The Shame Archive

Elliot Kane #3

by Oliver Harris

How does a secret service confront its past, when it never ended?

Buried deep in MI6's digital archives is the most classified directory of all. It doesn't contain war plans or agent profiles, but shame: the misdeeds of politicians, royalty, business leaders and the service's own personnel.

There are seven decades' worth of images and recordings, usually acquired for the sake of assessing risk, sometimes as a guard against betrayal, often engineered by MI6 for their own purposes. These amount to the most sensitive two thousand terabytes of data in the Service's possession. When material from the archive begins appearing online, the panic is widespread.

At first, the security breach only manifests itself in apparently random events: a suicide, a disappearance, a breakdown. But when it turns out that the individuals concerned were all contacted by the same anonymous person, a connection comes into focus. The archive has somehow leaked. The hunt is now of unprecedented urgency. That's when they call for Elliot Kane...

Genres: Thriller, Espionage, Fiction, Mystery, British Literature, Audiobook

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 8, 2024

About the author

Oliver Harris's novels to date are The Hollow Man, Deep Shelter, The House of Fame, A Season in Exile - all featuring Detective Constable Nick Belsey - and A Shadow Intelligence, Ascension and The Shame Archive featuring MI6 officer Elliot Kane.

Oliver was born in north London. He has an MA in Shakespeare Studies from UCL, and an MA in creative writing from UEA. His PhD on psychoanalysis and Greek philosophy was published by Routledge in 2016 (Lacan's Return to Antiquity). He currently teaches creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.

His Facebook page can be found by clicking here.

Reviews

[Ceecee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rebecca Sinclair seems to have it all, her husband Rob is a cabinet member, they have a lovely eight-year-old daughter, a wonderful and charming home in the exclusive Chilterns. However, she wakes early one morning to a disconcerting text message, which says “I know who you really are” and later as second message, “I have pictures” which duly arrive. Rebecca’s story is the tip of the scandal iceberg as buried deep within MI6 are The Shame Archives known as Kompromat, which appear to have been hacked. All kinds of luminaries are caught in any number of compromising situations, for use if ever needed by the shadowy services. Now, there’s an urgency attached to finding out how the information has leaked, and who has hold of it. Time to call in Elliott Kane, ex MI6, and now a part owner of a private intelligence service, KX Global Insight. This gripping thriller is told by both Elliot and Rebecca. Who is behind this? Who are the mysterious hackers? The situation is dire and the floodgates are open.

First of all, I really like the dual perspectives. Initially we see Rebecca with the threats hanging over her, but she’s gutsy and not going to sit idly by and allow her life to implode. She uses her initiative, faces things head on in her own investigation. At the start of the novel, Kane’s personal life seems to be on the up with a new partner, the likeable ex-journalist, Juliet Bell, and he’s developing a good relationship with her son Mason. However, ex-MI6 agents can never rest on their laurels.

Oliver Harris is an outstanding writer in my opinion, creating high-quality, well thought out thrillers that are extremely hard to put down. They always feel authentic, credible and believable, and this is certainly true here, as it references true events, frequently very scary ones, which are woven effortlessly into Kane’s MI6 backstory. The clever plot is ever changing and fast moving, it’s exciting, full of danger, it’s claustrophobic at times, there’s a haunting sensation and has a chillingly, indifferent, ruthless, unseen protagonist whose intentions are initially unclear. It contains everything I love to read in a political thriller, shady organisations, agents wreaking, havoc for the political “gain “, corruption, and multiple secrets and lies. The plot elements are chock full of intrigue and this makes for enticing and enthralling reading. Tension and suspense are given in a story like this and it’s frequently the scarcely able to breathe kind. Some revelations pull you up sharply as the plot thickens and the mystery deepens, heading into even murkier territory as lives start to unravel. Who to trust is the million dollar conundrum. When the penny finally drops, thanks to a big hint from Elliot, so does my jaw, with a resounding thud. The ending is terrific, it’s really exciting and I hope there’s a next instalment and more Elliott Kane as he’s just the kind of central character that avid thriller fans like.

