This was my first book by Charles Cumming. I came across a review, which compared him to Le Carre, an author I liked a lot in the past and read most of his books. So that got my interest, and I can see the similarities.

I enjoyed the book, and finished it pretty quickly. There was a lot going on, and I was slightly lost at the end, probably due mostly to the Russian names, and the fact that at least one had multiple names. Also, the main English characters were two brothers and their father, so those last names were also the same.

The ending came a bit abruptly. I had expected more, but it's often good when a book does not follow your expectations. I'll probably read more of his books, though. I think this was an earlier one, so perhaps the later ones will be a little smoother. ( )

Over the last few years Charles Cumming has garnered a reputation as one of the leading British writers of spy fiction, and has even been widely feted as "the new John le Carre". Having read some of his recent novels, including The Trinity Six, and A Foreign Country I might be inclined to agree. If, however, I had read this book at the time it was first published I doubt whether I would ever have troubled to read any of his subsequent offerings.

The basic premise upon which the novel is based is the strained relationship between former spy, Christopher Keen, and his two sons Mark and Ben. Christopher walked out on his family and then went more than twenty years without seeing either of his sons. After meeting Mark he manages a slight rapprochement with Mark but Ben continues to refuse to see him. Christopher now works for a firm of consultants, advising businesses that are trying to establish bases in Russia, and as luck would have it, one of his clients is the company that Mark works for.

MI5 Meanwhile Christopher is approached by MI5 who see him as a useful source of intelligence about the Russian mafia, and they ask him to keep an eye on the progress of his son's employer whom they suspect of involvement in drug and/or people trafficking. Christopher is intrigued and, seeing a chance to strengthen his relationship with his son, he agrees.

All seems to eb going well … until Christopher is suddenly murdered …

This all sounds enticing enough. Unfortunately, however, the plot progresses at a tortuously slow pace, and the characters are, frankly, utterly unbelievable. Cumming's later books were notable for the strength of their plotting and the plausibility and empathy of his characters, but it would appear that he was still learning his art with this book. ( )

Kind of hard to follow, but was pretty decent. ( )

A former spy is murdered, assassination style. He had been estranged from his two sons since he abandoned his family to become a spy. He had reconnected with one of them, but the other was resistant, but had finally agreed to meet him. That meeting did not go well, and his father was killed later that night. He tries to discover what happened.
Mind candy. But well done.

Whilst I enjoyed this book, it disappointed me a little after the excellence of the two Alec Milius books and Typhoon. The set up, with an ex SIS father seeking to re-engage with his two sons after a twenty year gap takes a while to establish; but once the story moves into full spy mode, the momentum gathers, and because so many people are telling lies to everyone involved, it gets a little confusing; despite Cummings' usual crisp writing style and mastery of dialogue.
The background this time round is mainly the Russian Mafia, with a touch of the Russian involvement in Afghanistan ( reminding us how the West armed those who are now are enemies ). This is set with the writer's usual authority.
As usual I did not really empathise with Cummings' principal protagonists; but I think that my disappointment was mostly caused by the slightly confused plot.
I remain a fan of Cummings and will approach next two books in the coming weeks with pleasurable anticipation.
Having finished and posted my review I now find that this appears to be Cummings' first novel. This fact lessens my disappointment, but doesn't change my rating! ( )