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Gabriel Dax #3
Cold Sunset: A Gabriel Dax Novel
Not yet published
Expected 3 Nov 26A Simon & Schuster audiobook. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every listener.
Audible Audio
Expected publication November 3, 2026
About the author
William Boyd
70 books2,744 followersNote: William^^Boyd
Of Scottish descent, Boyd was born in Accra, Ghana on 7th March, 1952 and spent much of his early life there and in Nigeria where his mother was a teacher and his father, a doctor. Boyd was in Nigeria during the Biafran War, the brutal secessionist conflict which ran from 1967 to 1970 and it had a profound effect on him.
At the age of nine years he attended Gordonstoun school, in Moray, Scotland and then Nice University (Diploma of French Studies) and Glasgow University (MA Hons in English and Philosophy), where he edited the Glasgow University Guardian. He then moved to Jesus College, Oxford in 1975 and completed a PhD thesis on Shelley. For a brief period he worked at the New Statesman magazine as a TV critic, then he returned to Oxford as an English lecturer teaching the contemporary novel at St Hilda's College (1980-83). It was while he was here that his first novel, A Good Man in Africa (1981), was published.
Boyd spent eight years in academia, during which time his first film, Good and Bad at Games, was made. When he was offered a college lecturership, which would mean spending more time teaching, he was forced to choose between teaching and writing.
Boyd was selected in 1983 as one of the 20 'Best of Young British Novelists' in a promotion run by Granta magazine and the Book Marketing Council. He also became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in the same year, and is also an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He has been presented with honorary doctorates in literature from the universities of St. Andrews, Stirling and Glasgow. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005.
Boyd has been with his wife Susan since they met as students at Glasgow University and all his books are dedicated to her. His wife is editor-at-large of Harper's Bazaar magazine, and they currently spend about thirty to forty days a year in the US. He and his wife have a house in Chelsea, West London but spend most of the year at their chateau in Bergerac in south west France, where Boyd produces award-winning wines.
Of Scottish descent, Boyd was born in Accra, Ghana on 7th March, 1952 and spent much of his early life there and in Nigeria where his mother was a teacher and his father, a doctor. Boyd was in Nigeria during the Biafran War, the brutal secessionist conflict which ran from 1967 to 1970 and it had a profound effect on him.
At the age of nine years he attended Gordonstoun school, in Moray, Scotland and then Nice University (Diploma of French Studies) and Glasgow University (MA Hons in English and Philosophy), where he edited the Glasgow University Guardian. He then moved to Jesus College, Oxford in 1975 and completed a PhD thesis on Shelley. For a brief period he worked at the New Statesman magazine as a TV critic, then he returned to Oxford as an English lecturer teaching the contemporary novel at St Hilda's College (1980-83). It was while he was here that his first novel, A Good Man in Africa (1981), was published.
Boyd spent eight years in academia, during which time his first film, Good and Bad at Games, was made. When he was offered a college lecturership, which would mean spending more time teaching, he was forced to choose between teaching and writing.
Boyd was selected in 1983 as one of the 20 'Best of Young British Novelists' in a promotion run by Granta magazine and the Book Marketing Council. He also became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in the same year, and is also an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He has been presented with honorary doctorates in literature from the universities of St. Andrews, Stirling and Glasgow. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005.
Boyd has been with his wife Susan since they met as students at Glasgow University and all his books are dedicated to her. His wife is editor-at-large of Harper's Bazaar magazine, and they currently spend about thirty to forty days a year in the US. He and his wife have a house in Chelsea, West London but spend most of the year at their chateau in Bergerac in south west France, where Boyd produces award-winning wines.
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Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Cold Sunset is the third book in the series featuring reluctant spy Gabriel Dax, the follow-up to Gabriel’s Moon and The Predicament.
He may still be a reluctant spy who would rather be pursuing his career as a travel writer but Gabriel Dax is certainly now a more experienced one. However it’s not in ways he’s very happy about. Previous missions have put him in a position where he’s been involved in fatal confrontations making him ponder just what he’s become capable of. ‘How had he managed to do what he’d just done? What instincts had taken over? What kind of person was he becoming?’
It’s all because he remains in thrall to the alluring and enigmatic Faith Green, head of the MI6 section known as ‘the termite hunters’ charged with rooting out traitors in the service.
It’s as part of one of these ‘termite hunting’ missions that Gabriel finds himself sent to California to make contact with a poet, Francis Falkner, who has information about a former Bletchley Park colleague he suspects of passing information to the Russians. Gabriel feels uncomfortable about the task given they often end up so badly. On the other hand it gives him an opportunity to gather material for his latest book. One of the joys of the series is the insight we get into the books Gabriel is working on, some of which sound really interesting, and getting glimpses of his rather florid writing style. I suspect Boyd has a lot of fun with this.
Gabriel’s fear that past events will catch up with him proves well-founded, resulting in another narrow escape once back in England. He barely has time for another long lunch with his publisher or a quickie with his ex-girlfriend before he’s sent to Russia to assist in the exfiltration of Kit Caldwell, a British triple agent for whom Gabriel has been acting as decoy by posing as a double agent. (Yes, it got my head spinning too.) Caldwell believes his position has been compromised and he needs to get out of Russia in double quick time before the KGB catch up with him. The carefully planned mission looks foolproof on paper but is anything ‘foolproof’ in a world where duplicity is a way of life.
Ah, duplicity thy name is Faith Green. (It’s not even her real name.) Gabriel finds her tantalising even though she seems able to move from passionately intimate to coldly indifferent in a split second. He believes he loves her but does she feel the same way about him? Sometimes he thinks the answer is yes, at other times he wonders if he’s just being manipulated. One of the great things about the series is the way the author keeps us guessing about her as well, no more so than in this book.
The fallout from the exfiltration mission and the possibility there is another traitor in MI6 means Gabriel must lie low for a while. But is there anywhere in the world where someone can’t track you down?
Gabriel is someone you can’t help rooting for even though he often makes foolish blunders, smokes and drinks too much and is a bit of a loner. (The only person he really opens up to is his therapist Dr Katrina Haas.) But while researching his books he’ll happily chat to anyone whether that’s a man employed to clear up cigarette butts and dog shit in Red Square or a barber on a remote Greek island.
Cold Sunset is another thoroughly enjoyable, stylish spy thriller. Is this the final outing for Gabriel Dax? I really hope not.
He may still be a reluctant spy who would rather be pursuing his career as a travel writer but Gabriel Dax is certainly now a more experienced one. However it’s not in ways he’s very happy about. Previous missions have put him in a position where he’s been involved in fatal confrontations making him ponder just what he’s become capable of. ‘How had he managed to do what he’d just done? What instincts had taken over? What kind of person was he becoming?’
It’s all because he remains in thrall to the alluring and enigmatic Faith Green, head of the MI6 section known as ‘the termite hunters’ charged with rooting out traitors in the service.
It’s as part of one of these ‘termite hunting’ missions that Gabriel finds himself sent to California to make contact with a poet, Francis Falkner, who has information about a former Bletchley Park colleague he suspects of passing information to the Russians. Gabriel feels uncomfortable about the task given they often end up so badly. On the other hand it gives him an opportunity to gather material for his latest book. One of the joys of the series is the insight we get into the books Gabriel is working on, some of which sound really interesting, and getting glimpses of his rather florid writing style. I suspect Boyd has a lot of fun with this.
Gabriel’s fear that past events will catch up with him proves well-founded, resulting in another narrow escape once back in England. He barely has time for another long lunch with his publisher or a quickie with his ex-girlfriend before he’s sent to Russia to assist in the exfiltration of Kit Caldwell, a British triple agent for whom Gabriel has been acting as decoy by posing as a double agent. (Yes, it got my head spinning too.) Caldwell believes his position has been compromised and he needs to get out of Russia in double quick time before the KGB catch up with him. The carefully planned mission looks foolproof on paper but is anything ‘foolproof’ in a world where duplicity is a way of life.
Ah, duplicity thy name is Faith Green. (It’s not even her real name.) Gabriel finds her tantalising even though she seems able to move from passionately intimate to coldly indifferent in a split second. He believes he loves her but does she feel the same way about him? Sometimes he thinks the answer is yes, at other times he wonders if he’s just being manipulated. One of the great things about the series is the way the author keeps us guessing about her as well, no more so than in this book.
