WOW! DOUBLE WOW! This is an amazing and intriguing spy novel. This story rivals any James Bond book or movie. Matthew Dunn is a former M16 Field Officer - a spy - writing under his own name. Is it brave or just plain stupid? Once a spy - always a spy. He has probably lived through all the missions he sends our hero on.
Spycatcher
by Matthew Dunn
Harper Collins
August 2011
Will Cochrane is an MI6 Field Agent for the British Intelligence Service. He is the best there is. He is SPARTAN - one talked about but never seen. He is half-English and half-American. He can start and end wars; he is the West's deadliest and most secret weapon. Will lost his father at the age of 16. He was never sure what his father did for a living, but he was gone a lot. One day he left and never returned. The rumor was that he was killed in an accident. A few years later his mother was brutally assaulted and murdered. Will joined the French Foreign Legion and became part of the elite Groupment des Commandos Parachutists. Leaving the Legend he attended Cambridge.
One day Will is approached by a stranger who wants to recruit him into the Intelligence Service. Will has nothing to lose and went along with the plan. Will is a risk taking individual - he will do anything to get the job done. He is on an assignment in New York. He is to gather information from one of his double agent informants - an Armenian Operative. The mission goes horribly wrong, he is forced to kill his informant to save his secrets, and Will himself is seriously injured. He wakes up to find himself in a make-shift hospital far below ground. Has he been captured by the enemy or is he with his own people? A stranger approaches him - an American. His name is Patrick and he is a CIA Operative. Will's Controller - Alistair - has sent Patrick to give Will's his new assignment. He is to find the Head of the Western Directorate who Intelligence has learned is planning a huge massacre - committing genocide - either in England or the United States. No one has ever seen this man; don't know what he looks like or where he can be found.
Will learns that his father's death was no accident. He was captured, tortured and murdered by this same man. One of the Agency's informants may have a lead as to where the man can be found and possibly a person who could help. Will learns that a young women - Lana Beseisu - knew the officer several years ago and he goes by the name of MEGIDDO. He recruits her to help him locate his prey. Lana is being followed by a group of Armenian agents. Will and his team must dispose of the agents and keep Lana safe. She contacts the Armenian Embassy and leaves a letter for MEGIDDO. After several letters going back and forth he agrees to meet with her. This is where things really start to heat up and become mind boggling. MEGIDDO always seems to be a step ahead of Will and his team.
One must read the book to see if Will actually captures MEGIDDO. Does he prevent the genocide or does he die trying to save the world? Is Lana on the up and up or is she secretly working with MEGIDDO?
Highly recommended. This is one of the best spy novels I have ever read. Not since Ian Fleming and James Bond has a book ever been written that covers the secret agent mystique so realistically. The book is definitely a keeper.
