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A Novel
by Charles Cumming
Book Reviewed by:Alec Milius is young, smart, and ambitious. He also has a talent for deception. He is working in a dead-end job when a chance encounter leads him to MI6, the elite British Secret Intelligence Service, handing him an opportunity to play center-stage in a dangerous game of espionage. In his new line of work, Alec finds that the difference between the truth and a lie can mean the difference between life and death—and he is having trouble telling them apart.
This is what they told me a long time ago.
Only make contact in the event of an emergency.
Only telephone if you believe that your position has been fatally compromised.
Under no circumstances are you to approach us unless it is absolutely necessary in order to preserve the security of the operation.
This is the number.
Alec Milius is young, smart, and ambitious. He also has a talent for deception. He is working in a dead-end job when a chance encounter leads him to MI6, the elite British Secret Intelligence Service, handing him an opportunity to play center-stage in a dangerous game of espionage.
In his new line of work, Alec finds that the difference between the truth and a lie can mean the difference between life and death—and he is having trouble telling them apart. Isolated and exposed, he must play a role in which the slightest glance or casual remark can seem heavy with unintended menace. Caught between British and American Intelligence, Alec finds himself threatened and alone, unable to confide in even his closest friend. His life as a spy begins to exact a terrible price, both on himself and on those around him.
Richly atmospheric and chillingly plausible, A Spy By Nature announces the arrival of British author Charles Cumming as heir apparent to masters like John le Carré and Len Deighton. A bestseller in England, it’s the gripping story of a young man driven by ruthless ambition who finds himself chasing not just success, but survival.
Chapter One
An Exploratory Conversation
The door leading into the building is plain and unadorned, save for one
highly polished handle. No sign outside saying foreign and commonwealth office,
no hint of top brass. There is a small ivory bell on the right-hand side, and I
push it. The door, thicker and heavier than it appears, is opened by a
fit-looking man of retirement age, a uniformed policeman on his last assignment.
“Good afternoon, sir.”
“Good afternoon. I have an interview with Mr. Lucas at two o’clock.”
“The name, sir?”
“Alec Milius.”
“Yes, sir.”
This almost condescending. I have to sign my name in a book and then he hands
me a security dog tag on a silver chain, which I slip into the hip pocket of my
suit trousers.
“Just take a seat beyond the stairs. Someone will be down to see you in a
moment.”
The wide, high-ceilinged hall beyond the reception area exudes all the
...
A well-researched novel with a surprisingly exciting and unexpected ending, which illuminates the decidedly unglamorous world of industrial espionage...continued
Full Review
(573 words)
(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
Boris Starling, author of Vodka and Messiah
Who among us has never dreamed of being a spy? Charles Cumming takes this conceit and runs with it, pitching his everyman hero Alec Milius into ever-widening circles of betrayal and deceit. But Milius is no ersatz James Bond and there are no amphibious cars or exploding pens in sight, and the book is all the better for it. Cumming writes beautifully, equally at home with the broad brushstrokes of international geopolitics as he is with the finer dabs of nuance and subtlety .... It would be accurate but patronising to call this an excellent debut novel. It is an excellent novel full stop. Robert Harris, author of Pompeii and Enigma
A wonderfully assured first novel. It has the ring of absolute authenticity. Tautly written, cleverly plotted...it reminded me strongly of the early books of John le Carré.According toSIS's informative website, a formal and permanent British intelligence service was first established in 1909; but the history of British intelligence organizations engaged in foreign intelligence goes back at least to the 15th century (Thomas Cromwell ran secret agents in Europe on behalf of Henry VIII and Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I's "spymaster", maintained a network of 50 secret agents abroad and a substantial network in Britain.
The first head of the Service was Captain Sir Mansfield Cumming RN (no relation to Charles), who signed himself "MC" or "C" in green ink. This began the tradition of the head of the Service adopting the initial 'C' as his symbol (the inspiration for James Bond's 'M'). During World War I, the ...
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