A Divided Spy

Thomas Kell is on his way to meet to meet an old acquaintance from MI5. Harold Mowbray tells him that he has important information that could discredit Alexander Minasian of the Russian SVR in the eyes of Moscow. Kell is burning to get his revenge on Minasian whom he regards as responsible for his girlfriend’s death. It turns out that the information relates to Minasian’s alleged homosexuality – something that would condemn him in the eyes of his Russian masters – and what Mowbray is suggesting is that Kell could use this against him. It is a suggestion he is eager to accept, such is his loathing for Minasian.

This is the third outing for MI6 officer Thomas Kell, although, following the ending of A Colder War, it would be more correct to describe him as ex-MI5. His marriage to Claire has failed and Rachel Wallinger, with whom he had hoped to begin a new life, has been murdered in Moscow. Nor can he take any consolation from his career accomplishments because those regions of the world in which he has spent most of his adult life – Russia, Syria, Yemen and beyond – are now in total chaos.

When he decides to act on the information Mowbray supplies he knows that he is not necessarily going to have the backing of Amelia Laverne the Head of MI6, but he doesn’t allow that to stop him. It seems to the reader at this point that Kell’s revenge and the way it is achieved are going to be the main plot features. Cumming, however, is not as predictable as that and when Kell finds, having confronted Minasian, that he holds vital information, ideas of revenge are set aside, although he never feels that he can be entirely trusted. This decision is the beginning of a well-connected sub-plot which grips the reader until its climax and justifies the description of the book as a thriller.

Cumming is not afraid to spend time reflecting on the life of the spy and not only that of Kell. He is no James Bond, although when the necessity for action arrives he is equal to it. He feels, however, that whilst he can justify his profession on moral grounds, in the end it is destructive of him as a human being and frequently involves what can only be described as betrayal. To a lesser degree Amelia and Minasian share the same view and it is a constant theme in the book.

Cumming is a thoughtful writer who succeeds in making his characters completely believable. Much more Le Carré than Fleming, he seeks to give an authentic picture of the secret agent and the world he inhabits. Of course, it is still fiction, but the triumph is that the reader, carried along by a totally believable story, doesn’t regard it as such.