Apparently, a decade ago, Louis had helped De Jaager arrange to have a Serb called Andrej Buha killed as Buha had murdered the husband of De Jaager’s sister-in-law. He was a hatchet man for the Serbian mob in The Netherlands and his sadistic passion for violence first came to the attention of his bosses, Spiridon and Radovan Vulksan, when he committed atrocities in the Balkan conflict of the 1990s. Having worked their way to the top of organised crime, the Vulksan brothers are now in late middle age. They are settling old scores before retiring back to Serbia. The thoughtful, calculating Radovan was against murdering De Jaager but Spiridon, being impetuous and sadistic, would not be controlled.
Connolly is known for writing the best villains, and he did not disappoint in The Nameless Ones.
Using Radovan and Spiridon Vuksan's shared history as the background for the story, Connolly also details the brutal conflicts that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early 90s, real life stories that are far more horrific than anything he or anyone else could imagine. The novel is, without a doubt, graphic in its depiction of the results of cruelty, even if much of the actual violence happens off the page.
This is a breathless international chase thriller and, as Connolly's legion of fans already know, the readers will gladly go without sleep in order to finish it.