Henry Porter’s latest novel not only feels unusually credible for a suspense thriller, but has a clear social purpose. In its account of refugees displaced from their homes by the ravages of Islamic State and forced to rely on their wits and petty kindnesses to survive, there is both a sharp journalistic attention to detail (Porter was a regular columnist for the Observer) and genuine anger at how we, as a society, have become inured to the almost unimaginable suffering of others. If Firefly ultimately works better as a Le Carré-esque procedural than a ripping yarn, then its attainment is a greater and more serious one.
His protagonist, who should return in other novels, is a compelling and multifaceted figure. Paul Samson, himself a former refugee, is Lebanese by birth and English by upbringing and superficially has the trappings of the society man; an Oxford University education, substantial private means brought about by a successful gambling habit and an uneasy relationship with his former employers at MI6.
The service dismissed him out of high-minded principles but recruit him once again to track a brilliant 13-year-old, Naji, who is making his way across Europe with information about Isis that will be invaluable to their intelligence. Naji, nicknamed “Firefly”, is being pursued by a trio of ruthless killers, led by the “Machete”; fortunately, he is unusually creative at escaping tricky situations. Throw in ingredients both fresh and well-worn – MI6 is rarely portrayed as anything less than institutionally callous – and Porter’s novel, his first in eight years, makes for a gripping tale.
Porter’s villains are glaringly evil, a series of paedophiles, murderers and rapists who deserve their comeuppances, and the reader will cheer on Samson and Firefly as they separately negotiate their way around the continent, only half a step ahead of these malefactors.
Porter allows his hero the odd moment of wry humour, but this is a world away from James Bond’s one-liners and derring-do; there is the ever-present reminder of the human suffering and terror caused by the Syrian situation, not least in the mass reduction of many of its inhabitants to the most degrading forms of sex slavery.
Readers are unlikely to finish Firefly feeling the warm glow of escapism that a less sophisticated thriller might provide, but it offers something more important: a glimpse into a terrifying and random world in which there are few happy endings.
•Firefly by Henry Porter is published by Quercus (£14.99). To order a copy for £12.74 go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99
