The New Recruit by Andy McNab Review

Reviewed by Glen Walker

The New Recruit is the first Liam Scott novel which I assume will become part of a series. Being an Andy McNab fan I was looking forward to reading his latest release. However once I started the book I found the narrative very similar to his previous novels, including Bravo Two Zero and his autobiography.

The main character Liam Scott is haunted by the death of a friend in a free running accident. This coupled with an unhappy family life prompts him to join the army to escape his demons. However they catch up with him in the form of his dead friend’s brother Mike in the ‘backdrop of combat’.

In this book Andy McNab has drawn on his own experiences of military life from training camps through to full combat in the SAS, however it lacked details and substance. If you want an easy read following a character in war, with a sub plot then you will enjoy this book.

From a personal point of view I found it a little repetitive and compared to Seven Troop, which is fact, and also some of his other fictional writings it was slow and did not really get going. I am 39 and would say that this latest book is aimed at a younger teenage audience.

If this is to be the start of the series, I would like to get to know more about the main character and what he is about than you learn in this book.

Overall this is not a book I would want to read again. It was repetitive, very slow in places and did not compare well to his other novels.

Rating: 3/5

RRP: £7.99 (Paperback) / £4.99 (Kindle)

Available to buy from Amazon here.