Overall, this is a cracking novel with rollercoaster plot and one that I can recommend to fans of the genre.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Little Brown Book Group for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was everything that I love in a thriller. Espionage, murder, conspiracy, politics but also with a deeply human element thrown in.

I didn't actually know before requesting this book that it was the third in a series. I am not a fan of reading books out of sequence so I would have went back and read the first two however I needn't have worried, this can be read as a standalone however you would definitely enjoy it more with the backstory I'm sure.

Here, there has been an apparent hack on MI6 and the so-called 'Shame Archive' - a list of videos, pictures etc. which show prominent politicians, police officers and various others in compromising positions. When the videos start to leak out and blackmail ensues it falls to Elliot Kane, former MI6 employee (who appears to have an inside knowledge of this archive) to try and work out who is responsible for these leaks.

The novel is told from a dual perspective, Elliot, as he attempts to make sense of the leak, as well as Rebecca, now married to a prominent politician but previously a sex worker who appears in some of these pictures.

The dual perspective works really well here, it draws that line between the 'professional' with Elliot as well as the heartbreaking 'personal' story of Rebecca.

Really enjoyable read and a brilliant conclusion.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK, Abacus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Been a while since I read the previous book in the series, but this one stands well enough on its own.
Gripping thriller, unpleasantly plausible. Definitely a pageturner.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fact or fiction !!!!!!!????
An excellent read!!!

[Oundle Crime · Rating 5 out of 5]

My goodness, Oliver Harris knows how to write a good story! If you haven't read either of his previous two novels featuring Elliot Kane ('A Shadow Intelligence' and 'Ascension') don't worry, because each can be read as a standalone. But they are all brilliant and I wasn't surprised that 'The Shame Archive' has been recommended in the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Times as one of the must-read books of the year. It’s an absolute belter!

The story begins with Rebecca Sinclair, wife of a Conservative MP, receiving a cryptic WhatsApp message saying “I know who you are”. She doesn’t know who it’s from but it niggles at her, not least because she actually has rather a lot to hide. A few hours later she’s sent some photographs and a short while after that, a demand for £250,000 in Bitcoin. She now knows her life is about to unravel but she doesn’t cave in. Instead, she plays for time and hopes to be able to track down her tormenter, identified only as Eclipse.

Meanwhile the now ex-spy, Elliot Kane, is living a rather normal life with his girlfriend, Juliet Bell and her 10-year-old son, Mason. Together Bell and Kane have set up a private intelligence firm but even before they’ve accepted their second case, Kane is drawn back to MI6 when one of his previous Russian contacts is murdered. The word Eclipse is written on the page of a notepad near the body so it’s not long before Kane is also hunting this mysterious character and he, too, then becomes a target of the blackmailer.

And what a wealth of blackmail material there is! Because it turns out that MI6’s digital archives have been hacked and seven decades’ worth of sensitive images and recordings stolen, documenting the misdeeds of politicians, spies, business leaders and royalty. As lurid stories and pictures start appearing online, suddenly the security services are on the back foot, desperately trying to identify and find Eclipse, and Kane is right in the middle of it all.

It's a wonderful game of cat and mouse, told so cleverly that the book is incredibly hard to put down because the reader is following strings being pulled at by both Rebecca Sinclair and Elliot Kane.

I’ve loved all the Elliot Kane books and really rate Oliver Harris as an author. He has such a deft touch when telling a story. The writing style is rather spare, which allows you to observe the characters without getting completely immersed in them. And that, of course, makes you concentrate on the story itself and all the clever reveals of the plot.

Despite reading all these books I’d still probably struggle to draw a picture of Kane, and that’s maybe Harris’s intention because Kane was, after all, a spy. But even though he’s no longer in the secret service he’s still a bit of an enigma, although his dealings with the young boy, Mason, reveal more of him as a man. What is overwhelmingly obvious though is Kane’s intelligence, perception and drive, all of which keep you tightly focused on what’s happening and busily turning the pages of this book.

