Traitor's Kiss

by Gerald Seymour

An English trawler strays into Russian waters. When it returns, the captain has a package to deliver to British intelligence.

For the next four years a high-ranked Russian naval officer, Viktor Archenko, passes valuable information to MI6. Suddenly the flow of information stops. His contacts in London know nothing about him but they know that he's under suspicion. The time has come to get him out.

But a new breed plays the spy game now: men like Gabriel Locke. They have no interest in irrelevant Cold War sparring or the risk of a scandal. Only one veteran agent realizes that there is much more at stake than one man s life.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Espionage, Crime

428 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Gerald Seymour (born 25 November 1941 in Guildford, Surrey) is a British writer.

The son of two literary figures, he was educated at Kelly College at Tavistock in Devon and took a BA Hons degree in Modern History at University College London. Initially a journalist, he joined ITN in 1963, covering such topics as the Great Train Robbery, Vietnam, Ireland, the Munich Olympics massacre, Germany's Red Army, Italy's Red Brigades and Palestinian militant groups. His first book, Harry's Game, was published in 1975, and Seymour then became a full-time novelist, living in the West Country. In 1999, he featured in the Oscar-winning television film, One Day in September, which portrayed the Munich Olympics massacre.
Television adaptations have been made of his books Harry's Game, The Glory Boys, The Contract, Red Fox, Field Of Blood, A Line In The Sand and The Waiting Time.

Reviews

[Richard Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's a writer who has definitely found his groove in the modern spy, suspense world. A position that rivals John LeCarre's original supreme level. You'll want to dig out the world atlas and locate Kaliningrad, Russia to see why it's both forgotten and at the same time one of the most strategic of Russian missile and troop sites on the North Sea! The tension within the book is palpable. A high ranking Russian military spy, living and working within this fortress of Russian defenses, with access to a General's top secret papers. The play-off and intrigue between the spy and the old style Soviet KGB counterspy system is accurate and well written. The resurrection of the old British commando type unit with all it's quirks constantly undercut by a modern Whitehall man who no longer believes in boots on the ground makes for a classic chess match of wits, bullying and countermoves in this race to pull out a spy who has been made but not yet put in chains. The side story of the Russian spy catcher and interrogator is absolutely amazing. It doesn't take water boarding to break even the toughest of men, only patience, empathy and the one on one techniques of a master. This is my pick for the best spy novel I've read. Action to the very end!

[Ginnz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slow, ponderous and when the action was supposed to be kicking in, it still felt slow and ponderous.
What is it with authors killing everyone off at the end. The story had promise but I just didn't get into the story. Ironically the character I disliked the most in the was the one who showed the most growth and became less of a pratt.

[Nik Morton · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a few years since I’ve read any Gerald Seymour thrillers; I’ve had Traitor’s Kiss on my shelf since 2004, its date of paperback publication (originally published 2003). I have yet to be disappointed in one of his novels, and I’m happy to write that this is no exception. Even when some feature a downbeat ending, I’ve appreciated the storytelling, the research, the characters and the honesty in the writing.

It begins in 1998 when a Russian officer hands over a wad of secret papers to a British trawlerman in the port of Murmansk. The papers are delivered to SIS operative Rupert Mowbray; genuine details from Captain Viktor Alexander Archenko, Russian Navy.

Some five years later, a dead drop by the Archenko doesn’t happen. The SIS handlers fear the worst: their contact is blown. But Archenko isn’t, though he has detected security men shadowing him. So begins a race against time – before the net closes in on a useful asset.

Some in the higher echelons of SIS consider the asset is a lost cause. But this goes against Mowbray’s sense of honour: he wants to organise an operation to get Archenko out.

As the Mission Impossible team is unavailable, Mowbray seeks the help of ex-SAS men – Billy, Lofty, Wickso and Ham – to extract Archenko from under the noses of the Russians. Closing in on Archenko is Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Bikov, an experienced interrogator.

At just over 500 pages, this tense thriller is a fast page-turner, all of it believable. Helping Mowbray is Alice, who was at the first clandestine meeting with Archenko all those years ago. She’d fallen in love with him and was now with Mowbray and the extraction team heading for Kaliningrad. All the familiar tropes are here – intelligence hardware, tradecraft, weapons, insider knowledge of the Russian naval system, soul sapping suspense of constantly being aware of being a traitor, the justification for the deceit, the bravery and heroism of the various protagonists.

Highly recommended.

[Alistair Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am going to try to write a review without spoilers, so may seem a bit obscure.

Trying to work out the shape of the story at the beginning, I was unsure it could be sustained for a whole book; it seemed that the likely arc was quite straight-forward, so surely it was going to have to develop into something else? However, the basic story does continue for the whole book, quite cleverly.

It starts quite cinematically, with a number of different scenes and characters with no obvious connection, but nevertheless felt me wanting to know what would happen next. They did eventually come together, but there were still small subplots going through, still keeping my curiosity. I was always wondering whether the 'goodies' were going to succeed, but at the same time it is quite clever in not always being obvious who are the 'goodies'.

I was a bit disappointed with the way it came to an end, rather abruptly. On the one hand, it would have been pointless to drag out the ending in the same level of detail, but on the other it felt a bit like a child who bores of retelling a fairy tale, so resorts to, 'Then the wolf died and they all lived happily ever after.' ('They all lived happily ever after' is not a spoiler).

