A Divided Spy

A Sunday Times top ten bestseller perfect for fans of John le Carré, from the winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller of the Year and ‘the master of the modern spy thriller’ (Mail on Sunday).

Thomas Kell thought he was done with spying. A former MI6 officer, he devoted his life to the Service, but all it has left him with is grief and a simmering anger against the Kremlin.

Then Kell is offered an unexpected chance at revenge. Taking the law into his own hands, he embarks on a mission to recruit the Russian spy he blames for the murder of his girlfriend.

Kell tracks his nemesis from Kiev to London, but soon finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse in which it becomes increasingly difficult to know who is playing whom.

Reviews

Praise for A Divided Spy:

‘A gripping psychological clash of wills, tactics and morals … Kell’s third appearance confirms him as one of the most interesting and sympathetic characters in the spy thriller field’ The Times

‘Breathtaking . . . suspenseful . . . Kell brings a note of grace to the treacherous world of the spy novel’ Washington Post

‘A magnetic tale of the New Cold War: not since George Smiley trapped Karla have we seen such a delicious recruitment between East and West’ Jason Matthews, New York Times bestselling author of Palace of Treason

‘A clever spy thriller combining believable spycraft, deft characterisation and acute psychological observation’ Ben Macintyre

‘Agent Kell is hell-bent on revenge ― but his quest ends up endangering Britain’s national security. Classic spy fiction at its best’ New York Post, “Must Reads”

‘The spies’ shifting psychological duel is riveting … deftly coupled with a topical subplot’ Sunday Times

‘Thomas Kell has become one of the most interesting and well-drawn spies in contemporary literature – a man who deserves to be spoken in the same breath as George Smiley … Delicately written, with Cumming’s customary subtle humour, it confirms him as le Carré’s heir’ Daily Mail

‘Wonderful stuff – Charles Cumming is the one true heir to John Le Carré and Ian Fleming. Nobody documents life in the shadows quite as brilliantly as Charles Cumming – the new spymaster on the block’ Tony Parsons, author of The Murder Bag

‘A clever, believable spy thriller by a man dubbed the heir to John le Carré’ Sun

About the author

Charles Cumming was born in Scotland in 1971. Shortly after university he was approached for recruitment by the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), an experience that inspired his first novel, A Spy by Nature. He has written several bestselling thrillers, including A Foreign Country, which won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller and the Bloody Scotland Crime Book of the Year. He lives in London.