“The man who can’t feel fear is back, in a race against time to find the woman who knows a secret that could take down the world as we know it.

When a shocking murder and abduction on the streets of London leads investigators to him, Ben Koenig has no idea at first why the highest echelons of the CIA would need his help. But then he realises he knows the woman who carried out the killings. Ten years earlier, without being told why, he was tasked with helping her disappear.

Far from being a deranged killer, she is the gatekeeper of a secret that could take down the West, so for years she has been in hiding. Until now.

And if she has resurfaced, the danger may be closer and more terrifying than anyone can imagine.

So Ben Koenig has to find her before it’s too late. But Ben suffers from a syndrome which means he can’t feel fear. He doesn’t always know when he should walk away, or when he’s leading others into danger . . .

Fast, brutal and smart, the second book in the Sunday Times bestselling Ben Koenig series is a pulse-raising, adrenaline-filled rollercoaster featuring ruthless killers, hard choices – and one fearless man . . .”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of Nobody’s Hero by M.W. Craven. Nobody’s Hero is published by Constable today (that’s Thursday 10th April 2025) and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio and digital formats. I chose to read a free eARC of Nobody’s Hero but that has in no way influenced my review.

Nobody’s Hero is the second book in the Ben Koenig series written by one of my favourite authors, M.W. Craven. This series though is a little different to the author’s other books which tend to be police procedurals. Ben Koenig used to head the US Marshal’s Special Operations Group until he disappeared one day. Koenig had to vanish after a Russian crime syndicate put a five-million-dollar bounty on his head. Now, he’s a hunted man. But that doesn’t scare Ben Koenig. Nothing scares Ben Koenig. Ben Koenig doesn’t have the capacity to feel fear due to a condition, which makes him highly dangerous to his enemies. His lateral thinking skills outshine everyone else. His determination and approach to getting the job done make him a valued member of the security service. He can also be a little reckless and impulsive, and that’s where Jen Draper comes in.

Ben and his handler, Jen, return in his highly thrilling second instalment of the series. Both Ben and Jen have complicated pasts and a fairly complicated working relationship. They really don’t like each other but the trust the two of them share is quite extraordinary. They are a formidable, unstoppable team.

Ben’s missions are always multi-layered and intricate, with numerous seemingly unrelated threads coming together in perfect harmony and setting the storyline up for an explosive finale. That is certainly the case in Nobody’s Hero. When an elderly academic is snatched in broad daylight by a homeless woman on the streets of London, the case immediately goes cold. The women haven’t been seen on any of the myriad of CCTV cameras in the Capital since leaving Speaker’s Corner. Ben is tasked with finding the academic and her abductor. But where others fail, Koenig thrives! Particularly when he recognises the homeless woman as someone he shot in the head ten years earlier…

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Nobody’s Hero is thrilling, unstoppable and completely gripping from the first word to the very last. I have enormous respect for the author. To write such a complex, imaginative and full-on story, to have so many individual pieces, so many seemingly unconnected threads that all need to be tied together at the end, and to do it with such incredible style is an achievement. I love the characterisation. I like Koenig but the more time I spend with Jen Draper, the more my girl-crush develops! The storyline doesn’t really let up. There are no quieter moments for the characters to take a breather. There’s always someone trying to shoot them/blow them up/run them off the road. As I think you would expect, the level of violence is fairly high. A hell of a lot of people die and for a lot of them, their deaths are quite grisly. There are a couple of really big twists in the tale. Twists that the reader just doesn’t see coming. One of which, was delivered in the most perfect way. Loved it! The ending is explosive and totally full-on. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough and I couldn’t see how Koenig was going to get out of this one. You’ll have to read the book for yourself to see if he does! M.W. Craven is a superb storyteller, and I cannot wait to read more of his work. All in all, thrilling from the get-go, chock full of action, totally unexpected and stuffed full of twists. An absolutely relentless read that will consume you. Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of Nobody’s Hero. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Nobody’s Hero by M.W. Craven was published in the UK by Constable on 10th April 2025 and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

M. W. Craven was born in Carlisle but grew up in Newcastle, running away to join the army at the tender age of sixteen. He spent the next ten years travelling the world having fun, leaving in 1995 to complete a degree in social work with specialisms in criminology and substance misuse. Thirty-one years after leaving Cumbria, he returned to take up a probation officer position in Whitehaven, eventually working his way up to chief officer grade. Sixteen years later he took the plunge, accepted redundancy and became a full-time author. He now has entirely different motivations for trying to get inside the minds of criminals . . .

M. W. Craven is married and lives in Carlisle with his wife, Joanne. When he isn’t out with his springer spaniel, or talking nonsense in the pub, he can usually be found at punk gigs and writing festivals up and down the country.