The Wayward Spy

We rated this book:

$14.95


Journalist Michael Vaux is all set to retire in England after decades of living abroad. He has his dream home all picked out, right across the street from his boyhood home complete with a stunning view of unspoiled fields in the back. However, the fates seem to be against him, and his real estate agent informs him that he is in a bidding war for his dream house.

As the price goes up and Vaux worries if his nest egg will be enough, he is given a unique opportunity to serve his country. MI3, the CIA of the United Kingdom, makes him an offer he can’t refuse, thanks to the promise of easy money. Vaux is supposed to get back in touch with an old college friend to find out the details of an arms deal between Russia and Syria while he attends a peace conference in Geneva.

Should be easy right? Go on an all-expense-paid trip to Geneva, chat up an old friend, somehow sneak a peek at an agreement that portends to disrupt peace in the Middle East and, oh yeah, don’t get caught. How many of us have ever wondered if we have what it takes to become a spy?

Vaux learns that being a spy is a lot more complicated than we all thought. First off, there is the whole cover identity thing, then there is the ethical dilemmas of friendship, the never really being sure where your loyalty lies, and don’t forget the women who fall into your bed.

Croft has developed a complex plot to surround a man that just sort of stumbles into being a spy. Vaux is your everyday man, thinking about his life slowing down and fulfilling the dreams that many of us have of our retirement, then suddenly life careens out of control in ways that he never could have imagined. It is all seems a bit surreal to Vaux until he finds himself being held hostage in the Russian Embassy and being sent off to Morocco.

Set in the early 1990s, The Wayward Spy takes the best of spy novels from the likes of Le Carre and kicks it up a notch. You can’t help but see yourself in Vaux, like him, or laugh at the foibles that being a spy entails, and you surely won’t want to miss the end of his adventures. Wayward this spy might be, but I found that I couldn’t put the book down.


Reviewed By:

Author
Star Count 5/5
Format Trade
Page Count 394 pages
Publisher CreateSpace
Publish Date 30-Aug-2010
ISBN 9781450590204
Bookshop.org Buy this Book
Issue February 2011
Category Mystery, Crime, Thriller
Share

Reviews

There are no reviews yet.

Be the first to review “The Wayward Spy”

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.