Rebecca Sinclair is very believable and you sense her rising desperation as she tries to find Eclipse, pulling at her hidden memories to piece together the mystery of who has those photos, as well as the how and why. And in the background the British Establishment is working furiously to shut down the scandal of the century and protect its own at all costs.

This is a political thriller that’s so carefully paced and so well written it’s wonderful to read. Elegant, clever and compelling, the plot is so plausible you can absolutely believe the book might be anticipating the next real-life government scandal. I loved the first two Elliot Kane books and I loved this too. I can’t give it anything less than 5 Stars.
Review by: Cornish Eskimo

[Paromjit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oliver Harris writes a powerful and intense speculative thriller that focuses on the practice of intelligence agencies to collect the kind of information, videos, and photographs on individuals that raises issues of ethics and morality. Under the leadership of John Broughton of MI6, the agency initiated the beginnings of this with the aim of curtailing a foreign power carrying out assassinations on British soil, I am sure readers could probably guess who. However, this out of control practice continued unabated for decades. Elliot Kane, formerly MI6, now a private spy, is called to the brutal murder scene of 2 people, one of whom is Anthony Zachariah, a Russian recruited by him, who had tried to contact him recently, leaving him, his journalist partner, Juliet Bell and her son, Malcolm exposed and in danger.

Rebecca Sinclair is a woman with deeply buried personal secrets, she is currently a respectable woman, married to influential Tory MP Robert Sinclair, with a daughter, Iona. However, everything she has built and the future she thought was secure is now under threat. She gets an email from someone calling themselves Eclipse, who goes on to blackmail her, for an amount that is beyond her resources. He tells her he will put the videos and pictures in the public domain unless she pays up, but she is not the only victim, there is a string of deaths and suicides of prominent figures. Rebecca takes a trip into her past and her fractured unreliable memories to try and understand what is happening. Kane soon becomes aware of the catastrophic leaking on the dark web of the entire MI6 'shame archive' and the implications for him, and the vulnerable powerful and establishment figures MI6 had targeted at home and abroad.

This is a dark, exciting, tense and suspenseful nail biting thriller that held my attention as I raced through the pages until the identity of Eclipse is finally revealed in the surprising concluding finale. This is a salutory tale that recognises the real politik of nations and their intelligence agencies and the information and kind of material they may gather. Harris imagines the potential repercussions of the leaking of such incendiary material into the public arena in a manner that feels all too real. I can see this appealing to a wide range of readers. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

[jeff popple · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who enjoy good, intelligent spy fiction Oliver Harris’ The Shame Archive, (Abacus, 4 June 2024), certainly delivers the goods.

This is the third in Harris’ series about MI6 agent Elliot Kane, who has now left the service and is running a private security business. He is called back into the agency when someone starts leaking details from MI6’s Shame Archive, which contains the misdeeds of politicians, royalty, business leaders and the service’s own personnel. There are seven decades’ worth of images and recordings, usually acquired for the sake of assessing risk, sometimes as a guard against betrayal, often engineered by MI6 for their own purposes. The leaked material causes havoc and personal disaster, but more importantly it places some of Britain’s foreign assets under great risk. It is up to Kane to try and find out who is leaking it and stop it.

This is a tough, gritty spy thriller with plenty of tension and a high level of cynicism. None of the characters are saints, although it is easy to feel sympathy for Rebecca Sinclair, the wife of a British MP who becomes caught up in the leak of the material. Rebecca’s dilemma gives the book some good early momentum while the other storylines are being established, and Kane’s involvement broadens the scope of the story. The intra and inter-agency rivalry is well done, and there is the usual wheeling and dealing behind the scenes. Harris is also very good at sketching the tense interfaces between the corporate, intelligence, media and police worlds. A complex, but enjoyable spy thriller plot.

There are a couple of sluggish patches, but these are easily forgotten as the tension builds to a good surprise and a wild, bloody chase through the streets of London. Highly recommended.

