Charlie's Apprentice

Charlie Muffin #10

by Brian Freemantle

The end of the Cold War could put British spy Charlie Muffin out of work. “Secrets hide within secrets . . . Superior work from a master of the form” (Publishers Weekly).  Charlie Muffin shouldn’t be condemned for mourning the end of the Cold War. For decades the KGB provided him with endless professional success and now that it’s gone, Charlie is nearly out of a job. Removed from active duty, he is now training new recruits on operations in a post-Soviet era. It’s dull work that leaves Charlie yearning for the adventures of old and this time, he’ll get more than he bargained for. One of Charlie’s first pupils is arrested within days of arriving in Beijing to extract a blown British agent. Now Charlie must go to China and get both of them out. Meanwhile, someone is searching for Charlie—Natalia Fedova, a former lover, who surfaces with a new job high up in Russian intelligence and a daughter she says is his. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Brian Freemantle including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Genres: Espionage, Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Crime

491 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Aka John Maxwell, Jonathan Evans, Jack Winchester, Harry Asher and Richard Gant.

Brian Freemantle [b. 1936] is one of Britain's most acclaimed authors of spy fiction. His novels have sold over ten million copies worldwide. Born in Southampton, Freemantle entered his career as a journalist, and began writing espionage thrillers in the late 1960s. Charlie M (1977) introduced the world to Charlie Muffin and won Freemantle international recognition—he would go on to publish fourteen titles in the series.

Freemantle has written dozens of other novels, including two featuring Sebastian Holmes, an illegitimate son of Sherlock Holmes, and the Cowley and Danilov series, about an American FBI agent and a Russian militia detective who work together to comabt organized crime in the post-Cold War world. Freemantle lives and works in London, Englad.

Reviews

[Scott Head · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freemantle is a superior writer, among the top 5 in the spy genre in my opinion. But he has some of the worst book covers of all, far too many publishers. This series is so very good that it deserves a well designed paperback release from a quality publisher.

[Diogenes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plotted with the complexity of a championship chess game, there's enough irony, abuse of power, deception and comeuppance to keep the reader captivated to the last page in this anthem for the underdog. Perhaps the best of Charlie Muffin.

[Krishnan Nair · Rating 5 out of 5]

I realised when I visited the Goodreads page for this book that this is the tenth book in this series. If anyone ever told me I would be ten books into a spy thriller series featuring the same character, I wouldn't have taken them seriously. But there you have it. To me, the fact that this series continues to have impressive twists and turns is a testament to the author's ability.

Coming to this book, the blurb actually covers a pretty substantial portion of the book even through there are many things happening in the book. I didn't expect Natalia to still be an important character so many books after she was introduced.

While there were a few things you could predict like Gower being captured because he was double crossed the twists near the end were excellent and I had to reread some of it to understand exactly what had happened. It sets up some stuff for the next book that I am very interested in seeing play out. I hope Charlie and Natalia finally reunite because I am a sucker for such romances.

Overall, this was a very entertaining book. I'm glad I decided to take a chance on a Cold War thriller all those months ago.

[Richard M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leaves you hanging!

What’s next for Charlie? I’ll be reading the next volume to find out. This one was a gem. Charlie shows a couple of his sides to us, proving once again that he is the survivor of survivors. He also shows his human side beneath that cynical and scruffy exterior. His apprentice needs him and he comes through.

[Garry Wall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charlie's a genius at survival as always. I never grow tired of seeing him outsmart the ones trying to do him in.

[Tim Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

To date I consider this the best book of a very good series

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+

[Shawn MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are just getting better and better.

[Adolfo Ramon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've heard good things about it. But it just didn't work for me. I don't know what exactly to blame for, but it was a tough reading.

[BettyAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished this book. Not my usual pick for a book because of the time period- '90's, and the whole spy stuff. But from the beginning I was hooked. I didn't give it 5 stars because there were some loose ends that I want to know what happens! I guess that's a good thing since I will be checking out more in this series. Also, it was pretty confusing there at the end and I thought just a tad bit too easy how Charlie was able to figure it all out. Made it seem like everyone around him was extremely incompetent. But overall, I'm glad I read it, and like I mentioned, I am going to find more in the series.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read. Like the other books in the Charlie Muffin series you need to have read them in the order of publication to keep up with the characters and where in the world the story is. This book jumps more than the others, from London to Moscow to China in the middle of a chapter without notification.