What do you think?
Rate this book
Dark Flag
When an old university friend is murdered in Copenhagen, Sam Webster is determined to uncover the truth of what happened to him, and to unearth the conspiracy which might have played a part in his death. The Danish police don't want Sam to get involved, the CIA want him out of the city, but what none of them knows is that Sam is perfectly placed to uncover such a crime, because creating conspiracies was once his job. This time, though, even Sam might be out of his depth - is it possible that his old friend's death is linked not just to a conspiracy, but to the biggest news event of this century...? Kevin Wignall is the author of five novels, including the Edgar-nominated "Who is Conrad Hirst?", and "For the Dogs" which is currently being turned into a movie. www.kevinwignall.com
244 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
87 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Wignall
41 books560 followersArmy Child till age nine.
Settled back in a small town in the west of England.
Lancaster University - degree in Politics &
International Relations.
Writer.
Also writes as K.J. Wignall
Email: kevin@kevinwignall.com
Settled back in a small town in the west of England.
Lancaster University - degree in Politics &
International Relations.
Writer.
Also writes as K.J. Wignall
Email: kevin@kevinwignall.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
March 26, 2021
4.5 Stars
October 4, 2023
Ouch, this is so messy. The protagonist is Sam Webster and he is both hero and villain in this book. By his own admission, he resigned from the secret service because he was appalled by the acts he performed and manipulated for a greater good. When he could no longer repeat that mantra he saw that he had blood on his hands. When he couldn’t wash that blood away he was left seeking some redemption.
That opportunity appears to have presented itself when an old college friend reaches out to him for help.
I struggled with the book as it was so difficult to warm to Sam. Even though he appears to be acting with higher motives and in a selfless manner his our thoughts still reveal to the reader he is amoral. His actions are perhaps self serving as he cannot hide his envy of his friend’s life and his over-riding motive for getting involved was to see his friend’s wife.
His visit to see them in Copenhagen fails to save Todd and thereafter Hannah becomes the grieving widow. However, he resolves to find answers no-one appears to want him to find.
Kevin Wignall has produced an inside out spy thriller that shows the dirty side of those agencies like the CIA. In Tom Furst the CIA controller overseeing this case, Sam sees himself. This relationship is beautifully interwoven and played out in the book. Sam is a mere civilian now but intent on gaining some answers and justice for Hannah.
I loved the uncertainty throughout, the mirror held up to Sam by Tom’s role and methods. The sense of a journey that Sam is on, even being prepared to wash his dirty laundry in public if the CIA were instrumental in Neil Todd’s murder. I enjoyed the lack of closeness he felt to Hannah despite his desire to find himself back as a student, when he was innocent in his own eyes but unable to win the attention of someone like Hannah even life.
The story is a real thriller but the characters are well drawn you care about them apart from Sam whose self-loathing and brutal past prevent a warming to him. You are pleased Hannah rejects his emotional advances and while you want him to solve the mystery you feel tainted by the blurring of the truth and the lack of honour among spies.
That the author can hold this piece together and still bring an unexpected ending leaves one a little breathless. It shows also why readers return to his work and continue to enjoy his candid insights into the world of espionage.
That opportunity appears to have presented itself when an old college friend reaches out to him for help.
I struggled with the book as it was so difficult to warm to Sam. Even though he appears to be acting with higher motives and in a selfless manner his our thoughts still reveal to the reader he is amoral. His actions are perhaps self serving as he cannot hide his envy of his friend’s life and his over-riding motive for getting involved was to see his friend’s wife.
His visit to see them in Copenhagen fails to save Todd and thereafter Hannah becomes the grieving widow. However, he resolves to find answers no-one appears to want him to find.
Kevin Wignall has produced an inside out spy thriller that shows the dirty side of those agencies like the CIA. In Tom Furst the CIA controller overseeing this case, Sam sees himself. This relationship is beautifully interwoven and played out in the book. Sam is a mere civilian now but intent on gaining some answers and justice for Hannah.
I loved the uncertainty throughout, the mirror held up to Sam by Tom’s role and methods. The sense of a journey that Sam is on, even being prepared to wash his dirty laundry in public if the CIA were instrumental in Neil Todd’s murder. I enjoyed the lack of closeness he felt to Hannah despite his desire to find himself back as a student, when he was innocent in his own eyes but unable to win the attention of someone like Hannah even life.