Harris’ dark spy thrillers are in the same league as Mick Herron’s Slow Horses books, and The Shame Archive is another very contemporary and gripping thriller from an author who deserves greater recognition.

See full review at: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/t...

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wholly plausible and terrifying

Probably the best of Harris’ work to date. A sophisticated blackmailer is demanding a fortune to keep the secrets of VIPS. If they don’t pay up, he exacts a deadly revenge.

The plot revolves around an historic Intelligence Service (MI6) operation to gather ‘kompromat’ on Russian spies in London. To this end they set up a concierge service that organises the lives of fleeing oligarchs and others and includes a gentleman’s club with high-class sex workers. One of those women was drugged and assaulted at a New Year’s party where one or more men were killed. Years later, now married to a British member of parliament, Rebecca is contacted by ‘Eclipse’ who has footage of the orgy and demands money in Bitcoin or he will release the video. Instead Rebecca sets out to identify the blackmailer and also to find out what really happened to her at that New Year’s Party.

Eclipse has targeted others, including a Russian national who had worked for MI6, found brutally murdered along with his wife. The Russian’s former handler was Elliot Kane, now out of the service and freelancing, who is contacted as part of the murder enquiry, spots a note about Eclipse with a bitcoin code, and begins to investigate. But different establishment factions, in the intelligence services and the police are also on the trail. At risk of becoming collateral damage in a massive clear-up, Rebecca, Elliot and his partner, are also at risk from all sides.

It’s a plausible scenario based on known psy-ops of previous decades, the honey trap being a particular favourite of the KGB back in the day; evidence of shameful behaviour being so embarrassing, or career-ending, that it would persuade the subjects to become agents and pass on information. The principal characters are convincingly drawn and the plot is fast and furious. I found it unputdownable and finished it in a single session, reading late into the night.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first thought on describing this novel was "competent", but I think that's a bit harsh given I enjoyed reading and returning to it over a few days. I liked it better than, say, Michael Ridpath, but it fell short of Mick Heron, possibly because the characters fell somewhere in between those created by those authors. The former irritate me and the latter amuse me, whereas the protagonists in this novel are somewhere in the middle. It was all a bit po-faced, although I liked the racy plot line despite the fact that UK politicians in the UK today are as shameless as any bunch we've seen. Sex scandal? Their only question would be how best to play it on Twitter. Taking money for favours? How about two and a half grand for a pair of glasses? I was kept guessing to the end, where everything seemed to be tied up in a satisfying way, largely because I could follow what was happening. I can't always say that with espionage novels and am often left wondering what I've missed as authors try to resolve plot lines that have become too clever by half. This was a straightforward, engaging story and I'll be looking out for other titles from this author in future.

[harriet · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this book was really intriguing and i was very interested at the beginning but it ended up falling flat for me. And this was mainly down to the character of Elliot Kane. He was a very disappointing and weak protagonist. I felt like he knew too much of the plot for him to be the centre of the mystery. And i wanted him to have more agency, i feel like all he did was call other people so they could do the work for him. They would call back and be like “this is what i found out”… i wanted Elliot to find it out himself!!! Like hellooo, he used to work for MI6 but we saw none of those skills!!!

In contrast to this, i really liked Rebecca’s chapters BECAUSE she investigated it all herself and her story felt a lot more human. But the whole plot relied on Elliot Kane not acknowledging his past with Rebecca which didn’t really make sense to me because i feel as though he should have made the connections a lot earlier than he did and, as a result, would have solved the mystery. Which goes back to my original point about the fact that he simply knew too much as the protagonist for the mystery to be believable and interesting.

[Huw Rees · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have the contributors to this site to thank for referring to Messrs Oliver Harris and Henry Porter when writing other authors' book reviews.

I have now read all three of the Elliot Kane series' books published to date. This is a composite rating for the three. I found the first two very different in both pace and subject matter. The third instalment enjoys a closer intimacy but a very challenging issue. In this instance, Kane, at first is a casual observer, but once involved oversteps the mark on at least two occasions and obsesses with both the problem and the politic approach to resolve it. He also allows both present and former colleagues to influence the outcome to his cost.

