John Antink – codename: Max Danzler – is a character who would not look out of place in John le Carré’s spy thrillers. He retired as chief of the secret service about six years ago, but his past catches up with him. That is actually already happening on page 1, and then we have 380 pages to go.
After his active service, John Antink started a DIY club with some friends. They repair household appliances, a lot of fiddling with screws, nuts, springs and clamps. This is done in a relaxed atmosphere: a toaster is quickly fixed. But then suddenly a Slavic-looking man stands in front of him. He took an old typewriter with him from the East German brand Robotron. For a moment John Antink is speechless. Especially because the visitor pushes a Malakov under his nose, a Russian handgun. “Are you Max Danzler?”
The Cold War seemed over. Because of the struggle in Ukraine, we had to quickly adjust that picture. Yet there were thriller writers who understood that the tensions between East and West just continued to fester under the skin, John le Carré leading the way. Coincidence or not, the Dutch crime author Charles den Tex joins The Repair Club (HarperCollins; € 21.99) now also in that list – we will not find it more current.
In addition to the Slavic agent, John Antink is also wanted by Alisja Calder. She is his successor in the Secret Service, and she has a big problem. It has been leaked in the press that Dutch aid of 25 million euros to moderate groups in Syria – pick-up trucks, uniforms, satellite telephones, cameras, medical kits, tents and rubber mattresses – has partly ended up with the enemy: radical jihadist groups affiliated with IS. Once again a fact plucked from reality, because in 2018 the case was in high publicity. In the book, Alisja Calder must find the leak within her organization, and she enlists the help of John Antink.
A generational conflict in the making. Alisja Calder swears by the information of the Joint Sigint Cyber Unit (JSCU), the digital sleuths with their algorithms and satellite images. John Antink, old-school as he is, relies more on contacts on the ground in Syria, and on the dust folders from the archive. It is a recurring theme in Den Tex’s books, which always contains a touch of techno-thriller – a good example is his previous title: lost woman (2019). With a view to the Boekenweek, this is my Tip Number 1.
A second, newly published edition that attracts attention is kerosene (Atlas Contact; € 19.99) by the French-speaking Belgian Adeline Dieudonné. Her debut novel The real life – aimed at young adults – was named Vrij Nederland Thriller of the Year in 2020. In kerosene (with a z, but that must be to underline the danger of explosion) we go to a grubby gas station along a highway in the summer Ardennes. Many lives come together in that place, of people who want to take a breather or just have a snack. A mosaic story, not necessarily a thriller, although there is enough suspense in it.
The tableau de la troupe under that hard fluorescent light: fifteen types, from the staff to the passers-by. There is also a corpse in the trunk of a large black Hummer. One of those present is the old curmudgeon Monica who – if no one is paying attention – seems to climb over the guardrail in order to end her life. What’s going on here? In separate chapters, the characters are highlighted one by one and neatly brought back together at that gas station. Well written, with a touch of absurdism, so typical of Belgian literature. kerosene is my Tip Number 2 for the Boekenweek.