Jon Evans’ previous two novels featured travellers who had an amazing ability to get themselves into all sorts of trouble while we watched them run for their lives and outsmart their attackers. Evans has a new cast of characters in Invisible Armies, but once again we’re in the company of young folks living on the edge. This time, the action revolves around a group of young political activists who aren’t waiting for trouble to find them.

Danielle Leaf is a twentysomething child of privilege at loose ends in India, still trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. While doing a favour for her computer-genius friend Kieran, Danielle is abducted and beaten before being rescued by Laurent, a former French Legionnaire and now a member of a group called Justice International. They, in turn, connect with Kieran and his friends Angus and Estelle, who are working for a shadowy outfit known only as the Foundation, in an effort to shut down the poisonous Kishkindar Mine. The battle takes them to Paris, where they orchestrate a riot, and then to London, where their efforts, and their small team, literally explode.

Just when it seems like the story might be ending, Evans throws another rock into the pond. And if you weren’t the paranoid type before reading this novel, his layering of conspiracy upon conspiracy may have you converted by the time you finish. Any disbelief triggered by these plot turns will be immediately suspended by your desire to find out what happens next.

Rest assured, this is no political screed or anti-corporate polemic. The activists certainly believe they are on the side of the angels, but Evans also shows how the lines between good and evil blur.

His detailed descriptions, whether of the heat and smells of an Indian market or the rhythm of a Parisian neighbourhood, bring the settings to life. With some likeable characters, some terrifying ones, and a fantastic plot, Invisible Armies should conquer new readers and please old fans.