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Win is Windsor Horne Lockwood III, the billionaire friend of Myron Bolitar and this is the first in a series in which he is the central character. This is a complex thriller with apparently multiple threads involving a hippy radical action group ‘The Jane Street Six�� from the 1970’s, a Vermeer painting stolen from the Lockwood family many years ago and a monogrammed suitcase belonging to Win’s cousin Patricia which are discovered at an apartment of a murdered man. Win is the narrator of the novel.

This is an enjoyable, slick thriller with a complicated plot so you really need to concentrate which is no bad thing! The seventies hippy anti Vietnam War radical group is an important aspect which hangs the story together. The involvement of the FBI, as well as an organised crime group adds an intriguing element to Win’s ensuing investigation to try to piece the emerging evidence together. The storyline involving cousin Patricia is dark and shocking and leads to Win having to choose between loyalty to family versus revealing the whole sordid truth. Win as a central protagonist is a fascinating conundrum. At the start of the book we see how he uses violence to mete out his form of justice and violence is always close to the surface in his personal makeup. He comes from great privilege which he utilisés to the max in the investigation, he’s ruthless, arrogant and abrupt, direct almost to the point of rudeness but he is also loyal, has a strong sense of right and wrong which he enacts his own way. He doesn’t really care what people think of his actions and he makes that abundantly clear but he does care about his daughter Ema and I enjoy his sense of humour. I really like the way the book is written as Win talks to us, his audience, which makes the storytelling personal and perhaps leads to becoming more invested in a good outcome. I warm to him as a character towards the end and I definitely want to read more books that feature him in the future.

My only reservations about the book lie in the start which I find a bit messy and confusing. I’m not entirely sure of the point of it although it does reappear as a plot thread. There are a lot of characters and it takes a while to become familiar with them. There’s a plot hole I can see at the end to do with Patricia which I’m not sure would have held water in a court of law! However, that being said it is a good outcome to the plot and this is fiction!

Overall, this is an action packed, entertaining, unpredictable, never a dull moment, seat of your pants thriller and Win is a winner in more ways than one.

With thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone, Century for the arc for an honest review.