Grove Press
Atlantic Monthly Press
Atlantic Monthly Press
From British journalist and bestselling author, Tom Bradby, a sequel to Secret Service that pushes senior MI6 agent Kate Henderson to her limits as she tries to unmask the Russian spy holding the nation’s highest office
Kidnapped in Venice by a Russian defector, Kate knows she’s in trouble. But when he offers her conclusive evidence that the British Prime Minister is a live agent working for Moscow, Kate’s holiday quickly becomes the start of her next mission.
The defector has proof of the PM involved in a sordid scandal—a video supposedly used to blackmail him into Russian service decades prior—and a financial paper trail that undeniably links him to the Russians, but his motives are anything but clear. Riddled with doubt that the evidence she is presented with may not in fact be as bulletproof as it seems, Kate reopens the investigation into the PM. As she works through the case, Kate runs up against key people at the heart of the British Establishment who refuse to acknowledge the reality in front of them. And, more worryingly, clear signs that there’s still a mole in her department.
But Kate had already identified and eradicated the mole, codenamed Viper. Could she have been mistaken? And could this horrifying video be a fake, produced by the Russians to sabotage British democracy?
These questions plague Kate as she tries to keep it together for her children and ailing mother, steadily losing sleep and, she fears, her sanity. This mission will push Kate dangerously close to the edge as she continues her relentless fight for the truth.
“The character of Kate is terrific. She’s honest, brave and whip smart . . . If any of you are missing the Cold War espionage novels of the 1970s and 1980s, this series is for you.”—Deadly Pleasures Magazine
“Bradby masterfully combines textured psychological drama with a rip-roaring plot that boasts several dizzying switchbacks along the way to a genuinely shocking conclusion.”—Booklist (starred review)
“Engrossing . . . The tantalizingly ambiguous ending will leave the reader wondering what’s in store for Kate. Bradby does a fine job balancing the professional with the personal.”—Publishers Weekly
“Kate’s quest has plenty of scope for a third volume . . . Bradby’s fans will welcome his heroine’s return.”—Kirkus Reviews
“An enjoyably labyrinthine tale with a light touch and the odd naughty satirical echo.”—Sunday Express
“Bradby’s portrayal of squabbling Whitehall folk continues to be intriguing and distinctive (and piquantly naughty, coming as it does from ITV’s chief anchorman).”—Sunday Times
“A high-paced thriller.”—Radio Times
“Zips along like a big, breaking news story.”—The Sun
“A gripping thriller.”—Sunday Times (UK), on Secret Service
“There are resonant echoes of le Carré here—in the way the betrayals reach from marriage beds to the seats of governments—but there is also a distinctly contemporary feeling in the idea that truth, even when it’s discoverable, may no longer matter.”—Booklist (starred review), on Secret Service
“Cracking, uber-topical spy thriller… Bradby deftly works in current fears of Moscow infiltrating our institutions amid a plot full of twists and turns.”—Financial Times, on Secret Service
“The author reveals a rarely seen facet of secret agents: the domestic side. Not a clichéd Jane Bond, Kate is a mother to two teenagers, daughter to a spiteful mother sliding into dementia, and wife to a civil servant who may be working for a traitor. Ops go sideways, betrayals abound, and good people die. Bradby keeps the reader guessing to the last. Fans of cerebral spycraft in the vein of le Carré will enjoy this outing.”—Publishers Weekly, on Secret Service
“Enthralling and fast-moving…packed with details of modern tradecraft in the twilight world of spooks, against a background of politics at its most Machiavellian, it is the stuff headlines are made of.”—Daily Mail, on Secret Service
“Teems with twists and the denouement is imaginative and unexpected.”—Times (UK) , on Secret Service
“A strong dose of international politics with an all-too-plausible premise.”—Observer, on Secret Service
“An excellent thriller straight out of today’s headlines…a fast, riveting yarn.”—Sun, on Secret Service
“Atmospheric and richly entertaining. . . Political intrigue of the highest order.”—Washington Post, on The White Russian
“Bradby has the talent of a reporter but the heart of a storyteller.”—Daily Mail, on The God of Chaos
“A race-against-the-clock thriller and a complex psychological drama.”—Irish Independent, on The Sleep of the Dead
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