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The Hidden Man
Christopher Keen, once a master spy, is murdered in cold blood. His sons Mark and Benjamin, though they hadn't seen their father for over twenty years, are now drawn into the legacy of his life as a spy as they set out to discover the truth and avenge their father's death.
But as their search proceeds, more questions arise--is Christopher's death connected to his past life in MI6? Was his eldest son involved in a conspiracy that links him to Moscow, Afghanistan, and the Russian mafia? Bestselling author Charles Cumming delivers a thriller that delves into the complicated double lives of spies, and what happens when their half-told secrets die with them.
But as their search proceeds, more questions arise--is Christopher's death connected to his past life in MI6? Was his eldest son involved in a conspiracy that links him to Moscow, Afghanistan, and the Russian mafia? Bestselling author Charles Cumming delivers a thriller that delves into the complicated double lives of spies, and what happens when their half-told secrets die with them.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
178 people are currently reading
954 people want to read
About the author
Charles Cumming
26 books1,281 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 86 reviews
June 12, 2019
Charles Cumming is a “newish” author in the spy/espionage genre, his books dating back to 2001, and he has been favorably compared to John LeCarre. Now before you George Smiley fans start hyperventilating, here’s the good news and maybe the bad news. The author’s characters are very reminiscent of LeCarre’s. They are self-centered, manipulative, scheming, secretive and more than occasionally, flat-out liars – in a word smarmy. Cumming also likes to mix his amateur spies with the professionals. On the other hand, the author’s plots, even with all the underhanded double dealing, are nowhere near as convoluted or opaque as LeCarre’s. I will leave it up to the reader to decide if this is a positive or a negative. Cumming’s books deal with mind games instead of mindless action and along with LeCarre, one can see Graham Greene influences with this author.
The Hidden Man follows this formula. Two brothers are found by their father, who abandoned them years ago - when they were just young boys - for a life as a British spy. This reconciliation is not without its ups and downs, but unfortunately before there is a resolution, the two brothers find themselves “fatherless” once again. (I am being deliberately vague here so as not to spoil the plot.) Now, the two brothers – amateurs - are thrust into the “professional” world of spydom as they attempt to get to know their “estranged” father and figure what happened to him.
I enjoyed this book. There are good and bad characters, many of them a combination of both, and of course some “smarmy” ones. There are a few scenes that stretch credibility/plausibility – particularly near the conclusion – but they are the exception. If you are looking for a change of pace or something a little more cerebral in a spy thriller, you won’t go wrong picking up this book.
The Hidden Man follows this formula. Two brothers are found by their father, who abandoned them years ago - when they were just young boys - for a life as a British spy. This reconciliation is not without its ups and downs, but unfortunately before there is a resolution, the two brothers find themselves “fatherless” once again. (I am being deliberately vague here so as not to spoil the plot.) Now, the two brothers – amateurs - are thrust into the “professional” world of spydom as they attempt to get to know their “estranged” father and figure what happened to him.
I enjoyed this book. There are good and bad characters, many of them a combination of both, and of course some “smarmy” ones. There are a few scenes that stretch credibility/plausibility – particularly near the conclusion – but they are the exception. If you are looking for a change of pace or something a little more cerebral in a spy thriller, you won’t go wrong picking up this book.
October 14, 2011
This book was remarkably difficult to find in the US. It is not (legally) available as an ebook, it is in very few libraries, and difficult to find on Amazon or on book swap web pages. It's a good read, but like the other Cumming books it's a slow build (and it's a lot slower build than his others, which are slow to build). The first 60% of this book, until the first murder, just seems like padding to make the book get to novel-length. If you make it that far (and a little bit farther), then the book gets really interesting, and a lot happens in the last few pages, but I still only kept going because my experience with other Cumming novels was that the payoff was considerable. Here, I still had to convince myself that it was going to get interesting at some point.
April 24, 2023
Struggled through. Just too complicated. Overall I thought the characterisation of the Secret Service people was a bit too one dimensional. I note he’s written a lot of thrillers and I do love a thriller but he is not an author I plan to delve deeper into.