The story is a real thriller but the characters are well drawn you care about them apart from Sam whose self-loathing and brutal past prevent a warming to him. You are pleased Hannah rejects his emotional advances and while you want him to solve the mystery you feel tainted by the blurring of the truth and the lack of honour among spies.
That the author can hold this piece together and still bring an unexpected ending leaves one a little breathless. It shows also why readers return to his work and continue to enjoy his candid insights into the world of espionage.
February 11, 2016
His characters are just so intriguing
Mr. Wignall surely knows how to write a spy story. I just wish I had the words to give a great in-depth review. I like the way his stories start. Right away you are grabbed by your collar and you cannot let go until you finish. I have not been bored with any scene or chapter; the action keeps moving. If you have not read anything by Mr. Wignall, he has a great selection of short stories and novels, all dealing with some sort of hitman/undercover spy who kills, but is really not a killer. His killers have consciences.
Dark Flag was a little different, but still on the same track. Killer wants out of the killing game, but, oh, just one more to go. Always the plot stays fresh and exciting.
You'll enjoy these stories of bad guys go good, mostly. I give it 5 stars, because his books never fail to keep me totally entertained.
Mr. Wignall surely knows how to write a spy story. I just wish I had the words to give a great in-depth review. I like the way his stories start. Right away you are grabbed by your collar and you cannot let go until you finish. I have not been bored with any scene or chapter; the action keeps moving. If you have not read anything by Mr. Wignall, he has a great selection of short stories and novels, all dealing with some sort of hitman/undercover spy who kills, but is really not a killer. His killers have consciences.
Dark Flag was a little different, but still on the same track. Killer wants out of the killing game, but, oh, just one more to go. Always the plot stays fresh and exciting.
You'll enjoy these stories of bad guys go good, mostly. I give it 5 stars, because his books never fail to keep me totally entertained.
October 25, 2019
Sam Webster has left the shady world of doing seriously questionable work for the government behind. Then an old university friend of his is murdered in Copenhagen shortly after telling Sam that he's involved in something dangerous and fears for his life. Determined to uncover what led to his friend's death, Sam begins to look into the matter. The Danish police aren't keen on his meddling, and a CIA officer who has inserted himself into the investigation and seems to know a lot more than he lets on tells Sam to back off, but he refuses to be deterred - and might just have stumbled on a massive conspiracy that endangers anyone who knows about it.
Another intriguing, fastpaced thriller from Wignall. I feel a little ambivalent about the ending, but on the whole this was a thoroughly entertaining read.
Another intriguing, fastpaced thriller from Wignall. I feel a little ambivalent about the ending, but on the whole this was a thoroughly entertaining read.
February 24, 2017
Another good spy novel by Wignall. Its critical political fiction thread may be a reason that the book has not been published in print in English so far. Its first, Finnish edition of 2010, two years later was followed by the German edition, and since 2013 the English Kindle edition has been available from Amazon.
Sam Webster, po akcji, którą przygotował w Bejrucie, porzucił służbę w MI6. Osiemnaście miesięcy później, na prośbę wieloletniego przyjaciela, nadal pracownika wywiadu, jedzie do Kopenhagi, aby pomóc ich wspólnemu znajomemu, Neilowi Toddowi, który czuje się zagrożony. Todd zostaje zamordowany nocą po przyjeździe Webstera. Sam chce i czuje, że musi wyjaśnić, dlaczego. Nie bardzo wierzy, aby sprawcami zbrodni byli islamiści bądź ludzie związani z zachodnimi spółkami handlującymi z bliskowschodnimi państwami, co mogłoby wynikać z naukowej pracy przygotowywanej przez Todda. Poza tym, uważa, że Hannie, wdowie w zaawansowanej ciąży należy się wyjaśnienie przyczyn tragedii. Czy będzie to możliwe?
Na pierwszy rzut oka jest to jedynie dobra, ale typowa powieść sensacyjna, z wartką akcją, moralnymi rozterkami szpiegów, napięciem utrzymującym się do końca, wynikającym nie tylko z rozwoju wydarzeń, także z wyborów, których na każdym kroku dokonują bohaterowie, szpiedzy i cywile. Jednak, jak wiele innych powieści szpiegowskich, także ta zawiera elementy political fiction. A jak istotne są to zdarzenia, z przełomu wieków, świadczy historia wydawnicza książki.
Ciemna Flaga opublikowana została w roku 2010 w języku ... fińskim. Dwa lata później ukazało się jej niemieckie wydanie. Żaden wydawca nie zdecydował się dotychczas na publikację książki drukiem po angielsku. Angielską wersję udostępnia jedynie, wedle mojej wiedzy, Amazon jako tzw. Kindle edition, czyli w wersji elektronicznej. Z nietypową okładką ...
Sam Webster, po akcji, którą przygotował w Bejrucie, porzucił służbę w MI6. Osiemnaście miesięcy później, na prośbę wieloletniego przyjaciela, nadal pracownika wywiadu, jedzie do Kopenhagi, aby pomóc ich wspólnemu znajomemu, Neilowi Toddowi, który czuje się zagrożony. Todd zostaje zamordowany nocą po przyjeździe Webstera. Sam chce i czuje, że musi wyjaśnić, dlaczego. Nie bardzo wierzy, aby sprawcami zbrodni byli islamiści bądź ludzie związani z zachodnimi spółkami handlującymi z bliskowschodnimi państwami, co mogłoby wynikać z naukowej pracy przygotowywanej przez Todda. Poza tym, uważa, że Hannie, wdowie w zaawansowanej ciąży należy się wyjaśnienie przyczyn tragedii. Czy będzie to możliwe?
Na pierwszy rzut oka jest to jedynie dobra, ale typowa powieść sensacyjna, z wartką akcją, moralnymi rozterkami szpiegów, napięciem utrzymującym się do końca, wynikającym nie tylko z rozwoju wydarzeń, także z wyborów, których na każdym kroku dokonują bohaterowie, szpiedzy i cywile. Jednak, jak wiele innych powieści szpiegowskich, także ta zawiera elementy political fiction. A jak istotne są to zdarzenia, z przełomu wieków, świadczy historia wydawnicza książki.
Ciemna Flaga opublikowana została w roku 2010 w języku ... fińskim. Dwa lata później ukazało się jej niemieckie wydanie. Żaden wydawca nie zdecydował się dotychczas na publikację książki drukiem po angielsku. Angielską wersję udostępnia jedynie, wedle mojej wiedzy, Amazon jako tzw. Kindle edition, czyli w wersji elektronicznej. Z nietypową okładką ...
February 25, 2019
Another intelligent spy thriller by Wignall, again involving a morally conflicted protagonist: an operative who leaves the service but is drawn back in when a college friend - now an academic researching the Middle East - is murdered. Everyone is searching for a package that had been left with the researcher which turns out to contain an explosive theory about 9/11. The moral quandary comes back to what the spy thought he was doing before he became disillusioned: small acts of violence for the greater good. I was not completely convinced by the Road to Damascus moment that opens the book but it sets the plot going. The ending is cute.
June 4, 2020
The story is interesting but in the end unconvincing. The message and tone of the novel is one that authors such as Le Carre and Seymour try to convey but Wignall's attempt at it just doesn't come off.
To make so much of a hidden package with such an explosive content that it has CIA involvement and a hint at a conspiracy surrounding 9/11 without disclosure of that story, makes the narrative lose its credibility. The fact that the main character does not read the secret message although he has it in his possession, removes whatever believability the story had.
None of the relationships quite gell although in the end they are the mainstays of the novel.
To make so much of a hidden package with such an explosive content that it has CIA involvement and a hint at a conspiracy surrounding 9/11 without disclosure of that story, makes the narrative lose its credibility. The fact that the main character does not read the secret message although he has it in his possession, removes whatever believability the story had.
None of the relationships quite gell although in the end they are the mainstays of the novel.
July 19, 2019
Masterful storyline and fascinating; the writing is skillful and absorbing.
Kevin Wignall’s writing is superb craftsmanship and his storyline is original. The moral conundrum that is presented deserves a soulsearching rumination by anyone who is concerned with the tensions of the of international politics and conflicts that simmer to become the tragedies of tomorrow.
Kevin Wignall’s writing is superb craftsmanship and his storyline is original. The moral conundrum that is presented deserves a soulsearching rumination by anyone who is concerned with the tensions of the of international politics and conflicts that simmer to become the tragedies of tomorrow.
December 20, 2017
Good story
I’m a big fan of the author, and I enjoyed the more personal relationships in this book than seemed in his other books. I was hoping for more answers, as the main character goes to great lengths to uncover a secret he really isn’t sure about. Not sure realistic that is. Entertaining.
I’m a big fan of the author, and I enjoyed the more personal relationships in this book than seemed in his other books. I was hoping for more answers, as the main character goes to great lengths to uncover a secret he really isn’t sure about. Not sure realistic that is. Entertaining.
