Charles Cumming

When Amelie Levene, who in six weeks is due to take over as the first female Chief of MI6, disappears without a trace while in the south of France, it is the gravest crisis MI6 has faced in more than a decade. Britain's top intelligence agents turn to one of their own: disgraced former MI6 officer Thomas Kell. The trail leads Kell to France and Tunisia, where he uncovers a shocking secret and a conspiracy that could have unimaginable repercussions for Britain and its allies.

Vol. 162.

411 pages ; 22 cm

Abandoned by MI6 after a disastrous operation, Milius has slowly rebuilt his life in Madrid. But he still has fatal weakness for deception and secrets, and it's an urge he is about to scratch when a prominent Spanish politician disappears in suspicious circumstances. Originally published: 2006.

"Thomas Kell thought he was done with spying. A former MI6 officer, he devoted his life to the Service, but it has left him with nothing but grief and a simmering anger against the Kremlin. Then Kell is offered an unexpected chance at revenge. Taking the law into his own hands, he embarks on a mission to recruit a top Russian spy who is in possession of a terrifying secret. As Kell tracks his man from Moscow to London, he finds himself in a high stakes game of cat and mouse in which it becomes increasingly difficult to know who is playing whom. As the mission reaches boiling point, the threat of a catastrophic terrorist attack looms over Britain. Kell is faced with an impossible choice. Loyalty to MI6--or to his own conscience?"--

"Christopher Keen, once a master spy, is murdered in cold blood. His sons Mark and Benjamin, though they hadn't seen their father for over twenty years, are now drawn into the legacy of his life as a spy as they set out to discover the truth and avenge their father's death. But as their search proceeds, more questions arise--is Christopher's death connected to his past life in MI6? Was his eldest son involved in a conspiracy that links him to Moscow, Afghanistan, and the Russian mafia? [The] author ... delivers a thriller that delves into the complicated double lives of spies, and what happens when their half-told secrets die with them"--

A top-ranking Iranian military official is blown up while trying to defect to the West. An investigative journalist is imprisoned for writing an article critical of the Turkish government. An Iranian nuclear scientist is assassinated in Tehran. Each had been recently recruited by Western intelligence. Then MI6's most senior agent in Turkey dies in a puzzling plane crash. Fearing the worst, MI6 brings disgraced agent Tom Kell in from the cold to investigate.