Charles Cumming

This is a well-plotted espionage thriller set in the not too distant past, tracking down a 'genocidaire' from Rwanda by an older and wiser spy.

To start the story we go back to 1994 with Lachlan Kite working in Rwanda as a dropping off point. Kite has carried money out there to fund the 'snatch' but of course, things go wrong and instead of catching Bagaza, he is killed and his girlfriend, Grace Mavinga escapes, travelling over the border and becoming someone else.

Years later, she reappears show more alongside Duval, a french spy gone rogue, and together they money launder. Box 88, the spy group that Kite works for, hears of her reappearance and sets up a plan to catch her, which they do. It sounds so simple but of course it is anything but.

The story is intricately woven with politics and personal views about America and the UK which does the job of setting the context historically and provides the space for people such as Mavinga and Duval to operate.

Successive British governments have actively encouraged anyone with a large enough cheque book to get it out in London and start spending. Dirty money washes through the construction sector, the hospitality industry, car dealerships, football clubs, you name it. Without it, the British economy would probably go into freefall.
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Ouch!

The dual timeline of 'then and now' allows Cummings to show how things have changed, characters included, but also spy tools and methodology. Kite in the present day is 50 years old and spends time with his wife and daughter. Not something he did in 1995, when as a young spy he was involved in the failed plot but this is a device that shows us how failure early on in a career can be stored away and rectified later on.

The book didn't have me sitting on the edge of my seat, chewing my fingers but it does have a page-turning quality where the 'chase' takes place over decades and where patience pays off. show less

It sounds trite, but I must say I had a very difficult time putting this book down. Cumming maintains a brisk tempo, with crisp chapters and limited distractions. As an espionage novel, it has an appropriate number of enjoyable plot twists, with an orientation toward deception and intrigue to move the action, rather than blunt violence. While the book takes place in the present-day, Cumming does a solid job of making the story almost a sort of historical fiction by having his characters show more relate what we perceive as history in a manner that is, to them, personal experience. I'd suspect that (in the right hands) this would make a solid movie. This was the first book I've read by Cumming; I'll be looking to pick up others.

Obligatory disclaimer: read a free ARC via LT ER. show less

A fast-paced, tension-filled "modern" spy novel covering mid-20th century through early 21st. Better than most of the best I've read...as good as John LeCarre's work (my highest praise for this genre). The characters were distinctive, clearly drawn, and interesting with just enough small details to make them memorable, and likeable (or detestable, as appropriate). The plot was complex enough to seem real and to maintain my keen interest, but not overly or unnecessarily convoluted. Many times show more I thought I knew something the characters hadn't figured out yet... and I was wrong, wrong again, doubly wrong, and so were they! I fell gleefully for the misdirection and enjoyed the ride. The author was particularly good at creating a lead character who was a bit of a bumbler, who took foolish risks, and who was habitually fearing and imagining the worst. At the most tense moments it was still possible to both identify with him, and laugh at his antics; his slight goofiness somehow balanced, but never interfered with, the stark tension and danger of the situations. I will definitely recommend this book to friends and will seek out more of his novels to read. show less

A very different spy story following two parallel timelines, 1989 post Lockerbie terrorist bomb (December 1988) and contemporary. Lachlan, "Lockie" is recruited by one of his public school tutors, after he has taken his A-levels, into a shadowy secret organisation within the British and US security services, "Box 88" in 1989. His first mission is in his summer holidays, staying in the south of France with a schoolfriend's wealthy family. Well described his recruitment, his struggles of show more conscience spying on friends and his ultimate mastery of spy craft. The parallel plot sees Box 88 being investigated by MI5 agents and Lockie followed. All reads very authentic, as might be expected by an ex security services employee! show less