December 25, 2025
Great story telling
Complex plot with a twist at the end is a trademark of this author whose work never fails to entertain. I hope to find more titles that I have yet to read. Thankfully he is prolific and writes in several genres, even YA. If you have yet to try one, I highly encourage you to search him out.
Complex plot with a twist at the end is a trademark of this author whose work never fails to entertain. I hope to find more titles that I have yet to read. Thankfully he is prolific and writes in several genres, even YA. If you have yet to try one, I highly encourage you to search him out.
February 20, 2018
If you are after a short and quick mystery/thriller fix, then Dark Flag could work.
But for me, this left no impression due to it lacking any depth. Flat characters and a extremely fast moving mediocre plot that left a lot to be desired.
But for me, this left no impression due to it lacking any depth. Flat characters and a extremely fast moving mediocre plot that left a lot to be desired.
January 31, 2020
Another great story by Mr. Wignall!
This story takes place in Denmark. The author has involved several locations via developing the parts of the story. It involves one friend paying back another friend for past favors. Luckily he finds his way through the maze and goes home.
This story takes place in Denmark. The author has involved several locations via developing the parts of the story. It involves one friend paying back another friend for past favors. Luckily he finds his way through the maze and goes home.
August 19, 2024
Sam Webster was a fixer, but his last job hit home and now he wants a new life. When an old friend asks for help and is them murdered, he sees a chance to help and a bit of redemption. Good book as ever from Kevin Wignall.
March 3, 2020
Typical Wignall
A smart, but imperfect character. A bit of mystery. The usual foolish secret services. And you have a good feeling when it ends.
A smart, but imperfect character. A bit of mystery. The usual foolish secret services. And you have a good feeling when it ends.
December 11, 2020
Superb
Wignall is always excellent, and best of all, surprising. I like European cinema. Maybe that’s why his style is so comfortable and not overblown.
Wignall is always excellent, and best of all, surprising. I like European cinema. Maybe that’s why his style is so comfortable and not overblown.
June 1, 2021
It was okay. A decent read by the pool on holiday. If any of us could go on holiday!
October 4, 2024
Great read!
Solid plot line, good characters, nice twists.
Solid plot line, good characters, nice twists.
September 19, 2016
Ending ruined the book for me.
January 20, 2016
Wignall at his best
I have read most of Kevin Wignall's books and short stories. I feel this is his best. If you enjoy a thriller, characters that are not what they seem and a well written plot this is your book . Sam leaves his job in the world of spies and decides to change his life. He does an old college friend a favor only to be thrown back into the world he left. This time he is on the other side. Warning: Begin this book and you can't stop reading .
I have read most of Kevin Wignall's books and short stories. I feel this is his best. If you enjoy a thriller, characters that are not what they seem and a well written plot this is your book . Sam leaves his job in the world of spies and decides to change his life. He does an old college friend a favor only to be thrown back into the world he left. This time he is on the other side. Warning: Begin this book and you can't stop reading .
September 4, 2016
Dark flag
Well, I was,am disappointed. Not a bad book, I did not figure all,of,it out, yet it left me disappointed. For some reason I couldn't connect with any of the characters. Maybe I shipped,not have read this book immediately after reading two other of his books. I'll read a book or two,by different authors then read the other couple I have by KW.
Well, I was,am disappointed. Not a bad book, I did not figure all,of,it out, yet it left me disappointed. For some reason I couldn't connect with any of the characters. Maybe I shipped,not have read this book immediately after reading two other of his books. I'll read a book or two,by different authors then read the other couple I have by KW.
December 15, 2015
Very well written
Strong characters, strong storyline. Hated to see it end. I just discovered this author and I am hooked! Great book.
Strong characters, strong storyline. Hated to see it end. I just discovered this author and I am hooked! Great book.
January 13, 2016
Excellent throughout, but a bit disappointed with the ending
February 11, 2016
A thoughtful thriller
This was a good book. It tended to bog down with undeveloped characters in some places. That's why I gave it only four stars.
This was a good book. It tended to bog down with undeveloped characters in some places. That's why I gave it only four stars.
October 5, 2016
9/11
OK read for an afternoon. Interesting twist at the end. Nothing special in my opinion but very little of this genre is.
OK read for an afternoon. Interesting twist at the end. Nothing special in my opinion but very little of this genre is.
October 7, 2015
I read two Kevin Wignall books in a matter of four days and very much enjoyed both.
May 1, 2017
Surprisingly boring. I've enjoyed other books by this author, but this is not up to par.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews