A Colder War meets all the qualities of a good yarn - Russian spies pitted against their British and United States counterparts. Included are a beautiful woman whose father dies in mysterious circumstances while on service to MI5. Also featuring prominently are a handsome self-opinionated US spy who may or not be a bad guy, and a grumpy but effective female head of Britain's top spy agency, in the mould of Dame Judi Dench's M in the James Bond movies.
The main male character is a disgraced spy searching for redemption. No surprise there. Turkey is the main theatre of spying, also no surprise.
In fact, the book holds no surprises but it does include a few twists. The book has all the elements needed in a spy thriller.
It is a fine read and Cumming is clever enough to wrap up the plot but leave one thing unfinished. A sequel will be more than welcome.
- Dene Mackenzie is ODT business and political editor.