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really hard to get into..........seemed a little long winded as in too descriptive at times. Once the characters started to come together I really started to enjoy this book.

Different from what I have read before but by the end I could not put it down!

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Traitor's Kiss takes a little while to build momentum covering the building blocks of the story in depth, however once laid the machinations of each character slowly unfold moving towards a climatic ending.

It's about a Russian who decides to spy for the UK and is then caught through a small error, the UK decides to do nothing so a administration officer leaks what is happening to a retired spy who decides to take matters into his own hands and push for an ex-filtration of the prized spy. Whilst some characters are unlikable then redeem themselves to a degree others seem to be a perfect example then push things too far.

I found it to be a good story that kept my attention, would recommend for anyone who enjoys a spy tale.

[M.K. South · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would describe this book as a study into the characters of nearly 20 participants of an exfiltration op of a busted Russian spy. It would have been a suspenseful page turner, if not for literary digressions in the times and lives and thoughts of the characters, none of whom seems to be the MC. Another thing that made me roll my eyes was page (or more)-long monologues that most of the characters deliver to their interlocutors, time and again, incl. during the most suspenseful moments of the novel. Otherwise, loved the writing!

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring. One star since it felt like a chore to read. Forced myself through 1/3 of the book but never wanted to read. Read it only out of a compulsive need to finish, but end then didn’t bother. The book drags with so much detail and introduced too much in the beginning. The different people slowly begin to tie together but in an incredibly slow way.

I suspect the book might amp up towards the climax, but the pacing is off.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great - gripping story with excellent characterisation and superb feeling for the times + the situation. The story was very credible but spoiled a bit by the rather drawn out & more than unbelievable ending.

A lot of thrillers like this, in common with many pieces of classical music, seem to have long, slow drawn out endings which rather spoil the overall experience. However, I’m not picking here - I really enjoyed this one, to my surprise.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid thriller involving an almost certainly doomed MI6 attempt to exfiltrate a Russian asset from Kaliningrad. The pace was a little uneven at times, and the ending a little too predictable, but on th whole this was an entertaining read. I'll be keeping my eye out for some of the author's other works.

[Emma Milan · Rating 3 out of 5]

rtc

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tension filled spy thriller with an uniquely creative ending.

[Eric Grounds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cracking good tale. I have read it before but do not regret doing so again. I can only learn from the Master how to craft a good read

[Nakul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rivetting. Detailed. Have a map.

[Ann Repetto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read though improbable. And I did skip over some too-long passages.

[Leigh Harrison · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's official, Gerald Seymour has lost his mojo. I enjoyed several of his earlier books, but his more recent outings fail to ring true.

[Patrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

too much russian

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Seymour, always gives you a good one.

[Marilyn M · Rating 1 out of 5]

really sucked - didn't finish it

[Barry Bridges · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seymour has this way of storytelling that starts slow and slowly builds, dragging you in, taking you along, until the final crescendo which leaves you stunned by the reality of the denouement. Beautiful.

[Sujeetha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the stirring books I have read in recent times. Maybe old-age is catching up to me and I am becoming sentimental but still Seymour has a way of giving blended and blistered edges to his characters. Nobody is described as being larger-than-life, and at the end of the story pragmatism rules. When I was younger, I used to avoid his books like the plague, and his writing style used to give me splitting headaches. Now I am able to appreciate the melancholy in his writing, and the feeling appeals to my sense of liking.
The characters behave like you and I will, and never are any cinematic qualities brought out. For that end, Seymour remains a true critic of his own work. Seymour has often been accused of as being formulaic, but then who is not? If the formula is going to keep me gripped then I do not mind, give me excess of it!

[Kev · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reasonable read but took a while to get into. I came close to giving up but in the end I persevered and was rewarded with compelling page turning at the end but still somehow felt disappointed. I never really understood who I was rooting for, there was no clear hero. I am guessing that if you have the time to site down and read more than a few pages at a time then it would have been far more rewarding. Young family and bus job make this difficult for me. I still recommend it though as I usually don't get. To the end if I think something is crap, life is too short.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Complex story. Well developed characters. Fiction/nonfiction/historical/mystery/thriller. The very best stories are ALL of these. Seymour is among the best of the best in the spy/historical fiction space. I made all sort of excuses to not put down this book, and now I miss it. I think there is more truth and insight and wisdom in this sort of work than any other, with the possible exception of the incredible exploration stories such as Endurance and Jo's Anything Worth Doing...

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cold War intrigue can seem a bit "last century" these days, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. I like spy thrillers and this one had enough plot twists and turns and interesting characters to keep me flipping the pages.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was enthralled most of the way through but found the ending landed far too softly and conveniently. He could've saved himself about 100 pages by cutting out details that I didn't find added to the storyline.

[Andrew Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got about half way through then gave up. Story took a long time to get started and never had me hooked.

First time I have ever failed to complete a book.

[Jim Ballengee · Rating 5 out of 5]

a real master of the spionage novel

[Lynette Barfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book. This author writes excellent psychological thrillers. All I have read are diferent and hard to put down. I intend to read all of his that I can find.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Gerald Seymour's books - although they are usually depressing.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific thriller, very enjoyable.