Really fascinating dramatization of Ted's own life, I was blessed to read this as his third novel, so I appreciated the autobiographical nature far better.

He writes with vivid descriptions, whether it's autobiographical or fiction. What I like the most is that he has a high respect, and even higher skepticism, of both foe and friend.

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Rating 4.5


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I always enjoy Allbeury's books, he consistently sounds as if he is writing from personal experience. This is a slightly odd one, however. It begins with the main protagonist running a line-crossing operation in Germany in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. The operation is betrayed and he is captured and subjected to deep interrogation. When he escapes he leaves the service and goes to work in advertising. Thus far it reads like a straightforward memoir and we get some of a common trope of Allbeury's concerning his difficulties with personal relationships. The hero is then inveigled back into SIS - plenty of carrots but also 'an offer he can't refuse'. The job he is given is to investigate technological dirty tricks by a KGB agent he had worked with in post-war Germany. He works everything out but is then confronted, by the KGB man, with the offer of meeting his daughter, last seen when she was four, and retiring on a KGB pension in exchange for his silence. He agrees and is immediately transported to Warsaw. The story now turns into pulp fiction. His Polish secret service minder looks like Audrey Hepburn and falls in love with him on the strength of his CV. He is happy to have met his daughter but realises that she has her own life with no real place for him so he decides to return to the West. Getting out requires a fire-fight with Polish forces while waiting for the rescue helicopter. Luckily his Polish host was in the RAF and has buried a fully functioning arsenal of British Army automatic weapons under his farm. The Pole dies heroically and our hero escapes to Gatwick with his lovely spy. He is treated handsomely by his SIS masters - driven from the airport in a brand new Jensen and given a diamond engagement ring for his partner - without any of the treachery often found in Allbeury's stories. This wouldn't be a first choice from the author's work as the mood changes too often, but worth it's rating. ( )