I didn't feel I missed anything. Lewis and Macleod are featured in Master of Rain, which is a great book, and it did help a little with their dynamic, but again not essential reading.

For me, I just wasn't too taken in with the story here, I found it to be slower than Bradby's other work, and the case didn't seem complex enough to span 500 pages. It was still a good read, it just fell a little short of my expectations when compared to the author's other work.

[Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 stars due to being a good entertainment and couldn't-put-down suspense (down-graded from original 3.8 stars) this novel doesn't fall into the "classics" for my typical standard for a 4-5 star rating. My book club pointed out two historical-fiction inaccuracies by the author -- Ferrari cars and TImeLife weren't around in WWII era. There was some contrivance in "dumbness" of protagonists to keep the action plot going, but overall this Cairo-set murder mystery and police procedural has merit.

[Jia Cherng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another thrilling novel from Tom Bradby. It bears a similar flow of story to The White Russian and The Master of Rain.

A crime that seems out of place got Quinn thinking and involved in the case, but where the past meets the present, the case will haunt him and his wife, with a deeper implication that goes beyond a simple murder.

The characters intertwine, the conspiracy hidden within. The willingness of the author to kill off characters as shown in his previous books makes it all the more emotional. Go and read this.

[Jürgen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sehr spannender und fein geplotteter Roman. Kommt die Spannung im ersten Teil eher unterschwellig, leise daher, trifft ein absolut unerwarteter Plottwist die Lesenden. Mit allem hätte ich an dieser Stelle gerechnet, aber nicht damit! Und danach ging es roller-coaster-mäßig weiter bis zum furiosen Finale. Hat sich sehr gelohnt und macht Appetit auf die anderen Bücher von Tom Bradby.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Bradby is brilliant at capturing the essence of a time and place. This is a really good thriller set in wartime Cairo.

[Diogenes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but improbable story with the overused theme of a good cop looses it, hisneed to redeem himself and gets romance tangled with solving a mystery.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

[Roger Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anothet cracker from Tom Bradbu

Great characters. Good plot. Continuation from Blood Money. Joe Quinn the main character but suspense until the last few pages

[Jak60 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marlowe goes to Cairo.
Cairo in the summer of 1942 is a boiling pot, both physically and metaphorically; under the blistering heat of the African sun, Rommel is driving the nazi troops straight into the heart of the old British protectorate and the city is preparing for a street by street defence. It's a boiling pot in which are melted down all kinds of passions: fear, greed, anger, lust, courage, love.
This is the theatre in which moves our hard-boiled hero, Quinn-Marlowe, where war plans mingle with intrigues and murders; but what is a murder in the middle of a war? In the middle of a city about to crumble under the nazi boot?
For Quinn it's an obsession, also linked to the ghosts of his past.
This atmospheric noir takes us through the darkest corners not only of the city but of the human soul; similar literary space as Yesterday's Spy, not as intense though. The intuition leading to the case resolution looks more like the classic rabbit from the hat than the result of complex analysis, nevertheless this was a pretty satisfying read.

For potential new readers of this author, here's my two cents:
4+ star
Blood Money
The God Of Chaos
Yesterday's Spy
4 stars
Secret Service trilogy (includes Double Agent and Triple Cross)
3stars
Shadow Dancer
2 stars
The Sleep Of The Dead

[P.D.R. Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a novel which impressed by its depth of motivation and 3D characters. It's a lot more than a thriller set in WWII in Egypt.

There's a father struggling to cope with the accidental death of his son and trying to sort out a possible Nazi spy plot as he tries to hold his life together. There's his wife waiting for him to get a grip on life again, with her own problems needing his attention too. Other characters have complex lives and serious motivations.

The writing is tight, fast paced and detailed. The research is spot on and a reader never doubts that the writer has done his work and knows what he is writing about. It's a good read!

I'm about to hunt out Bradby's other books and hope that depth and universality is present in them too.

[Abimbola · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok book

[Joaquin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last 25% of the book saved the first 75%. Too slow first and then too fast at the end leaving a lot of loose ends unexplained. It did entertain me at the end but I was about to drop it few times.

[Eric Grounds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love Tom Bradby's books. He is a smooth craftsman, putting together a good story with pace and character. Keep 'em coming