Writers in a state of fear

A State of Fear, Joseph Clyde’s new thriller*, stands out for many reasons. Thrillers only work if they are thrilling, and Clyde’s description of the search for the terrorist who planted a dirty bomb in central London keeps the reader fascinated. The best thrillers are more than just page-turners, however, and Clyde presents a convincing picture of what Britain could look like after law and order breaks down and the economy collapses.

Like all dystopian novelists, he takes conflicts in the present and imagines how they will play out in his imagined future. Today’s sectarian divisions and the failure of Britain to deal with them, or even admit they exist, clearly fascinate him. After the nuclear bomb explodes, racial gangs terrorise the innocent and the uncomprehending bureaucracy does not know how to cope with mass radiation poisoning and the breakdown of constraints.

More unusually, the thriller is about an Islamist attack on Britain.