"In Lockdown, Sean Black's hero, Ryan Lock, causes New York to be sealed against a terrorist threat. Presumably in the sequels "Lockup" and "Lockin" he will rent a small garage, then take to drink. The synergy between name and title matters because it highlights the artifice underlying an excellent first novel. It reminds readers that the big game for British thriller writers these days is emulating Lee Child by writing classier American pulp than the Yanks. Like Child's Jack Reacher, Lock is an ex-military policeman. Unlike Reacher, he has a job (as an elite bodyguard), a home, friends and a sense of humour. Lock's likeability contrasts with Reacher's pomposity and Black's style is supremely slick."
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