From #1 international bestseller Ian Rankin, an unlucky spy gets one last chance at redemption.
Miles Flint is a spy who has been making some serious mistakes. His last assignment led to the death of a foreign official in London, and after getting too close to his current subject he wound up in police custody. But something is wrong at the agency that has nothing to do with Miles' errors. Why did his last suspect know more about Miles' assignment than Miles did? Why have so many operatives recently resigned? Despite the Director's assurances, Miles begins his own investigation, to the dismay of his colleagues and even his own wife. Then Miles is sent to Belfast on a routine mission, a mission that confirms his darkest suspicions--and threatens his life.
Londoner Miles Flint is in a slump--things are not good at home or at the office. He is a mid-career surveillance officer for MI5--a "watchman"--and he has just bungled what should have been a simple assignment. Inquisitive by nature, Miles suspects something has gone awry in his unit and so begins his own internal investigation. As Miles gets closer to a nerve center, he starts to worry the people in command. When Miles is sent to Northern Ireland to oversee the arrest of two IRA terrorists, he is totally unprepared for the crazy events that transpire. A passive observer by trade, Miles is plunged into danger and has to tap resources he did not even know he possessed. Parallel to this story is Miles's attempt to rekindle romance with his wife, who has drifted away from him. This compact, well-written, and fast-paced espionage novel is sure to please readers of the genre. - Maria A. Perez-Stable, West ern Michigan Univ. Libs., Kalamazoo Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
From #1 international bestseller Ian Rankin, an unlucky spy gets one last chance at redemption.
Miles Flint is a spy who has been making some serious mistakes. His last assignment led to the death of a foreign official in London, and after getting too close to his current subject he wound up in police custody. But something is wrong at the agency that has nothing to do with Miles' errors. Why did his last suspect know more about Miles' assignment than Miles did? Why have so many operatives recently resigned? Despite the Director's assurances, Miles begins his own investigation, to the dismay of his colleagues and even his own wife. Then Miles is sent to Belfast on a routine mission, a mission that confirms his darkest suspicions--and threatens his life.
From Publishers Weekly
Fans of Rankin's Inspector Rebus series (The Naming of the Dead, etc.) will welcome the U.S. publication of his second novel, a stand-alone spy thriller from 1988 that contains Rebus-like elements. Miles Flint has been a successful middle manager in the shadowy ranks of British intelligence until recent mistakes, including a botched surveillance of an Arab assassin, put his career and reputation in jeopardy. Suspecting that the killer evaded him because of a tip from one of his own, Miles launches his own mole hunt, casting himself in a role that's uncomfortably active for him—especially as his search leads back to his wife, Sheila. And Miles's doings seemingly strike a nerve within the organization, getting him dispatched on a perilous IRA bombing-related mission. Rankin creates plausible and fascinating characters in a manner that seems effortless (as in Miles's tic of comparing people to different kinds of beetles). While the elements of the denouement will strike some as gimmicky, it's clear that if Rankin had devoted his gifts to spy fiction rather than mysteries, he would still have been a hit.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Library Journal
Londoner Miles Flint is in a slump--things are not good at home or at the office. He is a mid-career surveillance officer for MI5--a "watchman"--and he has just bungled what should have been a simple assignment. Inquisitive by nature, Miles suspects something has gone awry in his unit and so begins his own internal investigation. As Miles gets closer to a nerve center, he starts to worry the people in command. When Miles is sent to Northern Ireland to oversee the arrest of two IRA terrorists, he is totally unprepared for the crazy events that transpire. A passive observer by trade, Miles is plunged into danger and has to tap resources he did not even know he possessed. Parallel to this story is Miles's attempt to rekindle romance with his wife, who has drifted away from him. This compact, well-written, and fast-paced espionage novel is sure to please readers of the genre.
- Maria A. Perez-Stable, West ern Michigan Univ. Libs., Kalamazoo
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.