April 6, 2017
If you look for the best contemporary spy novels, you’ve probably come across the work of Charles Cumming. His books, including The Trinity Six, A Spy by Nature, Typhoon, A Colder War, and A Foreign Country represent some of the best espionage fiction to be published in recent years. Unlike so many of his competitors in the genre, Cumming’s characters are believable and his plots generally fall somewhere within the bounds of possibility. His flawed heroes, Alec Milius and Thomas Kell, resemble John Le Carre’s George Smiley more closely than James Bond, and their adversaries are real-world spy agencies rather than such fantasies as Spectre. Cumming’s work doesn’t attain the literary heights of The Spy Who Came In From the Cold or Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, but few writers working today in the genre have mastered the craft as well as he. (Joseph Kanon and Olen Steinhauer are among the few I’ve read recently.)
In The Hidden Man, Cumming tells the story of two English brothers, Thomas and Benjamin Keen. Thomas, a bachelor and the older of the two, is a top executive in a fast-growing company that builds and runs nightclubs around the world; Benjamin is a painter who does not like to be called an “artist.” (Yes, he’s a difficult person.) Their well-born father, Christopher, formerly of MI6, is working in London for a private sector corporate intelligence firm when he is murdered in his flat by an unknown assailant.
Thomas is recruited by MI5 to spy on the shady goings-on at his nightclub company on the pretext that his efforts will help find his father’s murderer. Soon, MI6 and the CIA get into the act, Thomas draws his brother into the case, and complications ensue, with the three agencies undermining one another’s activities. Along the way we learn about the complex, three-way relationship among the two brothers and their father and gain an inside look at Western intelligence work in Afghanistan during the years of the Soviet occupation. With conflicting accounts about the past coming to light, the truth is difficult to unravel. The novel is suspenseful to the end.
Cumming began writing The Hidden Man in 2001 — before 9/11, years before Google and Facebook became household names. (Google was founded in 1998, and Facebook wasn’t even launched until 2004.) In an Author’s Note to the belated U.S. edition, he calls it his “difficult” second novel — difficult, perhaps, because any novelist attempting to follow a successful first novel (A Spy by Nature) is likely to struggle. Despite the long delay in its American publication, The Hidden Man is a worthy addition to Cumming’s portfolio.
In The Hidden Man, Cumming tells the story of two English brothers, Thomas and Benjamin Keen. Thomas, a bachelor and the older of the two, is a top executive in a fast-growing company that builds and runs nightclubs around the world; Benjamin is a painter who does not like to be called an “artist.” (Yes, he’s a difficult person.) Their well-born father, Christopher, formerly of MI6, is working in London for a private sector corporate intelligence firm when he is murdered in his flat by an unknown assailant.
Thomas is recruited by MI5 to spy on the shady goings-on at his nightclub company on the pretext that his efforts will help find his father’s murderer. Soon, MI6 and the CIA get into the act, Thomas draws his brother into the case, and complications ensue, with the three agencies undermining one another’s activities. Along the way we learn about the complex, three-way relationship among the two brothers and their father and gain an inside look at Western intelligence work in Afghanistan during the years of the Soviet occupation. With conflicting accounts about the past coming to light, the truth is difficult to unravel. The novel is suspenseful to the end.
Cumming began writing The Hidden Man in 2001 — before 9/11, years before Google and Facebook became household names. (Google was founded in 1998, and Facebook wasn’t even launched until 2004.) In an Author’s Note to the belated U.S. edition, he calls it his “difficult” second novel — difficult, perhaps, because any novelist attempting to follow a successful first novel (A Spy by Nature) is likely to struggle. Despite the long delay in its American publication, The Hidden Man is a worthy addition to Cumming’s portfolio.
March 11, 2023
The Hidden Man was mostly an enjoyable book which i would give 3.5 stars. I was mostly quite engaged throughout and Cummings is a skilled writer. My issues were that the plot became a bit confusing at times, I would have liked some more resolution (it seemed to wrap up quickly) and I couldn’t quite work out why Mark was so happy and eager to work with Taploe against his own business partners. Bringing them down would bring down their entire operation? The whole thing about being a spy like his Dad seemed childish and ridiculous. I was also annoyed by a few typos and how Mark and Ben kept calling each other “brother”. All in all though a good book and an author I would read again.
May 3, 2017
If your looking for more insight on the 'why' of people in government secret service you might find some enlightening tidbits here. If your looking for a "spy thriller", it is not within this story at all.
March 17, 2021
A decent tale rather let down by a weak plot that required a whole chapter at the end to pull it together. The characters were unlikeable and the basic premise was rather weak.
November 25, 2017
As the author, Charles Cumming, states in his foreword, " The Hidden Man" was his "' difficult"' novel. It did not come up to his best.
Christopher Keen is murdered. He had two sons, one, Mark with whom he had contact,and the other Benjamin, with whom he was estranged. Keen senior had left his wife and sons some twenty years earlier. Benjamin never forgave him for that desertion and could not understand Mark's forgiving of his father. After their father's death, the brothers find out about their father's hidden life as a British agent and his involvement with Russian criminal figures.
The relationship between the two sons and its unraveling comprises nearly the first half of the book.
Benmamin , a mildly successful artist comes across as a bitter, moody and depressive character. His wife barely tolerates his and hangs on because, it seems, that it does her career as a journalist good to have an artist husband. Mark is business manager for a group that runs trendy nightclubs in various countries, including Russia and the U.K. He is a more likeable and more successful as a person.
It is after Mark begins to see connections with his Russian bosses and what might have caused his father's murders that things become more intersting, if also more tangled. Perhaps because I read " The Hidden Man" over a busy holiday period, with many interruptions, I had a difficult time keeping the different agents, counter-agents, the tangled net of money movers and thugs identified. Still, by the end, the story got tighter and more interesting.
Mr. Cumming almost pulled it off and made this a good novel. I very much rate his espionage novels as of the highest quality, with taut plotting and interesting characters. This one did not quite make it to that level, but It is still better than most. On the three stars rating, and that is because of the author's other novels .
Christopher Keen is murdered. He had two sons, one, Mark with whom he had contact,and the other Benjamin, with whom he was estranged. Keen senior had left his wife and sons some twenty years earlier. Benjamin never forgave him for that desertion and could not understand Mark's forgiving of his father. After their father's death, the brothers find out about their father's hidden life as a British agent and his involvement with Russian criminal figures.
The relationship between the two sons and its unraveling comprises nearly the first half of the book.
Benmamin , a mildly successful artist comes across as a bitter, moody and depressive character. His wife barely tolerates his and hangs on because, it seems, that it does her career as a journalist good to have an artist husband. Mark is business manager for a group that runs trendy nightclubs in various countries, including Russia and the U.K. He is a more likeable and more successful as a person.
It is after Mark begins to see connections with his Russian bosses and what might have caused his father's murders that things become more intersting, if also more tangled. Perhaps because I read " The Hidden Man" over a busy holiday period, with many interruptions, I had a difficult time keeping the different agents, counter-agents, the tangled net of money movers and thugs identified. Still, by the end, the story got tighter and more interesting.
Mr. Cumming almost pulled it off and made this a good novel. I very much rate his espionage novels as of the highest quality, with taut plotting and interesting characters. This one did not quite make it to that level, but It is still better than most. On the three stars rating, and that is because of the author's other novels .
June 24, 2016
This was my first book by Charles Cumming. I came across a review, which compared him to Le Carre, an author I liked a lot in the past and read most of his books. So that got my interest, and I can see the similarities.
I enjoyed the book, and finished it pretty quickly. There was a lot going on, and I was slightly lost at the end, probably due mostly to the Russian names, and the fact that at least one had multiple names. Also, the main English characters were two brothers and their father, so those last names were also the same.
The ending came a bit abruptly. I had expected more, but it's often good when a book does not follow your expectations. I'll probably read more of his books, though. I think this was an earlier one, so perhaps the later ones will be a little smoother.
I enjoyed the book, and finished it pretty quickly. There was a lot going on, and I was slightly lost at the end, probably due mostly to the Russian names, and the fact that at least one had multiple names. Also, the main English characters were two brothers and their father, so those last names were also the same.
The ending came a bit abruptly. I had expected more, but it's often good when a book does not follow your expectations. I'll probably read more of his books, though. I think this was an earlier one, so perhaps the later ones will be a little smoother.
June 5, 2012
Having read all of the other spy thrillers written by Charles Cummings (A Spy by Nature, Spanish Game, Typhoon & Trinity Six), I was stoked to finally lay my hands on Cumming's very first novel. This debut novel painted a grim picture of contemporary intelligence world that is as compromising, ruthless and dirty as the Cold War espionage portrayed in Jon Le Carre's novels. Though not as complex and intriguing as Cumming's other wroks, it is still a very impressive debut from a former spy.
February 6, 2019
Best left unpublished
Cumming has written several exciting spy novels, this isn't one of them. Choppy dialogue, implausible plot twists and heavily stereo typical characters make this a book to wade through. The author stated in the forward to this novel that he resurrected it after many years. My question is why? Was it the lure of lucre? Nesbo has done the same scam with similar results. Goodbye Mr. Cumming!
Cumming has written several exciting spy novels, this isn't one of them. Choppy dialogue, implausible plot twists and heavily stereo typical characters make this a book to wade through. The author stated in the forward to this novel that he resurrected it after many years. My question is why? Was it the lure of lucre? Nesbo has done the same scam with similar results. Goodbye Mr. Cumming!
April 1, 2012
It may be because my reading of the book was interrupted a number of times but although initially I found the story line interesting, intriguing and entertaining, by the time I got to the end I was rather more confused by what I'd read than I had expected. Cummings is a recently favorite author of mine but this one won't be a memorable read unfortunately.
June 1, 2019
I needed some new authors so was given this as an option in Waterstones.
Slow start are the comments made by others. Was pretty much hooked in the first chapter. Was bored by page 42, where is this story going, it seemed to ramble on. Too many different characters and "no link between them". Sorry this is a thumbs down from me.
Probable back to Jeffrey Deaver
Slow start are the comments made by others. Was pretty much hooked in the first chapter. Was bored by page 42, where is this story going, it seemed to ramble on. Too many different characters and "no link between them". Sorry this is a thumbs down from me.
Probable back to Jeffrey Deaver
December 1, 2018
I think so far I've liked Cumming's The Spanish Game more than the others.
July 8, 2020
Over the last few years Charles Cumming has garnered a reputation as one of the leading British writers of spy fiction, and has even been widely feted as "the new John le Carré". Having read some of his recent novels, including The Trinity Six, and A Foreign Country I might be inclined to agree. If, however, I had read this book at the time it was first published I doubt whether I would ever have troubled to read any of his subsequent offerings.
The basic premise upon which the novel is based is the strained relationship between former spy, Christopher Keen, and his two sons Mark and Ben. Christopher walked out on his family and then went more than twenty years without seeing either of his sons. After a few meetings, he manages a slight rapprochement with Mark but Ben continues to refuse to see him. Christopher now works for a firm of consultants, advising businesses that are trying to establish bases in Russia, and as luck would have it, one of his clients is the company that Mark works for.
Meanwhile, Christopher is approached by MI5 who see him as a useful source of intelligence about organised crime in Russia, and they ask him to keep an eye on the progress of his son's employer whom they suspect of involvement in drug and/or people trafficking. Christopher is intrigued and, seeing a chance to strengthen his relationship with his son, he agrees.
All seems to be going well … until Christopher is suddenly murdered …
This all sounds enticing enough. Unfortunately, however, I found that the plot progressed at a tortuously slow pace, and the characters are, frankly, utterly unbelievable. I have enjoyed Cumming's later books, which have been notable for the strength of their plotting and the plausibility and empathy of his characters, but it would appear that he was still learning his art with this book.
The basic premise upon which the novel is based is the strained relationship between former spy, Christopher Keen, and his two sons Mark and Ben. Christopher walked out on his family and then went more than twenty years without seeing either of his sons. After a few meetings, he manages a slight rapprochement with Mark but Ben continues to refuse to see him. Christopher now works for a firm of consultants, advising businesses that are trying to establish bases in Russia, and as luck would have it, one of his clients is the company that Mark works for.
Meanwhile, Christopher is approached by MI5 who see him as a useful source of intelligence about organised crime in Russia, and they ask him to keep an eye on the progress of his son's employer whom they suspect of involvement in drug and/or people trafficking. Christopher is intrigued and, seeing a chance to strengthen his relationship with his son, he agrees.
All seems to be going well … until Christopher is suddenly murdered …
This all sounds enticing enough. Unfortunately, however, I found that the plot progressed at a tortuously slow pace, and the characters are, frankly, utterly unbelievable. I have enjoyed Cumming's later books, which have been notable for the strength of their plotting and the plausibility and empathy of his characters, but it would appear that he was still learning his art with this book.
November 27, 2019
With The Hidden Man, I have now read two Charles Cumming novels in short succession. What made it an interesting experience was the order I read the books in. This book was the first Mr. Cumming wrote though it wasn't published until after a few if his other books had made it to print. So while I was picked it up thinking I was reading a later book from his body of work, I was actually getting a peek into his development as a writer. It's obvious he's always had a passion and a talent for this type of thing, but it's also amazing how much being a professional writer helps a writer develop.
As The Hidden Man unfolds, the reader is given a peek into the workings of the English Security Services (MI5), the Russian mafia, and the effects of a life of time spent as a spy (MI6) on family life. These insights are delivered in the context of a murder and the investigation which follows. The main two characters are brothers of a family broken by their father's service (MI6) who get drawn into the investigation of his murder in a more active way than perhaps either would have signed up for (MI5).
Like the last book I read from Mr. Cumming, the book doesn't resolve itself neatly. This doesn't mean to imply there isn't a resolution, I just mean there is residual tension at the end. I feel like this is a more genuine representation of this world and, while I enjoy a good spy thriller in the vein of James Bond or Alexander Hawke, I find I prefer this style a bit more.
As The Hidden Man unfolds, the reader is given a peek into the workings of the English Security Services (MI5), the Russian mafia, and the effects of a life of time spent as a spy (MI6) on family life. These insights are delivered in the context of a murder and the investigation which follows. The main two characters are brothers of a family broken by their father's service (MI6) who get drawn into the investigation of his murder in a more active way than perhaps either would have signed up for (MI5).
Like the last book I read from Mr. Cumming, the book doesn't resolve itself neatly. This doesn't mean to imply there isn't a resolution, I just mean there is residual tension at the end. I feel like this is a more genuine representation of this world and, while I enjoy a good spy thriller in the vein of James Bond or Alexander Hawke, I find I prefer this style a bit more.
November 20, 2016
Mark and Ben Keen have been estranged from their father for many years. Christopher Keen left the family when he became absorbed in a career with MI6. Now retired, he wants to establish a relationship with his sons. His attempts to connect are rebuked by one son and cautiously accepted by the other. The tenuous connection is broken when Christopher is murdered.
Mark is an executive with an entertainment company that is opening clubs in Russia. His Russian contacts are of interest to Christopher's old employer. Are they related to the murder?
The Hidden Man is Charles Cumming's sophomore effort. It's somewhat lacking compared to other books he's written. The story builds slowly with most of the action occurring close to the end. Not bad, but don't be deterred. His later books are top notch.
Mark is an executive with an entertainment company that is opening clubs in Russia. His Russian contacts are of interest to Christopher's old employer. Are they related to the murder?
