The Poet's Game
The brand new spy thriller perfect for fans of David McCloskey (Alex Matthews 1)
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
'In The Poet's Game, Vidich confirms his place in the pantheon of the new generation of spy novelists. Once again, his elegant, finely developed characters add nuance and depth to a fast-paced story' Financial Times
'Vidich details political gamesmanship with an exactitude in the tradition of John le Carré, whose influence he ably honours' Irish Times
'We all have dreams and then we wake up.'
Alex Matthews thought he had left it all behind. His CIA career, the viper's den of bureaucracy at headquarters and the lies and stress of the cat and mouse game of double agents. But then the Director came asking for a favour.
Alex is a different man from when he had run Moscow station, where he recruited a network of 'poet spies' including the one he names BYRON. He has pieced his life back together after a tragic boating accident killed his wife and daughter but the scars remain. But Alex remains, in his mind, a patriot, and so he begrudgingly accepts the Director's request.
Something, though, is off about the whole operation from the start. The Russians seem one step ahead and the CIA suspects there is a traitor in the agency. Alex realizes that by getting back into the game he has risked everything he has worked for: his new marriage, his family's safety, his firm. As the noose tightens around Alex, and the FSB closes in, the operation becomes a hall of mirrors with no exits. To find redemption, Alex must uncover the secrets behind BYRON or lose everything.
Customer Reviews
The spy who came in from the hedge fund
The author was an American media executive before he turned his hand to espionage fiction. This, his seventh title, is the first with a contemporary setting. Not quite contemporary actually — mid-to-late 2010s to be exact — but close enough.
Mr V’s previous books have all been woven around actual historical events or people (CIA and FBI antTopcat), or something else really important. (Everyone talks in riddles.) Meanwhile, his second wife lives in Virginia and works at the Agency, but has a Russkieitates to Russian influence in the election of, and government by, POTUS 45, who is never named but is described as being orange at one stage. He can’t be the Donald though, because he’s also described drinking bourbon at one stage. Now I come to think about it, he didn’t actually drink the bourbon. He was just adjacent to a bottle of the stuff.
Be that as it may, our hero Alex used to head of the CIA station in Moscow, and is now doing extremely well thanks to his contrarian investments in Russia. His old mates at Langley want him to touch base with one of his contacts from back in the day (come name Byron, Keats and Shelley both being dead, or presumed so) who may or may not have important info on moles at the Agency, or the Prez (code name TopcTopcTopcat), or something else really important. (Everyone talks in riddles.)
Meanwhile, his second wife lives in Virginia and works at the Agency, but has a Russkie wife which he doesn’t find suspicious at all, at least he tries not to. His company is also under investigation by the FSB for financial shenanigans, but he goes back to Moscow anyway. Things don’t go well from there, yada, yada, prisoner exchange, the end.
Bottom line
Old fashioned Cold War espionage tale updated for there strange times we live in. Spoiler alert: nothing incriminating about orange man comes to light.