Prime Suspect

Once A Spy (Review)

   

I just finished Once A Spy by Keith Thomson. The spy/thriller is the story of a 30 year old deadbeat gambling addict son who finds out that his Alzheimer-suffering father was one of the CIA's most legendary spies. When Drummond is targeted by a shadowy group in the CIA (are they the good guys? the bad guys? are they really CIA?) who wants him dead because they fear that he may blurt out secrets that would do untold damage, Charlie and Drummond go on the run.

Charlie nonchalantly takes this all in stride. After all, Charlie is already being hunted by the Russian Mafia for an unpaid gambling debt, so it's not much of a step to being targeted by professional assassins that aren't very good at their job if a civilian and a senior citizen with Alzheimer's can elude them quite easily. Even when something HUGE happens, Charlie sort of just shrugs it off.

As for Drummond, he goes in and out of lucid moments and it's hard to tell if he is faking his alzheimer's disease in order to fool the enemy.

The novel is darkly humorous. Thomson has fun playing with the conventions of the spy/thriller genre. But with the setup offered here, the story should have stayed within the land of the believable. Instead, we quickly go to the improbable with plot twists and gadgets straight out of the worst James Bond films (such as a Dr. Mengele-like torturer, the villain's secret island compound, underground secret laboratories, a sinister washing machine, and a nursing home for retired spies). 

The relationship between Chalie and Drummond is what holds the story together. It is bittersweet because as we see Charlie get closer and closer to his father, we also see Drummond retreating farther and farther into his disease. There's also a half-hearted attempt at a romantic storyline between Charlie and an NSA spy that doesn't really gel.

Overall, it was a fun story while I was reading it. But trying to mix a poignant father/son story against an improbable spy/thriller filled with mobsters, double agents, and complex fight scenes, just doesn't work.

Young James Bond (Spy)

Charlie Higson, a British actor, comedian, and author, was commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications, to write 5 books that chronicle Young James Bond while he was a student at Eton.

The series' huge success can rightly be attributed to Higson's writing. The stories have all the familiar hallmarks of Ian Fleming's novels. The action is fast. Young Bond is completely believable and the villains are wonderfully diabolical. The plotting complex and as fun as anything the grown-up Bond encounters. 

But best of all, Charlie appreciates his younger audience but never panders to them. The novels
are captivating and highly intelligent (like Bond himself). Charlie doesn't write down to his readers. Instead, he forces them to think and learn while enjoying 5 riveting tales that slyly foreshadow the Fleming novels. 

Much more can be learned at the Young Bond website.

Young Bond

1. Silverfin (2005)
2. Blood Fever (2006)
3. Double or Die (2007)
4. Hurricane Gold (2007)
5. By Royal Command (2008)

Publishers:

• Disney - Hyperion Books, New York.

 

Penman, Sharon Kay (Author)

   

Sharon Kay Penman is a well-known historical novelist. But she took some time off to write an intelligent, fast-paced, and intriguing series set in England during the Middle Ages. The sleuth is Justin de Quincy, the illegitimate son of an English Bishop who now is the servant of the Queen Dowager Eleanor (Richard the Lionheart’s mother). Penman’s four Medieval Mysteries all involve court intrigue, cunning plots, and delicious deviousness. The period details of 12th Century Britain are authentic without being overdone, as some historical mysteries have a tendancy to be.

You can read more about Sharon and her novels at her website.

 

Justin de Quincy Mysteries

1. The Queen's Man (1996)
2. Cruel as the Grave (1998)
3. Dragon's Lair (2003)
4. Prince of Darkness (2005)

Publishers:

• Henry Holt and Company, Macmillan US, New York.
• Ballantine, Random House, New York.
• Fawcett, Random House, New York.
• Penguin, Random House, New York.
• Putnam, New York.

Rimington, Stella (Author)

 

At Risk is a fast-paced thriller hitting on every global hot topic. Written by Stella Rimington, the former head of UK’s MI5 (the internal security force), the story takes us from the desolate borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan to the desolate marsh lands of Norfolk, England as we follow two terrorists as they execute their plan to blow up a target in England.

MI5 Agent Liz Carlyle is in charge of the counter-terrorism investigation. She’s smart, devoted, and strong. She is able to collate disparate chatter into a firm conclusion that the terrorists have made their way into the country. With each new piece of information, it is fascinating to see how the security forces work together (and at times against each other) in order to stop a terrorist attack. Rimington admits that Liz is mostly autobiographical. As a reader, it is nice to know that what we are reading is (most likely) what really happens – mistakes and all.

The story is filled with many great characters including the slimy MI6 Agent Mackay, the Englishwoman turned Islamic Jihadist, and Wetherby, Liz’s surprisingly kindly boss. Even smaller characters are well developed. Particularly Denzil Parrish, a quiet, shy college kid who hates to admit he likes birdwatching because he thinks it might hurt his chances with the ladies.

In Secret Asset, after recovering from her last case (you have to read At Risk to find out what I mean), Liz gets information from her informant that there is a new terror attack in the works. But before she gets involved in following up on the info, she is given a new assignment and a new partner. The partner is a young go-getter named Peggy Kinsolver and the assignment is to find an IRA mole working for MI5. While working the case, Liz realizes that she has to uncover the mole fast because what she really needs to be doing is stopping the terror threat that is spiralling out of control.

This book is more polished than the first which is good. Fascinating tidbits about spycraft and memorable characters are also plusses. On the downside, it is also a little too much “inside baseball” which is bad.

Illegal Action Liz is given a simple assignment: infiltrate a Russian billionaire’s household and make sure he isn’t assassinated by the Russian government. This plot is based on a true “ripped from the headlines” story: Alexander Litvinenko, an real ex-Russian agent and a fierce critic of Putin was poisoned in London. Once Liz gets into the house, she soon finds that her job isn’t going to be that simple. Everyone, it seems, in the house isn’t who they say they are. So Liz along with her team do lots of intelligence gathering. Liz finds the assignment sort of boring and lets her guard down, which almost gets her killed.

But in the end, Liz and her team (well, almost all of her team) are successful in keeping their Russian alive. But was that the real assignment? Or was it all a ruse (pun intended) for something even more villainous? You’ll have to read it to see.

Stella gives us lots of interesting insights into the sometimes monotonous assignments that MI5 agents must contend with. But she has a way of making the most boring surveillance or information gathering seem so fascinating and suspenseful. Much improved writing and plotting in her third outing.

Liz Carlyle MI5 Spy Novels

1. At Risk (2004)
2. Secret Asset (2007)
3. Illegal Action (2008)
4. Dead Line (2008/UK, 2010/US)
5. Present Danger (2009/UK, ????/US)

Publishers:

• Hutchinson, Random House UK, London. (2004-2008)
• Quercus, London. (Current)
• Knopf, Random House, New York.