Legacy
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4.3 • 17 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
A powerful Cold War thriller in the tradition of John le Carré from the acclaimed author of A Breed of Heroes
Charles Thoroughgood, hero of Alan Judd's classic A Breed of Heroes, has left the army to be trained by MI6 in the arts of the Cold War.
Nothing could prepare him, however, for the unexpected inheritance left him by his late father, which leads him back into an old school friendship with Viktor, a Russian diplomat living in London, and beyond that into the murky world of Soviet espionage at the height of the nuclear threat to the West.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cold War espionage turns into a twisted family affair in Judd's new novel (after the Guardian fiction prize winner The Devil's Own Work). This intelligent spy thriller, set in the 1970s, begins when fledgling British agent Charles Thoroughgood receives an assignment: he is to persuade his former Oxford classmate, Viktor Koslov, now a liaison at the Soviet Embassy and apparently an undercover operative, to defect. But before he can do it, Koslov stuns him with the revelation that Thoroughgood's late father, an engineer who also had a military career, was working as a KGB agent. Torn between his loyalties to his father and MI6, Thoroughgood refuses the payment that Koslov offers him for his father's years of service and decides to reveal his father's duplicity to his superiors and continue with the Koslov project. As his relationship with Koslov intensifies, Thoroughgood mentions a secret MI5 arms initiative to Koslov, defying his superiors' explicit instructions. Thoroughgood's cagey boss asks him to resign, but convinces him to continue his efforts to turn Koslov. By now, Koslov has aroused the suspicions of the KGB by having an affair with a London prostitute who works for British intelligence. The suspense mounts as the Brits try to save Koslov from the Russians, and the breathless finale reveals a writer with a distinctive flair for the genre. Judd, who had a career in the British Foreign Office, is not yet up with the best of them when it comes to getting inside the head of his young spy, but the portraits are entertaining and credible. This espionage thriller is a standout.
Customer Reviews
Thoroughly enjoyable spy romp
If you are looking to while away a wet weekend or a long haul flight this is a thoroughly enjoyable way of passing the time. It's not the most sophisticated read but equally it is not unintelligent either. Likeable characters, nicely paced, enough twists to keep you interested but not overly demanding. Will certainly seek this author out again.