The Boy on the Train review – ‘Deliciously twisty tale’

Martin Goodman with his new book

Who will outsmart whom in the age of cyber-intelligence?

This is an urgent question for those running the country, but it also makes for a great plotline in the new thriller The Boy on the Train by Martin Goodman.

The Hackney-based author has wormed his way inside the head of Tom, a seventeen-year-old hacker who is eager to take on the Big Coal that is doing us all such catastrophic damage.

In a chance encounter, Tom meets Steve, a commodities trader who specialises in… you guessed it: coal.

The stage is set for an enthralling narrative that draws in fellow hacker Mel along with a cast of characters from the highest reaches of corporate and state power.

Greed is set against cunning, to wonderfully edifying effect, as algorithms spar off against each other.

Lest this sound overly cerebral, be reassured that there is also much action and psychological nuance.

The fast-paced drama culminates in a charged scene at the Barbican where raw force prevails over intellect.

But Tom has secrets up his sleeve that don’t play out until the end of this deliciously twisty tale.

The Boy on the Train by Martin Goodman is published by Barbican Press, ISBN: 978-1-917352079; RRP: £10.99