I enjoyed both the writing style and the complexity of these books but read the signals in both books two and three as to culpability.

[Alex Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 3rd Elliot Kane espionage thriller and by some way the best of them so far as Oliver Harris delivers a thriller of some real style and substance.

This time around Kane is at home, No longer working for MI6. Settled and in some ways happy with journalist partner Juliet Bell. However happiness doesn’t last long in this superb and somewhat speculative thriller that feels like it could very real when information is released that could threaten the axis of every government in the world.

Fast paced, frenzied and plotted with supreme craft, Oliver Harris is at the very top of his game here, the pages genuinely fly as Kane propels his investigation forward until a huge shocking finale that rocks Kane to his core.

So much to like and my book of the year so far.

[Guy Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best espionage book I have read this year so far., exiting, page turning and frighteningly plausible with once again Elliot Kane the somewhat conflicted hero of the story.
This was an engrossing read, with Intelligence services bad deeds being exposed via the media by way of a treasure trove of kompromat material.
Kane now in the private intelligence business is drawn back into stopping the flood of material, and once again the moral ambiguities so prevalent in the series are exposed.
From A Shadow intelligence, the first book to this one Oliver Harris has created a believable and somewhat scary modern spy novel.
Highly recommended .

[Greville Waterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first Elliot Kane spy thriller that I have read and it certainly won't be the last. Pacy, exciting, well written with a clever plot that drew me in from the very start. The story is told from two different perspectives, that of the investigator and the other from a blackmail party and the plot gets murkier and more deadly as the book progresses.

A thriller that really lives up to it's name, and a real pleasure to read.

Highly recommended.

[Andy Regan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superior espionage chase for an intelligence source who's accessed MI6's cache of dirt on substantial numbers of UK and international political figures as well as other leading celebrities. The search is led by a former MI6 operative and the wife of a leading politician who may have been early victims of the suspect's actions.

Beautifully plotted.

[Humunculus · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Trouble with Truth

A secret intelligence service is hacked. Deeds intended to protect become lethal threats when exposed to the light. Elliot Kane’s third adventure is a twisting, switch-back ride through the dark side of national security, the actions taken in its name and the dire consequences for those that take them. Oliver Harris is my new favourite spy novelist.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent political thriller: full of twists, gripping, and featuring a clever and strong female charachter.
Plot development and storytelling are excellent
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[PaulC2023 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best by far of the Elliot Kane novels, and suggests potential for a TV limited series adaptation. Good to delve into Kane’s darker side, marking him out as an interesting anti-hero, even if the ending feels a little rushed. I look forward to continuing my acquaintance with the former spy.

[Selena Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book, couldn't put it down!

[Shazzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up. Full review to come

[Ralph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spies and scandals. Once it gets going this is an excellent thriller.

[Imlac · Rating 1 out of 5]

No spy thriller cliche is left unused. Except for having a tight plot. The plot of this one has holes so big you can drive trucks through it (to coin a phrase).

[Andy Blanche · Rating 5 out of 5]

This the third Elliot Kane novel and they have all been highly original and absorbing. Very classy stuff.

[Paul Lehane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tense & compelling...a gripping read with well-defined characters & taut dialogue.

[Jeremy Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cracking yarn of our time. Genuinely hard to put down. And nicely written.
Looking forward to the next in the series.

[Conrad Hobbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark, Very Dark

I would describe myself as a cynic about
wordly matters but this book shocked me. An excellent read, well worth the time.

[Schuyler Krizay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oliver Harris is one of the more promising spy thriller writers i've read in a while. Hope he continues to write and build a wider fan base, he is more than deserving.

[Amzon_Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This’s ‘Highest Quality!’

How credible this is; so much so, you wonder if a very similar version is actually out there! His best yet.

[Rachel Wyness · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good sometimes a bit difficult to keep up with as it’s a lot of political jargon. A bit jarring at times too but overall a good book

[A K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top class spy novel