'Secrets and regrets, ambition and venality. I have seldom come across a novel so redolent of le Carre.' Charles Cumming London, mid-1970s. A sweltering July in Whitehall, and for Will Flemyng, foreign office minister, the temperature rises with each passing hour. A mysterious death exposes secret passions in government, and a political crisis draws him into a familiar world of danger and deceit. Flemyng has a past. Trained as a spy to live with secrets, he is alone again. In the course of one long weekend, friendships face destruction and all his loyalties are put to the test. His hazardous journey takes him to old battlefields and the dark places where London and Washington do their most secret business, in an era brought brilliantly to life by a writer steeped in the story of Flemyng's world. From one of our best-known BBC broadcasters comes a sophisticated thriller about loyalty, survival and family rivalry deep in the Cold War, drawing on decades of experience as a political insider in Westminster and Washington. 'Hugely satisfying... Grips from the first page to the last.' Kate Mosse 'Addictive. The reader has to piece together a drip-feed of clues.' Independent 'A slow-burning, cerebral and gripping thriller which fuses the entwined professions of politics and espionage.' Herald

The second instalment in James Naughtie's spy series, woven around three brothers bound together forever through espionage and set in the endgame of the Cold War.

About the Author
James Naughtie is a special correspondent for BBC News, for which he has reported from around the world. He presented Today on BBC Radio 4 for 21 years. This his third novel, and his most recent book is an account of five decades of travel and work in the United States - On the Road: American Adventures from Nixon to Trump. He lives in Edinburgh and London.

Reviews
A sophisticated and hugely satisfying thriller that grips from the first page to the last. A tour de force -- Kate Mosse
Good writing, vivid scene-setting and knowledgable descriptions from an insider at ease in the corridors of power * Literary Review *
The book itself is tight lipped; the reader has to piece together a drip-feed of clues - and the process becomes addictive * The Independent *
Fast-paced... full of intriguing insights, from a man with 30 years' experience of the corridors of power' * Daily Mail *
Complex and psychologically detailed, I have seldom come across a novel so redolent of le Carre's milieu and technique... an evocative and eloquent novel' -- Charles Cumming
A clever, intelligent story by someone who knows the territory intimately * Spectator *
A slow-burning, cerebral and gripping thriller which fuses the entwined professions of politics and espionage * The Herald *
A complex spy novel which comes with all the convincing insider knowledge you'd expect... He has a gift for colourful images and smoke screen writing which sustains the tension' * Independent on Sunday *
A lot of fun... Let's hope we hear more of Will Flemying' * Evening Standard *



Book Information
ISBN 9781781856024
Author James Naughtie
Format Paperback
Page Count 400
Imprint Head of Zeus
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC