JUDAS 62: The gripping new spy action thriller featuring BOX 88 from the master of the 21st century spy novel (BOX 88, Book 2)

Product Information

I really enjoyed Box 88 but this one has a very slow start, it’s convoluted, gets bogged down in unnecessary background and it makes my head spin! He was educated at Eton College (1985-1989) and the University of Edinburgh (1990-1994), where he graduated with 1st Class Honours in English Literature. But Kite's mission soon goes wrong and he is left stranded in a hostile city with a former KGB officer on his trail.

The Spanish Game was described by The Times as one of the six finest spy novels of all time, alongside Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Funeral in Berlin and The Scarlet Pimpernel. When Evgeny Palatnik, a Soviet defector to the West is murdered in America with Novichok, Kite sets out to avenge him. The list is comprised of people Russia considers traitors and spies and the addition of Kite presents an opportunity to settle some scores form his past. I felt that this must be quite an exaggeration, having thought that Box 88 was one of the best spy novels I had read for a long time (and I read a lot of spy fiction).If you’re a little pickier about your spy novels, I would perhaps suggest trying Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon series (which I haven’t personally read yet but have heard good things about). A president with three wives and a penchant for porn actresses can be proclaimed by his supporters as a man of God. Kite's fight for survival takes him to Dubai, where he must confront the Russian secret state head on.

A bunch of additional characters introduced, and not enough time to get to know - or care - about them. It seems to me that there may be an interesting novel buried in here somewhere but Cumming needs a much stronger editor to tell him to cut out most of the irrelevant waffling and endless repetition. Cumming evokes a detailed and multi layered world of espionage, draws powerful characters and a dense atmosphere.The second book in the Box88 series takes the reader to Russia in 1993, where young Lockie Kite's task is to extract a chemical weapons specialist. I had to chuckle at this relatable tidbit: “a recycling bucket marked ‘supposedly saving the planet. The second half, in current times, as Lachlan plots revenge on a Russian involved in the first story is a little flat and entirely predictable. The past— Kite’s exfiltration of a valuable scientist from Russia— meets the present— a mission to frame a Russian FSB officer who has put out a bounty on Kite’s head for the past grievances. The current day plot , culminating in Dubai, referenced the recent Russian crimes in Salisbury and elsewhere eg the cases of Navalny , Lutvinenko .

So, nothing has really soured me on Cumming's talent, but the story/plot of Judas 62 was just sort of clunky and nothing even remotely like I'd envision from a true successor to Le Carre'. The story is bang up to date - and the author does not hold back on his messages of world greed and corruption. His characters are always well drawn, and his plots soundly constructed, and the book resonates with plausibility.If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Having made several working visits there, I’ve always felt that Dubai would make an excellent location for a thriller, for in real life the city is awash with intelligence officers from the West, Iran, Israel, Russia and other parts of the Middle East. The story is an absorbing mix of action and theory with an exciting cast of characters that makes this an addictive read.It devotes a large portion of the initial half of Judas 62 to the activities that resulted in Kite's spy name being placed on Judas.