'Five stars. One of the best books I've read in a
very, very long time' James O'Brien, LBC
'This is first class' The Times
'A highly accomplished novel from a new writer of
great promise' Financial Times
'What this novel shows is how powerful a book can be
when the writer looks the country straight in the face and writes about what
they see. Le Carré used to be very good at doing that... Now Charles Beaumont
has done it, too' Private Eye #1615
‘A marvellously confident debut, sharply observed and
exceptionally well written’ Charles Cumming, author of Box 88
Everyone
knows about the Cambridge Spies from the Fifties, identified and broken up
after passing national secrets to the Soviets for years. But no spy ring was
ever unearthed at Oxford. Because one never existed? Or because it was never
found…?
2022:
Former spy Simon Sharman is eking out a living in the private sector. When a
commission to delve into the financial dealings of a mysterious Russian
oligarch comes across his desk, he jumps at the chance.
But as
Simon investigates, worrying patterns begin to emerge. His subject made regular
trips to Oxford, but for no apparent reason. There are payments from offshore
accounts that suddenly just… stop.
Has he
found what none of his former colleagues believed possible, a Russian spy ring
now nestled at the heart of the British Establishment? Or is he just another
paranoid ex-spook left out in the cold, obsessed with redemption?
From
Oxford’s hallowed quadrangles to brush contacts on Hampstead Heath,
agent-running in Vienna and mysterious meetings in Prague, A Spy Alone is a
gripping international thriller and a searing portrait of modern Britain in the
age of cynical populism. Perfect for readers of Charles Cumming, Mick Herron
and John le Carré.
Praise for A Spy Alone
'Beaumont
is at the forefront of the espionage genre, capturing the changing nature of
intelligence: soft influence and business deals are overtaking stolen secrets;
long-term insinuation is replacing Cold-War tradecraft. Brilliant' I. S. Berry,
author of The Peacock and the Sparrow
'The
best spy novel I’ve read for years... An astonishing debut... and a brilliant
portrait of how Britain allowed Russia to game our recent politics, including
with Brexit' Luke Harding, author of Invasion: Russia's Bloody War and
Ukraine's Fight for Survival
'A
post-Brexit take on the classic British spy novel, combining a cynical ex-spy
protagonist and a major role for Bellingcat-OSINT types' Shashank Joshi,
Defence Editor, The Economist
'Beaumont
... catches the zeitgeist of (le Carré) .... He conveys all the world of
espionage with relish, in its murky motives and surveillance techniques and the
book races along and makes for a stunning debut' Maxim Jakubowski, Crime Time
'A
clever, thrilling spy story that brings the feel of Eric Ambler's shadowy
political intrigues right into today's world' Jeremy Duns, author of Free Agent
‘Tense,
compelling and remarkably timely... Shades of some of the greats of spy fiction
– it might even be better than Charles Cumming’ Dominick Donald, author of
Breathe
‘Beaumont
takes the intrigue, atmosphere and subterfuge of the Cambridge Spies and brings
it bang up to date with a what-if tale of an Oxford spy ring at the service of
modern-day populist politicians and malevolent regimes. Chilling’ Chris Lloyd,
author of The Unwanted Dead
Publisher:
Canelo
ISBN:
9781804364789
Number of
pages: 336
Dimensions:
198 x 129 x 20 mm
Best new thrillers — spies, plot twists and
sky-high adventure
Adam LeBor
https://www.ft.com/content/d574fb09-f201-4e9f-928c-d3080b0bf087
(…) “So is
Charles Beaumont’s debut A Spy Alone (Canelo £9.99). Simon Sharman, a former
MI6 operative, is scraping by as a consultant in the private sector. But when
he’s asked to investigate a shadowy Russian oligarch, something much bigger
looms: a possible spy ring buried deep inside Oxford university.
The author
— writing under a pen name — is a former MI6 officer, who spent two decades
working undercover in war zones and international business, and the precisely
engineered story feels authentic, from Sharman’s time at Oxford (where he
learnt the skills of “watching, imitating and role-playing”) to his complex
relationship with Vasya, a veteran of Russia’s GRU military intelligence
service.
Beaumont is
suitably cutting about the British ruling class’s hunger for dirty money. When
Vasya sets up in Geneva as an information broker, he is soon overwhelmed with
British clients swarming “into the shadiest corners of the Russian economy like
bees to honey”. This is a highly accomplished novel from a new writer of great
promise.”
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