The Hidden Man is Charles Cumming's sophomore effort. It's somewhat lacking compared to other books he's written. The story builds slowly with most of the action occurring close to the end. Not bad, but don't be deterred. His later books are top notch.
July 12, 2025
Not good. Far too complicated. I counted 22 characters. He even introduces five more in the last quarter of the book. It's impossible to follow and at a certain point you're just not minded to. It reminded me of The Scarlet Papers by Matthew Richardson in that it's like three books in one, when all you wanted was one followable one. Collapses under its own weight. When it's not explaining more plot it's enjoyable and can breeze along for 20 pages or so. Still a fan of Cumming but an editor should have had a serious word with him.
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February 20, 2023I first started reading Charles Cumming during the Thomas Kell series and so this is the first of his earlier works I have read. I enjoyed it greatly. I quickly became drawn into the plotline and couldn't put it down. Characters had great depth and the main protagonists were extremely likeable. I also enjoyed reading a spy thriller set in the early 2000s before social media, wats app and the rise of disinformation.
I would recommend this book to anyone who's interested in spy fiction.
I would recommend this book to anyone who's interested in spy fiction.
March 18, 2021
Not the best spy novel I've read, it was hard to keep track of all the different people and to what agency they worked for. you surmised that one of the brothers would have a tragedy, and no surprise at the last few pages. the 2 brothers Mark and Ben seem so totally opposite and not very close but the same dislike of their father a long time spy.
March 24, 2021
This book was somewhat different from the previous two books by Charles Cumming. The genre is still spying, but there was a much greater focus on two brothers who get caught up in the spying game.
As with the other books in the series, this was very readable. Probably a touch more disjointed too, as all the elements of the story competed with each other.
I will read more of his work, however
As with the other books in the series, this was very readable. Probably a touch more disjointed too, as all the elements of the story competed with each other.
I will read more of his work, however
July 30, 2021
Oh dear, Cumming's preface states this is his second book. The plot is unclear, convoluted and not in an engaging way. Lots of background Wikipedia-type description as characters brief each other about political climate and events, which is over-long and boring. Read selectively from Cumming's later books, which are very entertaining.
November 3, 2022
There was a time when I really enjoyed Charles Cumming's books. But his more recent books have drifted into Robert Ludlum territory and the early ones (this was his second) suffer from confusing plotlines. His middle period (A Spt By Nature onwards) is undoubtedly his best. This was an adequate read for a flight, but I don't think I'll bother again.
June 23, 2023
This was an interesting read, though I will admit I don't remember it as well as I'd like, as I read it a couple of years ago. I will have to do another reading of it. Cumming's work stood out to me as descriptive and controlled, offering differing perspectives throughout the piece. The ending is remarkable.
November 11, 2018
This is one of the best spy novels I've read for a while. Not so much because of the tradecraft and the spying but because of the relationships between father and son, brothers, husband and wife. It has all the classic MI5/SIS conflict but the family conflicts are much more interesting.
August 22, 2020
Was this really written by Cumming?
Lots of hissy fits between brothers, a plastic wife, a predatory smoothie, a clumsy plot.....I could go on.
NOT up to his clean, well-paced style; I can only hope that this was one of his earlier novels.
Lots of hissy fits between brothers, a plastic wife, a predatory smoothie, a clumsy plot.....I could go on.
NOT up to his clean, well-paced style; I can only hope that this was one of his earlier novels.
June 3, 2021
A disappointment after reading Cummings' other novels. Although it eventually becomes a spy story, the first half is a mundane family saga that tediously plods along. The wait for anything interesting just wasn't worth it. In the final chapter, the story truly emerges.
May 24, 2017
I kind of lost the plot at the denouement.
May 28, 2017
Excellent combination of the convoluted machinations practiced in the spy craft of MI5, MI6, and the CIA along with various Russian counterparts.
July 30, 2017
This is an accomplished author so it was very readable. But it was not one of his best. The plot was very convoluted and it was bleak.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews