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BOX 88 #2
JUDAS 62
After a lifetime working with BOX 88, the transatlantic counterintelligence agency so covert that not even the CIA knows of its existence, master spy Lachlan Kite has made plenty of enemies. And now, as the director of the outfit's operations in the UK, one of those past enemies has him in their sights...
1993: Student Lachlan Kite is sent to post-Soviet Russia, a spy in the guise of a language teacher. Embedded in the town of Voronezh, Kite’s mission is to extract a chemical weapons scientist before the man’s groundbreaking research falls into the wrong hands and shuttle him across the border to freedom in Ukraine. But Kite’s mission soon goes wrong and he is left stranded in a hostile city with a former KGB officer on his trail.
2020: Thirty years after that dangerous mission, Kite discovers that its outcome put his name on the notorious “JUDAS” list—a record of enemies of Russia who have been targeted for assassination. Kite’s fight for survival takes him to Dubai, a city crawling with international intelligence officers, where he enters into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with the Russian secret state.
The newest installment in the saga of “a spy for the 21st century” (Daily Mail) combines two pulse-pounding narratives that show why Cumming is among the top tier of espionage authors examining the reality of spycraft in the post-Cold War era.
1993: Student Lachlan Kite is sent to post-Soviet Russia, a spy in the guise of a language teacher. Embedded in the town of Voronezh, Kite’s mission is to extract a chemical weapons scientist before the man’s groundbreaking research falls into the wrong hands and shuttle him across the border to freedom in Ukraine. But Kite’s mission soon goes wrong and he is left stranded in a hostile city with a former KGB officer on his trail.
2020: Thirty years after that dangerous mission, Kite discovers that its outcome put his name on the notorious “JUDAS” list—a record of enemies of Russia who have been targeted for assassination. Kite’s fight for survival takes him to Dubai, a city crawling with international intelligence officers, where he enters into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with the Russian secret state.
The newest installment in the saga of “a spy for the 21st century” (Daily Mail) combines two pulse-pounding narratives that show why Cumming is among the top tier of espionage authors examining the reality of spycraft in the post-Cold War era.
500 pages, Paperback
First published September 19, 2021
626 people are currently reading
1255 people want to read
About the author
Charles Cumming
26 books1,282 followersCharles Cumming is British writer of spy fiction. His international bestselling thrillers including A Spy By Nature, The Spanish Game, Typhoon and The Trinity Six. A former British Secret Service recruit, he is a contributing editor of The Week magazine and lives in London.
http://www.charlescumming.co.uk/
http://www.charlescumming.co.uk/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 317 reviews
August 27, 2021
Charles Cumming gives us a thrilling sequel to Box 88, a covert Anglo-American intelligence agency, giving us a dual time narrative that allows us to compare and contrast the inexperienced naive, but confident and quick thinking Lachlan 'Lockie' Kite in 1993, an Edinburgh student in a relationship with Martha that runs into problems which has him wanting space, and the present day Lockie, now the Head of Box 88, operating in a world now where spycraft has changed considerably. He is estranged from wife, Isobel, after previous events, and missing seeing his daughter, Ingrid. In the summer of 1993, Lockie arrives in Voronezh in Russia as Peter Galvin, an English Language teacher, on a dangerous mission to extract a Russian chemical weapons scientist, Yuri Aranov, and drive him to freedom in the Ukraine.
In the present, a former Russian General is murdered with Novichok in a horrifying, manner in the Adirondacks in the U.S., assassinated by Putin's FSB (ex-KGB) agents as a traitor, one of many targets on their Judas List. A recent addition to the list is Lockie, he is Judas 62, under the name of Peter Galvin, he has no intention of taking this lying down, and proceeds to organise a mission to Dubai, to target an old enemy from 1993, the powerful, ruthless and brutal FSB agent, Mikhail Gromik, a Putin ally, who has been responsible for many of the killings of those on the Judas List. The plan is to use Aranov as bait, someone Gromik would not be able to resist going after. Lockie endangered the 1993 operation by getting involved with beautiful student, Oksana, critically it shapes Lockie, as he becomes more opportunistic and manipulative, he begins to understand the life of a spy can be unforgiving, and see the nightmare horrors of 'collateral damage'.
Cumming portrays an espionage world which comes across as authentic with its echoes of our contemporary realities, the Russians have shown no qualms in going after Russians in other countries, as we know to our cost, for example, with the Salisbury poisonings in the UK. I found both timelines equally fascinating, the younger Lockie and the differences in the more mature and reflective man in the present, and the many ways in which Toby Landau in Dubai exhibits similar qualities to the younger Lockie. This is a great spy thriller, entertaining, dark, and packed with plenty of suspense that makes for a gripping novel likely to appeal to a wide range of readers. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
In the present, a former Russian General is murdered with Novichok in a horrifying, manner in the Adirondacks in the U.S., assassinated by Putin's FSB (ex-KGB) agents as a traitor, one of many targets on their Judas List. A recent addition to the list is Lockie, he is Judas 62, under the name of Peter Galvin, he has no intention of taking this lying down, and proceeds to organise a mission to Dubai, to target an old enemy from 1993, the powerful, ruthless and brutal FSB agent, Mikhail Gromik, a Putin ally, who has been responsible for many of the killings of those on the Judas List. The plan is to use Aranov as bait, someone Gromik would not be able to resist going after. Lockie endangered the 1993 operation by getting involved with beautiful student, Oksana, critically it shapes Lockie, as he becomes more opportunistic and manipulative, he begins to understand the life of a spy can be unforgiving, and see the nightmare horrors of 'collateral damage'.
Cumming portrays an espionage world which comes across as authentic with its echoes of our contemporary realities, the Russians have shown no qualms in going after Russians in other countries, as we know to our cost, for example, with the Salisbury poisonings in the UK. I found both timelines equally fascinating, the younger Lockie and the differences in the more mature and reflective man in the present, and the many ways in which Toby Landau in Dubai exhibits similar qualities to the younger Lockie. This is a great spy thriller, entertaining, dark, and packed with plenty of suspense that makes for a gripping novel likely to appeal to a wide range of readers. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
August 15, 2021
Lockie Kite #2
Box 88 is an Anglo-American deeply covert spy agency with Lachlan (Lockie) Kite being recruited whilst still a young man at Alford School. The Judas List comprises of Russian enemies and traitors who are targeted by the FSB for revenge kills usually using nerve agents such as Novichok. Judas 61 is Yuri Aranov a Russian scientist spirited out of Russia by student Lockie in 1993 when he uses the identity of ‘Peter Galvin’ and ‘Galvin’ is Judas 62. This political thriller tells the story of Aranov’s escape from Russia in the 90’s and the Judas story in the present day which takes place principally in Dubai.
I really enjoyed Box 88 but this one has a very slow start, it’s convoluted, gets bogged down in unnecessary background and it makes my head spin!! However, once it gets going (about 15%) it’s a darn good thriller. The Judas list has such a ring of authenticity as we all know of revenge stories such as Alexei Navalny and Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury. The 1993 storyline is really good with exciting events keeping you on the edge of your seat. There’s unease, the claustrophobic sense of the watching FSK (former KGB and now FSB) and the uncertainty of evading them, there’s danger at every turn, who is trustworthy and who can be bribed and there are moments of high tension. It’s firmly set in the context of political upheaval following the fall of Gorbachev and the onset of the presidency of Yeltsin. The present day action with the background of Covid is also good with an excellent setting in Dubai which adds an extra layer to the plot. Here are the classic components of a clever political thriller, with spies, double agents, plot stings and revenge. It’s well written with such a large sense of realism and it’s very obvious the author has done his homework. The characters are good, Lockie is very likeable, he’s intelligent with personal life which is a bit messed up but which of course makes him even more interesting! The rest of the Box 88 team are good characters too. with a range of diversity and skills. The Russian characters are done well as we witness the brutal ruthlessness of men like Mikhail Gromik who is in Putin’s inner circle and will stop at nothing.
On the negative side, including the start, there are a LOT of characters in this and it gets a bit mind boggling and the author has a tendency to supply unnecessary details which just get in the way of the fast paced storyline.
Overall though, the positives vastly outweigh the negatives as this is a solid and exciting political thriller with very good central characters and an all too believable plot. I look forward to reading what happens to Lockie in the next instalment.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, Harper Fiction for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
Box 88 is an Anglo-American deeply covert spy agency with Lachlan (Lockie) Kite being recruited whilst still a young man at Alford School. The Judas List comprises of Russian enemies and traitors who are targeted by the FSB for revenge kills usually using nerve agents such as Novichok. Judas 61 is Yuri Aranov a Russian scientist spirited out of Russia by student Lockie in 1993 when he uses the identity of ‘Peter Galvin’ and ‘Galvin’ is Judas 62. This political thriller tells the story of Aranov’s escape from Russia in the 90’s and the Judas story in the present day which takes place principally in Dubai.
I really enjoyed Box 88 but this one has a very slow start, it’s convoluted, gets bogged down in unnecessary background and it makes my head spin!! However, once it gets going (about 15%) it’s a darn good thriller. The Judas list has such a ring of authenticity as we all know of revenge stories such as Alexei Navalny and Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury. The 1993 storyline is really good with exciting events keeping you on the edge of your seat. There’s unease, the claustrophobic sense of the watching FSK (former KGB and now FSB) and the uncertainty of evading them, there’s danger at every turn, who is trustworthy and who can be bribed and there are moments of high tension. It’s firmly set in the context of political upheaval following the fall of Gorbachev and the onset of the presidency of Yeltsin. The present day action with the background of Covid is also good with an excellent setting in Dubai which adds an extra layer to the plot. Here are the classic components of a clever political thriller, with spies, double agents, plot stings and revenge. It’s well written with such a large sense of realism and it’s very obvious the author has done his homework. The characters are good, Lockie is very likeable, he’s intelligent with personal life which is a bit messed up but which of course makes him even more interesting! The rest of the Box 88 team are good characters too. with a range of diversity and skills. The Russian characters are done well as we witness the brutal ruthlessness of men like Mikhail Gromik who is in Putin’s inner circle and will stop at nothing.
On the negative side, including the start, there are a LOT of characters in this and it gets a bit mind boggling and the author has a tendency to supply unnecessary details which just get in the way of the fast paced storyline.
Overall though, the positives vastly outweigh the negatives as this is a solid and exciting political thriller with very good central characters and an all too believable plot. I look forward to reading what happens to Lockie in the next instalment.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, Harper Fiction for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
May 2, 2024
This is the second book featuring Lachlan Kite, who works a secret group of British and American ‘spooks’ called Box 88. In fact, in this episode, Lachlan heads up the British end and discovers to his horror that he’s on a list of people the Russians are planning to assassinate. But it’s not as straight forward as that: the name that appears on the list is actually an alias he used nearly thirty years ago when he was a rookie recruit sent into Russia to exfiltrate a chemical weapons scientist. So why is the alias listed and not his real name? Do they actually know his real identity? This and other questions will be answered in a complex but satisfying tale of derring-do.
We follow both stories, both the present day threat (where the Coronavirus pandemic looms large in the background) and also, in flashback, Kite’s early trip to Russia during which he runs into an unfriendly KGB officer who is to feature in both tales. I found that the story of Kite’s visit to and escape from Russia had echoes of Ben Macintyre’s true life book The Spy and the Traitor and in this respect, though the methods were somewhat different, it rang true and therefore had all the more impact. The contemporary element is more complex and involves a veritable army of characters. This I found slightly less satisfying. Nonetheless, I was never less than fully engaged in Kite’s plight.
There are some carry over characters from the first book in this series, but it’s definitely a story that can be read as a stand-alone piece. Cumming maintains both pace and suspense well throughout and the only real grumble I have – and it’s a personal thing – is that I find any book with so many active participants (there’s an index listing more than thirty at the beginning of the book) to be hard work in tracking who is who as the tale plays out. That said, it’s what you sign up for in a story such as this, and I’m sure many readers will breeze through this element.
My thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
We follow both stories, both the present day threat (where the Coronavirus pandemic looms large in the background) and also, in flashback, Kite’s early trip to Russia during which he runs into an unfriendly KGB officer who is to feature in both tales. I found that the story of Kite’s visit to and escape from Russia had echoes of Ben Macintyre’s true life book The Spy and the Traitor and in this respect, though the methods were somewhat different, it rang true and therefore had all the more impact. The contemporary element is more complex and involves a veritable army of characters. This I found slightly less satisfying. Nonetheless, I was never less than fully engaged in Kite’s plight.
There are some carry over characters from the first book in this series, but it’s definitely a story that can be read as a stand-alone piece. Cumming maintains both pace and suspense well throughout and the only real grumble I have – and it’s a personal thing – is that I find any book with so many active participants (there’s an index listing more than thirty at the beginning of the book) to be hard work in tracking who is who as the tale plays out. That said, it’s what you sign up for in a story such as this, and I’m sure many readers will breeze through this element.
My thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
May 25, 2022
Another enjoyable outing for Lachlan Kite (Lockie) and the Box 88 organisation.
Once again Charles Cumming melds Lockie's early life and career with the present to create the underlying storyline for the overarching plot. The early period, this time in Russia, is well done and adds nicely to the life and character we met in the first novel Box 88. The modern day part of the story plays well on current affairs referencing recent Russian tactics with poisonings, criminal behaviour and intelligence organisation tactics.
The supporting cast are again pretty well developed/developing, with some very good aspects in play around MI6 operatives and covers. The Russians are again a key part of the story and the narrative brings them to the central plot and the reader into their operation and plans.
Overall another Charles Cumming book that was fun to read and enjoy. Box 88 number three soon please.
Once again Charles Cumming melds Lockie's early life and career with the present to create the underlying storyline for the overarching plot. The early period, this time in Russia, is well done and adds nicely to the life and character we met in the first novel Box 88. The modern day part of the story plays well on current affairs referencing recent Russian tactics with poisonings, criminal behaviour and intelligence organisation tactics.
The supporting cast are again pretty well developed/developing, with some very good aspects in play around MI6 operatives and covers. The Russians are again a key part of the story and the narrative brings them to the central plot and the reader into their operation and plans.
Overall another Charles Cumming book that was fun to read and enjoy. Box 88 number three soon please.
May 2, 2024
My 5th book by Charles Cumming and they have all been great spy stories - albeit different characters. This one features Lachlan Kite and revolves around one of his early ventures as a spy in Russia in 1993 and then in 2020 in Dubai. The Judas list refers to the Moscow kill list of Russian citizens that have transgressed Putin.
I find Mr Cumming’s characters to be well rounded and believable and his stories clever and fast paced. I am finishing this on holiday in Madeira and will leave in the hotel library for another discerning reader. Only a few days left to finish some more books.
I find Mr Cumming’s characters to be well rounded and believable and his stories clever and fast paced. I am finishing this on holiday in Madeira and will leave in the hotel library for another discerning reader. Only a few days left to finish some more books.
March 23, 2022
I'm abandoning books at an alarming rate at the moment, so I'm willing to accept that my mood may be at least partly to blame. However, I stuck this one out to page 150 (of over 500) and it is painfully slow and a bit like a YA novel - it's more about the protagonist's juvenile girlfriend troubles, sexual desires and student parties than about espionage. It seems to me that there may be an interesting novel buried in here somewhere but Cumming needs a much stronger editor to tell him to cut out most of the irrelevant waffling and endless repetition. I said it before in an update, but it's far too slow to be a thriller and the story is mundane - getting a scientist out of Russia to the West, so he can make his horrible weapons for "us" instead of "them". Throw in some Novichok, mysterious beautiful women who are attracted to our hero like magnets, and lots and lots of Ladas, and it all feels stale and unoriginal. Why authors and publishers think that length is necessarily a good thing beats me. The Spy Who Came In from the Cold is less than half as long as this and many times better. Graham Greene managed to write espionage classics at around 200-250 pages. The Day of the Jackal - 350. Etc. Call me picky but thrillers should thrill, and to thrill they need to be fast-paced. If the story is a simple one like this, then it's hard to justify stretching it to over 500 pages. And it's not original or interesting enough to justify me spending any more hours reading it.
September 21, 2022
4.5 ⭐
Charles Cumming's Judas 62 is the second book featuring Lachlan Kite and his outfit, Box 88. Box 88 is a joint uber-clandestine service between the U.S. and England doesn't officially exist. The Box 88 series has quickly become one of my favorite new series and Judas 62 is as good, if not better than Box 88,
As was the case with Box 88, Judas 62 focuses on master spy Kite and the English branch of Box 88. Thirty years ago, Kite, as a new operative, volunteered to extract a chemical weapons scientist out of Post Soviet Russia. It had been a huge success but not without casualties. Now, thirty years on, Kite's pseudonym and the name of the scientist have been added to the Judas List. The list is comprised of people Russia considers traitors and spies and the addition of Kite presents an opportunity to settle some scores form his past. Spanning London, Russia and Dubai, Judas 62 is an old school espionage thriller that aficionados of the genre will love!
If you are searching for a guns blazing thriller, this aint it. Judas 62 is a slow-burn thriller with master pacing. Cumming employs tension like a puppeteer with very little observed violence. Instead, Cumming leaves the action to the readers' imagination with only the end result decided. Hopefully your imagination is better than mine but the end result will be the same.
Filled with intricate detail, great characters, and interesting twists and turns, Judas 62 is not to be missed by any thriller lover and especially espionage fiends like myself.
My sincere thanks to Charles Cumming, Mysterious Press and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading an advance copy of Judas 62!
Charles Cumming's Judas 62 is the second book featuring Lachlan Kite and his outfit, Box 88. Box 88 is a joint uber-clandestine service between the U.S. and England doesn't officially exist. The Box 88 series has quickly become one of my favorite new series and Judas 62 is as good, if not better than Box 88,
As was the case with Box 88, Judas 62 focuses on master spy Kite and the English branch of Box 88. Thirty years ago, Kite, as a new operative, volunteered to extract a chemical weapons scientist out of Post Soviet Russia. It had been a huge success but not without casualties. Now, thirty years on, Kite's pseudonym and the name of the scientist have been added to the Judas List. The list is comprised of people Russia considers traitors and spies and the addition of Kite presents an opportunity to settle some scores form his past. Spanning London, Russia and Dubai, Judas 62 is an old school espionage thriller that aficionados of the genre will love!
If you are searching for a guns blazing thriller, this aint it. Judas 62 is a slow-burn thriller with master pacing. Cumming employs tension like a puppeteer with very little observed violence. Instead, Cumming leaves the action to the readers' imagination with only the end result decided. Hopefully your imagination is better than mine but the end result will be the same.
Filled with intricate detail, great characters, and interesting twists and turns, Judas 62 is not to be missed by any thriller lover and especially espionage fiends like myself.
My sincere thanks to Charles Cumming, Mysterious Press and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading an advance copy of Judas 62!
January 7, 2023
British writer Charles Cumming is fast-becoming the new face of the modern spy thriller. His latest novel entitled JUDAS 62 is a perfect example of this claim and stellar follow-up to last years’ BOX 88.
The creepy and prophetic prologue is set in the year 1979 and based in Sverdlovsk, Russia. We are brought into a deadly situation with a man named Alexi Nikolayev and the role he played in a tragic shift at the Soviet Army’s Biological Weapons Research Facility. The release of the deadly compound of weaponized anthrax was not only in violation of a 1972 accord but also was being called ‘the biological Chernobyl’.
That passage is followed by a jump to the present day where a current U.S. source for Box 88, the transatlantic counterintelligence and top secret spy agency, named Saul Kaszeta is off for a four-day fishing vacation to Lake Placid in New York State’s Adirondack Mountains. Only a small group of individuals recognize that the 75-year-old Kaszeta was once known as Evgeny Palatnik. Somehow, his cover is blown and he has his eye medication switched out with a deadly toxin that costs him his life.
This loss of a trusted foreign spy source does not sit well with Box 88, especially master spy Lachlan Kite who had developed the relationship. Kite then learns from his group what is actually going on. A program known as JUDAS has been put together by Russian Intelligence. The list represents Russian intelligence officers, military personnel, and scientists living in the West who had been targeted for reprisal assassinations by Moscow. Kite is also alarmed to see that the name attached to the number JUDAS 62 was Peter Galvin. Right next to that name was that of Yuri Aranov. This all hits way too close to home for Kite because in 1993, when he was still a student operative, Kite was sent to the Soviet Union posing as injured operative Peter Galvin who was there to be a language teacher.
The narrative switches back to 1993 and takes us through Kite’s time in Voronezh where he was to make contact with a student named Yuri Aranov and secure his safe passage West. They end up connecting and meeting secretly and this is where Peter/Kite gains his trust and learns that Yuri intends to also bring along his pregnant girlfriend. This was a fascinating experience for the young Lachlan Kite, yet without the assistance of Aranov he may as well have been walking alone in a dense forest without purpose. The mission was also extremely dangerous as Kite knew if his cover was blown he would be ‘burnt’ by Box 88 and have to face Russian prison on his own.
Their initial relationship was almost doomed from the jump when Yuri learns that Peter/Kite had become physically involved with an attractive fellow student named Oksana who had been his long-time ex. They are able to work past this, especially when they get a feeling that she might be a plant out to uncover them. Matters get a little more difficult when Kite’s actual girlfriend from London, Martha, suddenly shows up in Voronezh with no idea that he was there operating under the name Peter Galvin. He is able to bring her up to speed without much fuss and the plan is for the two couples, Kite and Martha and Yuri and his pregnant girlfriend, will make the journey together to the west using assumed names and passports that Box 88 operatives have provided. They succeed, but the escape is a harrowing one and on their tail the entire time is a brutal and very suspicious member of the KGB/FSK by the name of Gromik.
It is at this point that the narrative returns to the year 2020, present day for this novel, and Lachlan Kite has reunited with Yuri Aranov who has not seen since their mission together in 1993. They are paired up again for an even more dangerous job this time around. They are being sent to Dubai, to put an end to the JUDAS programme once and for all. Ironically, using Aranov as bait, they will be fishing for their former adversary Mikhail Gromik. The Dubai mission is indeed the deadliest game of cat-and-mouse the seasoned Kite has ever played and it will take all his guile and expertise to have a successful mission and get both he and Aranov out alive.
JUDAS 62 is a lengthy read and one that takes no time for short-cuts or diversions from the task at hand. Cumming has become an expert in immediately placing the reader in the heart of the often unbearably suspenseful espionage activity featuring Box 88’s favorite spy Lachlan Kite. The end result is a spy novel that reads like a high-octane thriller and succeeds on nearly every level!
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
The creepy and prophetic prologue is set in the year 1979 and based in Sverdlovsk, Russia. We are brought into a deadly situation with a man named Alexi Nikolayev and the role he played in a tragic shift at the Soviet Army’s Biological Weapons Research Facility. The release of the deadly compound of weaponized anthrax was not only in violation of a 1972 accord but also was being called ‘the biological Chernobyl’.
That passage is followed by a jump to the present day where a current U.S. source for Box 88, the transatlantic counterintelligence and top secret spy agency, named Saul Kaszeta is off for a four-day fishing vacation to Lake Placid in New York State’s Adirondack Mountains. Only a small group of individuals recognize that the 75-year-old Kaszeta was once known as Evgeny Palatnik. Somehow, his cover is blown and he has his eye medication switched out with a deadly toxin that costs him his life.
This loss of a trusted foreign spy source does not sit well with Box 88, especially master spy Lachlan Kite who had developed the relationship. Kite then learns from his group what is actually going on. A program known as JUDAS has been put together by Russian Intelligence. The list represents Russian intelligence officers, military personnel, and scientists living in the West who had been targeted for reprisal assassinations by Moscow. Kite is also alarmed to see that the name attached to the number JUDAS 62 was Peter Galvin. Right next to that name was that of Yuri Aranov. This all hits way too close to home for Kite because in 1993, when he was still a student operative, Kite was sent to the Soviet Union posing as injured operative Peter Galvin who was there to be a language teacher.
The narrative switches back to 1993 and takes us through Kite’s time in Voronezh where he was to make contact with a student named Yuri Aranov and secure his safe passage West. They end up connecting and meeting secretly and this is where Peter/Kite gains his trust and learns that Yuri intends to also bring along his pregnant girlfriend. This was a fascinating experience for the young Lachlan Kite, yet without the assistance of Aranov he may as well have been walking alone in a dense forest without purpose. The mission was also extremely dangerous as Kite knew if his cover was blown he would be ‘burnt’ by Box 88 and have to face Russian prison on his own.
Their initial relationship was almost doomed from the jump when Yuri learns that Peter/Kite had become physically involved with an attractive fellow student named Oksana who had been his long-time ex. They are able to work past this, especially when they get a feeling that she might be a plant out to uncover them. Matters get a little more difficult when Kite’s actual girlfriend from London, Martha, suddenly shows up in Voronezh with no idea that he was there operating under the name Peter Galvin. He is able to bring her up to speed without much fuss and the plan is for the two couples, Kite and Martha and Yuri and his pregnant girlfriend, will make the journey together to the west using assumed names and passports that Box 88 operatives have provided. They succeed, but the escape is a harrowing one and on their tail the entire time is a brutal and very suspicious member of the KGB/FSK by the name of Gromik.
It is at this point that the narrative returns to the year 2020, present day for this novel, and Lachlan Kite has reunited with Yuri Aranov who has not seen since their mission together in 1993. They are paired up again for an even more dangerous job this time around. They are being sent to Dubai, to put an end to the JUDAS programme once and for all. Ironically, using Aranov as bait, they will be fishing for their former adversary Mikhail Gromik. The Dubai mission is indeed the deadliest game of cat-and-mouse the seasoned Kite has ever played and it will take all his guile and expertise to have a successful mission and get both he and Aranov out alive.
JUDAS 62 is a lengthy read and one that takes no time for short-cuts or diversions from the task at hand. Cumming has become an expert in immediately placing the reader in the heart of the often unbearably suspenseful espionage activity featuring Box 88’s favorite spy Lachlan Kite. The end result is a spy novel that reads like a high-octane thriller and succeeds on nearly every level!
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
May 18, 2024
A spy thriller for the modern man and woman. Cumming revisits the format of a past job coming back to haunt the protagonist who has dedicated his life to the half-American half-British spy agency Box88.
Racy and nail biting in places, this offers a good time to the soundtrack of classic intrigue and easy guys.
Racy and nail biting in places, this offers a good time to the soundtrack of classic intrigue and easy guys.
July 20, 2022
I found this kind of disappointing. The action crackles along nicely in the moments where the agents are able to manage their raging hormones. Also note to self don’t send a horny 22 year old as your top agent. You really have only yourself to blame!
February 17, 2023
As much as I've wanted to anoint Charles Cumming as the 2nd coming of Le Carre', methinks I've gotten a bit ahead of myself. His two recent 'BOX 88' efforts are interesting but seem to be a step down from his earlier work.
'Judas 62' involves one of the stars of the series kickoff, Lachlan Kite, as he discovers a pseudonym he'd used in the past is now a name on Russia's 'kill list', also known as the Judas list. It devotes a large portion of the initial half of Judas 62 to the activities that resulted in Kite's spy name being placed on Judas. In fact, it's nearly a book-in-a-book as it details Kite being sent, as an early 20s neophyte spy, to exfiltrate a Russian scientist before some other country grabbed him. He succeeds, but it's not the cleanest extraction. Fast forward to 30 years later, when he's informed that he's now on the same list (albeit with his false name) as the superstar scientist he extracted. So, should Lachlan (or 'Lockie' as he's called throughout the story) wait around for a Russian assassin to poison him or toss him off a 30 story balcony, or should BOX create a rather convoluted plan to entice the Russkies to go after the ex-Russian-but-now-Brit scientist and somehow force them to disable the entire Judas plot? Hmm, not much of a choice, is it? BOX puts together its scheme and the plan works, but not without the expected number of surprises.
So, nothing has really soured me on Cumming's talent, but the story/plot of Judas 62 was just sort of clunky and nothing even remotely like I'd envision from a true successor to Le Carre'. His writing is fine and the dialogue is as well, but many of the essential aspects of the story just weren't very plausible. For example, would a super-spy group send a callow 20-something for such an important extraction? The story just didn't feel as tight as I'd expect and, although it was OK to not have a bunch of twists and turns as the action unfolded the fact that there really weren't any was a bit disappointing. My only other criticism is that it was too long, at about 500 pages. The 'story-in-a-story' didn't help, but other sections seemed a bit bloated as well.
Judas 62 was OK, just below expectations for this author.
'Judas 62' involves one of the stars of the series kickoff, Lachlan Kite, as he discovers a pseudonym he'd used in the past is now a name on Russia's 'kill list', also known as the Judas list. It devotes a large portion of the initial half of Judas 62 to the activities that resulted in Kite's spy name being placed on Judas. In fact, it's nearly a book-in-a-book as it details Kite being sent, as an early 20s neophyte spy, to exfiltrate a Russian scientist before some other country grabbed him. He succeeds, but it's not the cleanest extraction. Fast forward to 30 years later, when he's informed that he's now on the same list (albeit with his false name) as the superstar scientist he extracted. So, should Lachlan (or 'Lockie' as he's called throughout the story) wait around for a Russian assassin to poison him or toss him off a 30 story balcony, or should BOX create a rather convoluted plan to entice the Russkies to go after the ex-Russian-but-now-Brit scientist and somehow force them to disable the entire Judas plot? Hmm, not much of a choice, is it? BOX puts together its scheme and the plan works, but not without the expected number of surprises.
So, nothing has really soured me on Cumming's talent, but the story/plot of Judas 62 was just sort of clunky and nothing even remotely like I'd envision from a true successor to Le Carre'. His writing is fine and the dialogue is as well, but many of the essential aspects of the story just weren't very plausible. For example, would a super-spy group send a callow 20-something for such an important extraction? The story just didn't feel as tight as I'd expect and, although it was OK to not have a bunch of twists and turns as the action unfolded the fact that there really weren't any was a bit disappointing. My only other criticism is that it was too long, at about 500 pages. The 'story-in-a-story' didn't help, but other sections seemed a bit bloated as well.
Judas 62 was OK, just below expectations for this author.
April 14, 2022
Maybe the best spy novel I have read since I discovered John Le Carre all theses years ago.
The story is bang up to date - and the author does not hold back on his messages of world greed and corruption. He does not pussy foot around the Russian regime and the people who dominate the government.
Charlie Cumming’s is really good and I look forward to more missions forBOX 88.
The story is bang up to date - and the author does not hold back on his messages of world greed and corruption. He does not pussy foot around the Russian regime and the people who dominate the government.
Charlie Cumming’s is really good and I look forward to more missions forBOX 88.
August 22, 2021
I enjoyed Box 88, the previous book in this series. Charles Cumming knows how to write a good old fashioned spy story, realistic and gritty with strong characters.
Judas 62 follows the same kind of theme and characters. Box 88 is a shadow global intelligence organisation sitting unseen alongside the traditional agencies. It is headed up by Lachlan Kite and much of the focus is on him. We start (mainly) in the early 1990’s and a young Kite has been recruited into the mysterious Box 88 and given his first mission. Go into Russia and help a scientist escape into the West. The first half of the book is set within that mission, with Kite almost alone in the claustrophobic atmosphere of Russia. Can he avoid the regime of surveillance and brutality to get his man out?
Then we switch to the modern day and his old mission becomes relevant again, and Kite and his team may have to sacrifice everything to resolve issues from the past.
This works on many levels, Kite as a young man in his 20s shown signs of the man he will become but also the inexperience and naivety of his youth. The atmosphere and attitudes of Russia pre the fall of the Berlin Wall are captured very well. The switch to modern times shows how things have changed with the use of technology and a different type of intelligence game.
A good series and I hope there is more. I do feel that Kite’s public school background has been fleshed out enough though and hope the next book deals entirely with the grown up Kite and his Box 88 team.
Judas 62 follows the same kind of theme and characters. Box 88 is a shadow global intelligence organisation sitting unseen alongside the traditional agencies. It is headed up by Lachlan Kite and much of the focus is on him. We start (mainly) in the early 1990’s and a young Kite has been recruited into the mysterious Box 88 and given his first mission. Go into Russia and help a scientist escape into the West. The first half of the book is set within that mission, with Kite almost alone in the claustrophobic atmosphere of Russia. Can he avoid the regime of surveillance and brutality to get his man out?
Then we switch to the modern day and his old mission becomes relevant again, and Kite and his team may have to sacrifice everything to resolve issues from the past.
This works on many levels, Kite as a young man in his 20s shown signs of the man he will become but also the inexperience and naivety of his youth. The atmosphere and attitudes of Russia pre the fall of the Berlin Wall are captured very well. The switch to modern times shows how things have changed with the use of technology and a different type of intelligence game.
A good series and I hope there is more. I do feel that Kite’s public school background has been fleshed out enough though and hope the next book deals entirely with the grown up Kite and his Box 88 team.
January 8, 2024
Contemporary, intelligent, top-notch spy thriller. Good character development consistent with previous Box 88. Exotic locales and poison techniques woven into real characters and events. Gonna stick with this series!
__________
'It's strange to hear you talk like this, Mikhail. To deny the truth. Perhaps this is the time were living through, an era of contradictions. Nothing can be proven. Nothing is right and nothing is wrong. Hypocrisy and lies are just normal everyday occurrences. A president with three wives and a penchant for porn actresses can be proclaimed by his supporters as a man of God. That same president can accuse his opponent's son of corruption while his own children enrich themselves in full view of the American people. In my own government, a top adviser can claim that he went for a fifty-minute drive during a national lockdown in order to test his eyesight. The key is to be as brazen as possible, isn't it? Never apologise. Never admit fault. Say what you like and play the virgin nun if anybody has the temerity to criticise you. Come out fighting and accuse the other side of even graver sins. Cynicism is the hard currency. You yourself illustrate the problem perfectly. You sit here in this house and tell us that you didn't plan the assassination of Yuri Aranov, that you didn't bring a Novichok and a radioactive isotope into Dubai. You claim that it was the British. Or was it the Americans? I've lost track. The remarkable thing is that you believe it. I can see it in your eyes, Mikhail. You've become so used to lying that you can't even see the truth anymore?”
__________
'It's strange to hear you talk like this, Mikhail. To deny the truth. Perhaps this is the time were living through, an era of contradictions. Nothing can be proven. Nothing is right and nothing is wrong. Hypocrisy and lies are just normal everyday occurrences. A president with three wives and a penchant for porn actresses can be proclaimed by his supporters as a man of God. That same president can accuse his opponent's son of corruption while his own children enrich themselves in full view of the American people. In my own government, a top adviser can claim that he went for a fifty-minute drive during a national lockdown in order to test his eyesight. The key is to be as brazen as possible, isn't it? Never apologise. Never admit fault. Say what you like and play the virgin nun if anybody has the temerity to criticise you. Come out fighting and accuse the other side of even graver sins. Cynicism is the hard currency. You yourself illustrate the problem perfectly. You sit here in this house and tell us that you didn't plan the assassination of Yuri Aranov, that you didn't bring a Novichok and a radioactive isotope into Dubai. You claim that it was the British. Or was it the Americans? I've lost track. The remarkable thing is that you believe it. I can see it in your eyes, Mikhail. You've become so used to lying that you can't even see the truth anymore?”
November 19, 2022
I read a digital galley provided by the publisher, via Netgalley.
This series is about a super-secret joint venture between MI6 and the CIA. In the first book in the series, our protagonist Lachlan (“Lockie”) Kite was recruited straight out of his English boarding school in 1989 to spy on the father of a school friend. The book tells that story and of what happens in 2020 to Kite as fallout from that first job.
Like the first book in the series, this second one has two time lines. In the first timeline, it’s 1993 and Kite accepts an assignment to go to Russia undercover to spirit out a scientist who will otherwise be used by the Russian state to develop chemical weapons. Things become . . . complicated. The second timeline takes place in 2020, shortly after the intense action that ends the first book. Again, this plot involves fallout from Kite’s years-ago job. We all know about how, in real life, Putin has sent agents to attack his perceived enemies with nerve agents and radioactive materials. This book imagines Kite has learned that both the long-ago exfiltrated scientist and Kite’s cover identity from that job are on the “JUDAS” assassination list. Kite and his team devise an audacious plan to foil the Russians.
I like the idea of the BOX 88 agency, and I’m usually a fan of dual-timeline novels. In this case, though, I found the 1993 timeline dragged—which is unfortunate, since it takes up over half the book. Cumming does a good job depicting Russia soon after the breakup of the USSR, and an almost painfully good job showing Kite in his 20s as a quick learner of spycraft but personally callow, naïve, and too easily led by his libido. But there is just too much minor detail. Once the 2020 plot line starts, things perk up. It’s set in Dubai, a modern-day hotbed of spies and corruption, and a playground for the filthy rich from around the world. In that setting of glamor overlaying danger, Kite and his crew carry out an elaborate, nail-bitingly risky operation combining protection and vengeance.
I have some concerns that this book was too much like the first in its plotting. I’d be interested in a future book that drops Lockie’s past adventures and focuses entirely on a contemporary plot, but I’m not keen to read another lengthy story about him in his 20s.
This series is about a super-secret joint venture between MI6 and the CIA. In the first book in the series, our protagonist Lachlan (“Lockie”) Kite was recruited straight out of his English boarding school in 1989 to spy on the father of a school friend. The book tells that story and of what happens in 2020 to Kite as fallout from that first job.
Like the first book in the series, this second one has two time lines. In the first timeline, it’s 1993 and Kite accepts an assignment to go to Russia undercover to spirit out a scientist who will otherwise be used by the Russian state to develop chemical weapons. Things become . . . complicated. The second timeline takes place in 2020, shortly after the intense action that ends the first book. Again, this plot involves fallout from Kite’s years-ago job. We all know about how, in real life, Putin has sent agents to attack his perceived enemies with nerve agents and radioactive materials. This book imagines Kite has learned that both the long-ago exfiltrated scientist and Kite’s cover identity from that job are on the “JUDAS” assassination list. Kite and his team devise an audacious plan to foil the Russians.
I like the idea of the BOX 88 agency, and I’m usually a fan of dual-timeline novels. In this case, though, I found the 1993 timeline dragged—which is unfortunate, since it takes up over half the book. Cumming does a good job depicting Russia soon after the breakup of the USSR, and an almost painfully good job showing Kite in his 20s as a quick learner of spycraft but personally callow, naïve, and too easily led by his libido. But there is just too much minor detail. Once the 2020 plot line starts, things perk up. It’s set in Dubai, a modern-day hotbed of spies and corruption, and a playground for the filthy rich from around the world. In that setting of glamor overlaying danger, Kite and his crew carry out an elaborate, nail-bitingly risky operation combining protection and vengeance.
I have some concerns that this book was too much like the first in its plotting. I’d be interested in a future book that drops Lockie’s past adventures and focuses entirely on a contemporary plot, but I’m not keen to read another lengthy story about him in his 20s.
August 16, 2021
In the aftermath of the recent assassination of a retired Russian exile in the US, Lachlan Kite, head of spy organisation Box 88, finds his own name, in the form of an alias he used in 1993, on the up-to-date Judas List at position 62. This is a list of people the Russians feel betrayed by and who are therefore likely targets for elimination.
Kite’s alias in 1993, was for his operation to spring a young Russian scientist Yuri Aranov to the West. Aranov is number 61 on the list and it gives Kite an idea. He uses Aranov as bait to compromise Mikhail Gromik, the Russian intelligence officer who caused Kite problems in 1993 and who is also at the centre of the Judas List terminations.
The first part of the book, and perhaps the most enjoyable part of it, is a flashback to 1993. Where freshly recruited Kite abandons his summer plans to carry out the Aranov operation at short notice. Cast in the role of an English language teacher, staying in a rundown apartment block in hot, airless Voronezh, the lonely Kite succumbs to the charms of Oksana, one of his adult pupils. This section of narrative is atmospheric, chilling at times but also with the underlying feel that everything will turn out well in the end.
Onwards then to the present day in Dubai where the sting is planned. There is a good feel here too for the heat and the pressure, and this operation is short, over a few days, rather than some weeks as in the earlier one. There was more sophistication in this plot line, some double bluffs, but despite the blips, I remained confident. I prefer the present-day Kite to the 22-year-old one but I’m still not his biggest fan. This is the first book I have read where Covid plays an integral part in the arrangements, and it feels authentic.
This series aims to please all types of reader and I’m not sure if that really works. After Box 88 I noted I would read the next, after Judas 62, I’m not just as sure.
With thanks to Netgalley UK and HarperCollins UK for the invitation to read
Kite’s alias in 1993, was for his operation to spring a young Russian scientist Yuri Aranov to the West. Aranov is number 61 on the list and it gives Kite an idea. He uses Aranov as bait to compromise Mikhail Gromik, the Russian intelligence officer who caused Kite problems in 1993 and who is also at the centre of the Judas List terminations.
The first part of the book, and perhaps the most enjoyable part of it, is a flashback to 1993. Where freshly recruited Kite abandons his summer plans to carry out the Aranov operation at short notice. Cast in the role of an English language teacher, staying in a rundown apartment block in hot, airless Voronezh, the lonely Kite succumbs to the charms of Oksana, one of his adult pupils. This section of narrative is atmospheric, chilling at times but also with the underlying feel that everything will turn out well in the end.
Onwards then to the present day in Dubai where the sting is planned. There is a good feel here too for the heat and the pressure, and this operation is short, over a few days, rather than some weeks as in the earlier one. There was more sophistication in this plot line, some double bluffs, but despite the blips, I remained confident. I prefer the present-day Kite to the 22-year-old one but I’m still not his biggest fan. This is the first book I have read where Covid plays an integral part in the arrangements, and it feels authentic.
This series aims to please all types of reader and I’m not sure if that really works. After Box 88 I noted I would read the next, after Judas 62, I’m not just as sure.
With thanks to Netgalley UK and HarperCollins UK for the invitation to read
May 5, 2023
This is an improvement from the first book, which had a strong protagonist and good concept for a strong series start, but the first half here becomes somewhat plodding, as young Kite brings a defector out of Russia. The mission largely goes off without a hitch, with the only complications arising from the avoidable social and relationship drama Kite stupidly gets himself embroiled in. Even so, Charles Cumming's prose is concise and he knows how to bring his characters to life, which makes even the slow parts become an immersive reading experience. The second half, set in the present, then becomes a riveting a spy thriller that is the equal of Daniel Silva or Gerald Seymour. It's also interesting to see how the present-day, veteran spymaster Kite was shaped by and learned from the mistakes and indiscretions he made in his youth. If you like spy thrillers heavy on nuanced characterization and subtlety, and light on guns and action, then you will certainly enjoy this series.
August 18, 2022
Excellent follow up to the impressive 'Box 88.'
Another post cold war spying mission finds the young Lachlan Kite out of his depth in Russia posing as an English teacher.
He's there to convince a Russian scientist to defect to the west. Fast forward twenty five odd years and this has serious consequences when Kite learns he's now on a hit list with the Russians looking for revenge.
It's very topical following the Salisbury Novichok poisoning but the earlier part of the novel set in the early nineties was my favourite part of the book. Genuinely exciting.
Another post cold war spying mission finds the young Lachlan Kite out of his depth in Russia posing as an English teacher.
He's there to convince a Russian scientist to defect to the west. Fast forward twenty five odd years and this has serious consequences when Kite learns he's now on a hit list with the Russians looking for revenge.
It's very topical following the Salisbury Novichok poisoning but the earlier part of the novel set in the early nineties was my favourite part of the book. Genuinely exciting.
November 26, 2021
Having just read my review of Box 88, not sure why I bothered with this one. It's worse - more focused on Kite's love life than the intrigue promised by the blurb. It's a shame, because the idea of juxtaposing the young Kite with the old by including two timelines is very interesting in terms of his
development as a spy. But this feels secondary to the personal affairs, which are frankly a bit dull.
development as a spy. But this feels secondary to the personal affairs, which are frankly a bit dull.
August 24, 2024
Another gripping spy thriller from Charles Cumming. Loved it!
October 20, 2024
A good, fast paced read almost like Usain Bolt running the 100m dash. Classic dynamic spy novel.
Not as good as the first but a solid spy yarn. Will be buying the next book.
Not as good as the first but a solid spy yarn. Will be buying the next book.
November 2, 2021
So this second-in-a-series was eagerly awaited - and sadly, a disappointment.
I think the flaw is that it's very much a book of two halves. 'Book One' features Young Lockie on one of his rookie missions thirty years ago, whilst the events of 'Book Two' take place during the pandemic. And there's no real bridge between Then and Now, which makes for an extremely choppy narrative.
The back story is hugely turn-the-pageable, making the cliff fall into present day Dubai all the more painful. A bunch of additional characters introduced, and not enough time to get to know - or care - about them.
My fear now is that Cumming will stick to this structure in subsequent books, doing a back-and-forwards at least until we get to the bit in Lockie's life story where we learn how/why/when he broke up with Martha. And that could be four or five books down the line at the rate the overall story arc is progressing.
Really hope I'm wrong.
