Free Agent (Charnwood) - Hardcover

Duns, Jeremy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1847829163 ISBN 13: 9781847829160

Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd, 2009

Synopsis

For fans of John le Carré, a riveting spy thriller that spans two continents and probes the limits of loyalty and love

Jeremy Duns's lightning-paced debut introduces a morally complex and unforgettable agent named Paul Dark into the canon of espionage literature. In June 1945, Dark joins his father in a top-secret mission to hunt down and unofficially execute Nazi war criminals. Almost twenty-five years later, Dark is a seasoned agent for MI6 when a KGB officer turns up in Nigeria during the Biafran civil war wanting to defect. He claims to have details of a British double agent recruited by the Russians in Germany in 1945.

Knowing he's the chief suspect and now on the run from both MI6 and the KGB, Paul Dark heads toward Africa to find, confront, and, if necessary, kill the only woman he has ever loved, whom he has thought dead for the past twenty-four years. Free Agent is the spectacular story of one man's fight for survival and search for the truth about his father's death and his lover's betrayal.

About this title

Review

Amazon Exclusive: David Morrell Reviews Free Agent

Creator of Rambo and cofounder of the International Thrillers Writers organization, David Morrell is the New York Times bestselling author of the classic spy trilogy, The Brotherhood of the Rose, The Fraternity of the Stone, and The League of Night and Fog. He is considered by many to be the father of the modern action novel. His latest novel is The Shimmer.

If you're a fan of espionage novels, I hope it won‘t shock you when I say that some authors make the stuff up. They wouldn't know the difference between a dead drop and an ATM machine. If you mentioned "brush contact" to them, they'd think you were talking about a hike in the woods. The truth is, there's a strict discipline to being an operative: rules and codes of conduct and ways of talking that most outsiders don't understand.

I spent the bulk of my career learning about this world, at first from countless non-fiction books that were written by retired members of the community (another favored term), later from former operatives who were kind enough to teach me about what's known as tradecraft—among other things, those dead drops and brush contacts. Because of The Brotherhood of the Rose trilogy, I was admitted to the Association for Intelligence Officers as an honorary lifetime member.

All this is meant to make the point that I know a true espionage author when I see one. John le Carré is, of course, the master of all espionage writers, not only a talented author but a former member of British Intelligence. Robert Littell ( The Company) is another talented accurate espionage author.

And so is Jeremy Duns, whose Free Agent made me keep saying, "Yes, you got this right and that right." In fact, everything's right. An early scene in which a group of spymasters discuss a possible mole is impressively authentic.

Because the fine points of the "spy game" took place during the Cold War, Duns’s cleverly sets Free Agent in that period, specifically 1969, when British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, visited Nigeria during its harrowing civil war. East and West governments vied for control of the region. Espionage schemes were rampant. The main thrust of Duns' novel is an assassination plot against the prime minister, so if you're an action fan, you'll find plenty to your liking, but for my money, it's the true espionage details that kept me turning the pages of this remarkable novel.

(Photo © Jenifer Esperanza)

About the Author

Jeremy Duns is a journalist who grew up mainly in Africa and Asia. His work has been published in MOJO, The Independent, Time Out<./I>, and Japanese Playboy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1847829163
• ISBN 13: 9781847829160
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English