The Third Betrayal - Softcover

Michael Hartland

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0722142056 ISBN 13: 9780722142059

Publisher: Sphere Books Limited, 1987

Synopsis

“Very impressive - for devious depth this one beats the band.” - THE OBSERVER

"Criss-crossed with treachery - a winner." - SUNDAY TIMES

“Hartland paints an intriguing portrait and creates convincing characters whose fate will hold readers spellbound. A nail-biting tale – it all rings true.” - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“There is a test for good spy story – is the plot credible and are the characters real people? Michael Hartland’s The Third Betrayal gets full marks on both counts. If somebody told me it was all true, I would believe it.” - TED ALLBEURY

“Booby-trapped with surprises – the ring of truth all the way.” - CHICAGO TRIBUNE

AFTER ALLEGATION & COUNTER-ALLEGATION, JUST WHO WAS BRITAIN’S FIFTH MAN?

The new master of the espionage novel probes a tantalizing secret.

In 1973, Sir Jack Carteret, Director-General of MI5, is buried in a lonely Somerset graveyard. Was he the traitor who laid bare his nation’s secrets to the Soviet Union? Or is there, as many believe, an agent or ring of agents still in place, silently revealing all to our deadliest enemy?

Thirteen years later, fear and suspicion are destroying British intelligence – and our vital ally the United States no longer trusts us. David Nairn of the Secret Intelligence Service is desperate to untangle the web of deception, violence and blackmail woven in Moscow forty years ago. Suddenly the defection of a young East German scientist could lead to the vital breakthrough – but first they must turn his mother, the elusive Sonia, a top ranking Soviet spy who ran Klaus Fuchs and the other atom bomb spies in the War, who is believed to have controlled the Fifth Man - and whose loyalty to Moscow is utterly unassailable. Nairn knows he must risk everything, including Sarah Cable’s life, to expose the most dangerous mole of all time.

About this title

About the Author:

Before taking up writing, Michael Hartland spent twenty years travelling widely in Europe and the Far East as a diplomat, then working in counter-terrorism and for the United Nations. He draws on this experience to describe the secret world of espionage with insight and great authenticity. His series of five espionage novels published in the 1980s and 90s established him as one of the leading thriller writers in Britain and the United States. They have been translated into twenty-seven European languages and Japanese – and remain among the most iconic, chilling and gripping spy novels ever published. Michael Hartland and his family live in Devon where, after a long gap, he is working on a new project inspired by contemporary Islamic terrorism.

From Publishers Weekly:

In this fast-moving thriller based on the real-life mystery concerning the identities of Soviet "moles" in British intelligencespecifically the "Fifth Man" in the celebrated Oxford-educated group of traitorsHartland has concocted a nail-biting tale featuring such real-life figures as Richard Sorge and Klaus Fuchs. When an East German scientist eager to defect turns out to be the son of a famous Mata Hari of the 1950s who may well know the identity of the mole, British intelligence creaks into action. How a young British spy-ette gets the old woman out of East Germany, and how spy master David Nairn discovers who is actually deceiving whom provide moments of terror and mystery. Hartland paints an intriguing portrait of a dedicated espionage agent whose emotions are repeatedly betrayed by her masters, and creates convincing characters whose fates will hold readers spellbound. Former diplomat and intelligence officer Hartland (Seven Steps to Treason) has the background to make it all ring true. Paperback rights to Berkley.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sphere Books Limited
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0722142056
• ISBN 13: 9780722142059
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224