S6 by TS Westbrook

The Red Cross is on a humanitarian mission to locate missing oil worker Calum Mackenzie. 

 RB McGehee, the second-tier reporter with Global Press’s two-man Edinburgh bureau, files a couple of paragraphs for the US wire agency and expects to hear nothing further. 

 There are in any case bigger fish to fry: Scotland has unveiled unilateral carbon reduction measures, a diplomatic hoo-ha with Norway threatens to escalate into what the locals would call a proper stooshie, and Frankfurt HQ is cracking down on expenses.

 The story, however, refuses to go away. And McGehee – risking life, love and career – is entangled in a desperate race against time to solve the riddle of what happened to the experimental drilling platform Sligachan 6.

 S6 follows McGehee’s investigations as he visits oil companies, government offices and whistle-blowers. Closed doors turn to violent responses the closer McGehee gets to the truth.

 This new investigative thriller from TS Westbrook is published in May 2023.

Review

‘S6’ is a thought-provoking book that captured my interest and I devoured it in a day! It's a great debut novel and it is clear that the author is knowledgeable in the world of journalism as it felt an authentic read. A lot of cli-fi thrillers are being released at the moment and I feel that this is more of a subtle story. Based on the whispers in political halls rather than action sequences etc. I really enjoyed reading it and I loved RB as a character.

RB works for a global newsgroup in Edinburgh and he receives a call from the International Red Cross. They are trying to locate a man called Calum Mackenzie as his sister is dying back home in New Zealand. She needs a bone marrow transplant and her brother is her final option and the last she knew of him he was working in Scotland. What initially appears to be a humanitarian story morphs into something bigger as the company he worked for, Trident, is being elusive and RB believes that they are hiding information from him.

This really is a behind-the-scenes look at how governments and companies are intertwined and it just so happens to be in this case the oil and gas industries. It was a fast-paced read that captured my attention from the get-go as I have numerous relatives that work in this sector and going by their stories I can see something like this occurring! RB was a great character, had an interesting background and was a tenacious reporter. I liked his style, just digging away until he got to the truth.

Let me know if you pick this one up!