Tag: espionage

#BookReview The Traitor by Ava Glass @PenguinUKBooks @AvaGlassBooks #TheTraitor

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for The Traitor by Ava Glass. My thanks to Amanda at Moonflower Books for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my digital review copy via NetGalley. Do check out the posts by my tour buddies for today, Amanda at gingerbookgeek and Linda at Linda’s Book Bag.

About the Book

LONDON. EARLY MORNING. A body is found in a padlocked suitcase. Investigator Emma Makepeace knows it’s murder. And it’s personal.

She quickly establishes that the dead man had been shadowing two oligarchs suspected of procuring illegal weapons in the UK. And it seems likely that an insider working deep within the British government is helping them.

To find out who the traitor is, Emma goes deep undercover on a superyacht owned by one of the oligarchs.

But the glamorous veneer of the rich hides dark secrets. Out at sea, Emma is both hunter and prey, and no one can protect her.

Never has the turquoise sea and golden sands of the Rivera seemed so dangerous.

As the hunt intensifies, Emma knows that she is in mortal danger. And that she needs to find the traitor before they find her …

Format: ebook (411 pages)                        Publisher: Penguin
Publication date: 14th September 2023 Genre: Thriller

Find The Traitor on Goodreads

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Hive | Amazon UK 
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My Review

Ava Glass is a new author to me and I haven’t read The Chase, the book which first introduced Emma Makepeace to the world. I’m pleased to say I didn’t feel at any disadvantage not having read the first book and that The Traitor can easily be read as a standalone, although there are spoilers for key events in The Chase.

The storyline of The Traitor with its Russian oligarchs and their luxurious properties, extravagant lifestyles, superyachts, trophy girlfriends and links to organised crime feels bang up to the minute.

Although the author gives Emma a very believable motivation for embarking on the dangerous missions she undertakes, at first I didn’t find her a very convincing spy. Some of her actions aboard the superyacht seemed rather naive such as assuming that just because she couldn’t see them there weren’t any hidden cameras. That all changes in the latter part of the book when she becomes the kick-ass ‘female James Bond’ we were promised, the master of the lock pick and someone able to turn just about any implement into a deadly weapon.

The pace picks up too as Emma and her colleagues embark on the hunt for the traitor who compromised the mission, taking the reader into real John le Carré territory. I liked the cast of secondary characters, such as Zach the tech wizard, Martha the expert in disguise and most of all, Emma’s boss, Ripley, the spymaster who heeds his own advice that a spy should always have a deadly weapon close at hand.

I also liked the way the author explored the challenges of being a spy: never being able to reveal your occupation, having to lie to friends, family and lovers, living a double life with a name that is not your own. ‘Everything suffers when you can never tell the truth.’

The Traitor is an entertaining, escapist thriller, ideal for reading on the beach or, dare I say it, the deck of a luxury yacht.

In three words: Exciting, pacy, dramatic

Try something similar: Cut Adrift by Jane Jesmond

About the Author

Ava Glass is a former crime reporter and civil servant. Her time working for the government introduced her to the world of spies, and she’s been fascinated by them ever since. She lives in the south of England.

Connect with Ava
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#BookReview #Ad The Scarlet Papers by Matthew Richardson @MichaelJBooks

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The Scarlet PapersAbout the Book

VIENNA, 1946: A brilliant German scientist snatched from the ruins of Nazi Europe.

MOSCOW, 1964: A US diplomat caught in a clandestine love affair as the Cold War rages.

RIGA, 1992: A Russian archivist selling secrets that will change the twentieth century forever.

LONDON, THE PRESENT DAY: A British academic on the run with the chance to solve one of history’s greatest mysteries.

Their stories, their lives, and the fate of the world are bound by a single manuscript. A document feared and whispered about in capitals across the globe. In its pages, history will be rewritten. It is only ever known as . . . THE SCARLET PAPERS

The devastating secrets contained within teased by a brief invitation: Tomorrow 11AM. Take a cab and pay in cash. Tell no one.

Format: eARC (592 pages)              Publisher: Michael Joseph
Publication date: 25th May 2023 Genre: Thriller

Find The Scarlet Papers on Goodreads

Purchase links
Bookshop.org
Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK
Links provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

If you’re a fan of the novels of John le Carré such as Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy you will absolutely love this brilliantly compelling espionage thriller that combines ‘old world’ tradecraft – dry-cleaning, safe houses, book codes, secret writing, brush passes, dead letterboxes – with modern technology. Think surveillance and tracking devices capable of being installed just about anywhere.

Moving from the end of the Second World War, through the Cold War to the present day, it conjures up the murky world of secret agents, double agents, sleepers and moles. References to real life individuals such as Kim Philby, James Jesus Angleton and Maurice Oldfield (reputed to be one of the models for John le Carré’s George Smiley), along with figures in the world of espionage from more modern times, give it an air of authenticity. (As can be seen from the bibliography, the author’s research has been extensive.) And although the story is fictional, many of the elements seem completely plausible. Worryingly so, if you believe in the reality of a secret state. And it wasn’t so long ago that the existence of someone very like one of the main characters in the story was revealed, after many years in the shadows.

The book is full of characters with messy relationships and exposes the moral dilemmas which spies confront, the isolation inherent in their role and the burden of keeping secrets, even from those you love.  As one character observes, ‘We were good spies and terrible human beings.’ Many of the characters are almost certainly not who they purport to be or are adept at adopting different personas. ‘Spying was a performance and the costume, the voice, the initial entrance were as vital as the lines themselves.’

It’s impossible to describe the twists and turns of the plot without giving anything away. I could sympathise with one character as they complain, ‘Spies always seemed to make things so damn complicated’ although that delicious complexity is what makes The Scarlet Papers a ‘just one more chapter’ read. Despite being quite a chunky book, the story moves along like a whirlwind with surprises galore awaiting you. I loved it. If you’re a fan of espionage thrillers, put this one on your wishlist.

I received an advance review copy courtesy ot Michael Joseph via NetGalley.

In three words: Gripping, ingenious, fast-paced

Try something similar: The Spy Across the Water by James Naughtie

Matthew RichardsonAbout the Author

Matthew Richardson studied English at Durham University and Merton College, Oxford. After a brief spell as a freelance journalist, he began working as a researcher and speechwriter in Westminster, and has also written speeches for senior figures in the private sector.

He is the author of My Name is Nobody and The Insider. (Photo: Amazon author page)