A Deniable Death by Gerald Seymour

Abigail Jones, aka Alpha Juliette, is an MI6 agent in Iraq. She develops some sources across the border in Iran that help her identify the engineer who is developing the sophisticated IEDs that are causing so much death and injury to allied troops in Iraq and Afganistan. She also learns that the engineer’s wife is seriously ill and will be travelling to seek medical expertise outside Iran. If MI6 knows where they will be travelling then they can “interdict” the engineer with help from the Americans and the Israelis.

But the sources inside Iran are killed and so an alternative method of finding out the destination is needed. The decision is made to send in two experts in CROP - Covert Rural Observation Posts. They will set up position near the engineer’s house and listen with a microphone for the all important destination.

The two men picked are nicknamed Badger and Foxy. They have never worked together before and take an instant dislike to each other. Badger is young and has a natural talent for the role of a “croppie”.Foxy is older, more experienced and most importantly he knows Farsi.

However Foxy is also a little full of his own self importance. For example as he lies in the hide he imagines working the experience into an anecdote in his next lecture.

The novel describes their covert entry into Iran and vividly describes their experiences in the mosquito ridden marshes as they wait, watching and listening for any hint of where the engineer and his wife will be travelling. Across the border Abigail Jones waits with her protection team to help extract Badger and Foxy as curious locals edge closer.

In typical Seymour fashion the “opposition” are not faceless and evil. We get to know the engineer, his wife and their security “goon” Mansoor. We get to know the motivations of each and sympathize a little despite their actions.

Gerald Seymour routinely turns out high quality work but every now and then one of the books is exceptional. I think this is one of the exceptional ones. The final section of the book is agonisingly tense.

The book is bookended by descriptions of repatriations of British service personnel through the town of Wootton Bassett. In another author’s hands the passages would feel like extraneous material inserted for their topicality. It’s hard to imagine this book without them.

New covers for Sharpe 30th Anniversary

I've just spotted some of these new Sharpe editions down in my local Waterstones. (Amazon have the relase date as 15 September so I guess they are jumping the gun.)

It's 30 years since Bernard Cornwell's first Richard Sharpe novel, Sharpe's Eagle, was published. To mark the occasion HarperCollins are releasing new paperbacks with a retro nineteenth century design.

I'm a big fan of the Gino d'Achille and David Scutt art on the covers of previous editions but I quite like the new design.

A Deniable Death out now

A Deniable Death is officially out today in hardback and trade paperback editions. I actually saw the softcover edition a week ago in Easons but decided to hold on for a week to get the hardcover edition, especially since both versions are identically priced.

Tesco are offering the hardback edition for £8, which is where I got my copy. I suspect Asda and Sainsburys will also be selling the book but I have not had a chance to check yet.

Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard

Just published is another movie tie-in from an author I've been meaning to read, namely Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard.

This is actually a collection of some Conan short stories "personally selected by the makers of the new film and the greatest Robert E. Howard scholars". In any case it should prove to be a good introduction to the character.

The book features some movie art on the cover.

The movie itself stars Jason Momoa, following in Arnold's footsteps, as Conan. I know him from Stargate Atlantis which was a favourite TV show of mine. Here's another of the movie posters designs.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carre

I must confess that I have yet to read any of John le Carre's novels. I'll make a special effort to read his Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which is being reissued to tie-in with the new movie staring Gary Oldman as George Smiley.

The paperback is due out on 4 August 2011.

Olen Steinhauer Kindle bargains

Just a quick note about a couple of bargains I found on Amazon UK's Kindle store, namely Olen Steinhauer's The Nearest Exit and the spy story collection Agents of Treachery for just 99p each.

www.amazon.co.uk

Bloodmoney by David Ignatius

Recently I read the new hardcover novel by David Ignatius, Bloodmoney, and thought it worth a mention here. Ignatius is perhaps best known for his novel Body of Lies as it was made into a movie by Ridley Scott a few years ago.

Bloodmoney is a present-day thriller, mainly dealing with the relationship between the American and Pakistani intelligence agencies. The plot deals with a secret off-shoot of the CIA that is sending off-the-books agents into Pakistan to bribe local warlords to stay out of the fight. Somehow the agents are being identified and picked off one by one.

Sophie Marx is given the job of tracking down the leak or mole responsible for blowing the identities of the agents. Along the way she discovers the unusual method being used to fund the bribery operation.

As a nice departure from the norm, the main "villain" is not some crazed terrorist looking to destroy the west. He's a university professor who's family was killed in a US drone attack and he is trying to balance the scales a little.

Overall the book was an entertaining enough read. I'm not a big fan of what I call "da Vinci Clones" and serial killer books so it's nice that there are still some authors out there writing espionage thrillers.