Monday 12 May 2008

Spy novel

Finished May 10
At Risk by Stella Rimington
This one had been on my list for a while, and I finally got around to it. Rimington used to head up Britain's MI5, so I was interested to see her take on the spy novel. Her main character is a woman, Liz Carlyle, who is an intelligence officer with MI5. Liz has been doing fairly well at her job, although it has necessitated making some sacrifices in her personal life. She knows that she is good at her job and she feels that this is where she should be, so making those sacrifices is part of the price she is willing to pay. In this first novel, Liz is brought in on a case where there is suspected terrorism. One of her former contacts has come back to her rather than his current minder, and she goes with her gut on the followup to his information. This necessitates working with the police as well as MI6, and she is never sure that MI6 is telling her everything they know. She also doesn't particularly like the MI6 agent that she must work with. She is a strong woman who doesn't let herself be pushed around, and knows the value of her own intelligence. She treats her contacts well. I really liked her as a character. I enjoyed the book with all its twists and turns and will look for the others that Rimington has written.

1 comment:

  1. This does sound good! I am a fan of the TV show MI-5 (Spooks), although I think I've only seen the first three three seasons. I think of the show anytime I see mention of MI-5 (hence why I mention it here). I'll definitely have to look out for this one.

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