I think the flaw is that it's very much a book of two halves. 'Book One' features Young Lockie on one of his rookie missions thirty years ago, whilst the events of 'Book Two' take place during the pandemic. And there's no real bridge between Then and Now, which makes for an extremely choppy narrative.
The back story is hugely turn-the-pageable, making the cliff fall into present day Dubai all the more painful. A bunch of additional characters introduced, and not enough time to get to know - or care - about them.
My fear now is that Cumming will stick to this structure in subsequent books, doing a back-and-forwards at least until we get to the bit in Lockie's life story where we learn how/why/when he broke up with Martha. And that could be four or five books down the line at the rate the overall story arc is progressing.
Really hope I'm wrong.
October 20, 2021
The second book in the Box88 series takes the reader to Russia in 1993, where young Lockie Kite's task is to extract a chemical weapons specialist. The repercussions from that mission catch up with Lockie in 2020. He is number 62 on the Judas list.
The historic mission is intense, suspenseful, rife with betrayal and dangerous characters. The vivid imagery draws the reader into the life and death adventure. An equally intense mission plays out in a 2020 world seized by a global pandemic. Historical characters and references add authenticity.
The story is an absorbing mix of action and theory with an exciting cast of characters that makes this an addictive read.
I received a copy of this book from Harper Fiction via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
The historic mission is intense, suspenseful, rife with betrayal and dangerous characters. The vivid imagery draws the reader into the life and death adventure. An equally intense mission plays out in a 2020 world seized by a global pandemic. Historical characters and references add authenticity.
The story is an absorbing mix of action and theory with an exciting cast of characters that makes this an addictive read.
I received a copy of this book from Harper Fiction via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
April 13, 2024
A strangely stilted book, partly down to the new (slightly wooden) narrator but also through the storytelling.
It’s a book of two halves with the first part recalling Kite’s escapades in Edinburgh, Oxford and Russia in the mid 90s.
I preferred this section with its mundane details about music, locations and relative innocence.
The latter part follows a protracted follow-up job in the present day, set in UAE, but it’s all rather dull and over-explained.
The pandemic details are quite nice (although may not age well) but there are too many people doing not very much.
Compared to the tight storylines in other books by Cumming, this feels like a rough draft in need of an edit.
Hopefully book 3 in the series will be better.
It’s a book of two halves with the first part recalling Kite’s escapades in Edinburgh, Oxford and Russia in the mid 90s.
I preferred this section with its mundane details about music, locations and relative innocence.
The latter part follows a protracted follow-up job in the present day, set in UAE, but it’s all rather dull and over-explained.
The pandemic details are quite nice (although may not age well) but there are too many people doing not very much.
Compared to the tight storylines in other books by Cumming, this feels like a rough draft in need of an edit.
Hopefully book 3 in the series will be better.
February 11, 2022
I don't usually have anything but praise for Charles Cumming, but I did think this was a bit too long. The second Box 88 novel concerns Lachlan Kite's second job for the organisation, back in 1993 when he was a student, given the task of extracting a Russian scientist who wants to defect, and then later during the pandemic, when the Russians have put not only the defector on an assassination list, but also the alias that Kite was going under back in the 90s. This second part, set mostly in Dubai, was much more effective, and it was the earlier segment that felt too convoluted and detailed. Given the pacey ending though, this was a great read, and everything looks set for the next in the series.
March 30, 2024
In my review of Box88, I noted how it was in some ways a better version of Saltburn. I mainly did this because Box88 made me realise what Saltburn was lacking. But also on reflection Saltburn was not a very original story and very much resembled Wuthering Heights. This novel references Wuthering Heights offhand as a kind of fourth wall breaking nod to it's influence on Box88. Which worked for Box88 because one part of the narrative was a coming of age story so familiarity and nostalgia were appropriate for that story.
Judas 62 again has two narratives set in different time periods that are somehow connected. However they do not run in parallel this time which makes them more disconnected than they did in Box 88. The past story continues the coming of age story with Kit as he undergoes a bit more character growth. It is pretty frustrating watching him almost blow the mission while chasing skirt but the payoff is maybe he learns a lesson. The references to popular thrillers from the time period are very meta and pretty cool. They come across like how Martin Scorsese uses period appropriate popular music in his films.
Box88's high stakes spy operation in Dubai in the present day portion of the novel is pretty interesting because it gets you thinking how are they going to pull this off. Dubai as a setting for a spy novel is interesting because state security has a very developed surveillance architecture. Basically, it's difficult to get away with anything there, which the author makes clear. The stakes are lowered somewhat by Box88's ability to nullify security cameras which hand waves away a major complication, and one that proved the undoing of an Israeli assassination in the city which the novel references.
There are some genuine thrills in both parts of the novel and it's interesting to see Kite improvise his way out of the various pitfalls on his mission. It's enough to make you forgive some of his philandering although that does lead the book to drag on a bit longer than it needed to. The author does a great job bringing the two major settings for the novel alive and covering off relevant historical details in a readable manner.
Judas 62 again has two narratives set in different time periods that are somehow connected. However they do not run in parallel this time which makes them more disconnected than they did in Box 88. The past story continues the coming of age story with Kit as he undergoes a bit more character growth. It is pretty frustrating watching him almost blow the mission while chasing skirt but the payoff is maybe he learns a lesson. The references to popular thrillers from the time period are very meta and pretty cool. They come across like how Martin Scorsese uses period appropriate popular music in his films.
Box88's high stakes spy operation in Dubai in the present day portion of the novel is pretty interesting because it gets you thinking how are they going to pull this off. Dubai as a setting for a spy novel is interesting because state security has a very developed surveillance architecture. Basically, it's difficult to get away with anything there, which the author makes clear. The stakes are lowered somewhat by Box88's ability to nullify security cameras which hand waves away a major complication, and one that proved the undoing of an Israeli assassination in the city which the novel references.
There are some genuine thrills in both parts of the novel and it's interesting to see Kite improvise his way out of the various pitfalls on his mission. It's enough to make you forgive some of his philandering although that does lead the book to drag on a bit longer than it needed to. The author does a great job bringing the two major settings for the novel alive and covering off relevant historical details in a readable manner.
December 5, 2022
Bit of a Curates Egg as the first half is excellent as the story of a young Lachlan trying to spirit a disaffected scientist out of Russia is gripping. The second half, in current times, as Lachlan plots revenge on a Russian involved in the first story is a little flat and entirely predictable. Lots to enjoy but not quite as good as it promises.
February 28, 2022
Good, but not as good as Box88
February 22, 2024
An interesting and well-informed spy story, which emphasises more the psychology of spying than the activity - a good sequel to "Box 88".
April 25, 2025
Another cracking spy story
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