The fallout from the exfiltration mission and the possibility there is another traitor in MI6 means Gabriel must lie low for a while. But is there anywhere in the world where someone can’t track you down?
Gabriel is someone you can’t help rooting for even though he often makes foolish blunders, smokes and drinks too much and is a bit of a loner. (The only person he really opens up to is his therapist Dr Katrina Haas.) But while researching his books he’ll happily chat to anyone whether that’s a man employed to clear up cigarette butts and dog shit in Red Square or a barber on a remote Greek island.
Cold Sunset is another thoroughly enjoyable, stylish spy thriller. Is this the final outing for Gabriel Dax? I really hope not.
September 10, 2026
William Boyd is seventy four (this in 2026). I reckon he could knock out Gabriel Dax at the rate of one a year for the next twenty years. This is the third instalment of a declared ‘trilogy’. Why stop there? On Goodreads Gabriel’s Moon is his third most rated novel. The sequel, The Predicament is already tenth most read (of eighteen novels). Ian Fleming wrote twelve Bond novels over a twelve year period. Both authors write one a year.
I really enjoy these Dax novels (and Boyd’s other work.) It has to be said that the Dax novels run along a very similar and instantly recognisable course. So does Bond, and the two even meet in Boyd’s 2013 paean to Bond Solo. I’m guessing that Boyd’s commission to write Solo is what set him up to write his own suave, cool, uber-male in Gabriel Dax.
He’s a womaniser, a lover of fine drinks (in copious quantities), clothes, and he even notices furniture and furnishings. Uber -male Dax may be, but in way that worships women and style and sophistication.
I laughed when there was a reference to Chelsea football in this latest novel. Boyd lives close to Stamford Bridge, but there’s absolutely nothing about his character that engages with the tribalism or national pride associated with football.
As for this third part, I could easily splice my review of the Predicament into this one. There’s a lot of overlap.
The same characters (unfortunately- it would be good to get some new blood); a degree of exposition as new readers are brought up to speed on Gabriel’s previous adventures; excess drinking and smoking (!)
Do I enjoy Gabriel, Faith, Katerina, Aldous, enough to want to read more about them. I think not. While Boyd is expert at his self described “whole life stories” where character develops and changes consequent to age; in the case of Dax this is focused specifically on a specific time in the early/ mid 1960s.
The plot, for what its worth, involves spies everywhere. In Moscow; embedded in British security services and MI6, great escapes, shootings, near misses. Its relatively unimportant. This is a novel about character and deceit.
One exception to the reprise of previously introduced characters is Dymphna Westmacott. It would be great to have got a lot more of her. I wouldn’t want to be a guest at her dinner parties, though.
I really enjoy these Dax novels (and Boyd’s other work.) It has to be said that the Dax novels run along a very similar and instantly recognisable course. So does Bond, and the two even meet in Boyd’s 2013 paean to Bond Solo. I’m guessing that Boyd’s commission to write Solo is what set him up to write his own suave, cool, uber-male in Gabriel Dax.
He’s a womaniser, a lover of fine drinks (in copious quantities), clothes, and he even notices furniture and furnishings. Uber -male Dax may be, but in way that worships women and style and sophistication.
I laughed when there was a reference to Chelsea football in this latest novel. Boyd lives close to Stamford Bridge, but there’s absolutely nothing about his character that engages with the tribalism or national pride associated with football.
As for this third part, I could easily splice my review of the Predicament into this one. There’s a lot of overlap.
The same characters (unfortunately- it would be good to get some new blood); a degree of exposition as new readers are brought up to speed on Gabriel’s previous adventures; excess drinking and smoking (!)
Do I enjoy Gabriel, Faith, Katerina, Aldous, enough to want to read more about them. I think not. While Boyd is expert at his self described “whole life stories” where character develops and changes consequent to age; in the case of Dax this is focused specifically on a specific time in the early/ mid 1960s.
The plot, for what its worth, involves spies everywhere. In Moscow; embedded in British security services and MI6, great escapes, shootings, near misses. Its relatively unimportant. This is a novel about character and deceit.
One exception to the reprise of previously introduced characters is Dymphna Westmacott. It would be great to have got a lot more of her. I wouldn’t want to be a guest at her dinner parties, though.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
In the third adventure featuring reluctant Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) spy Gabriel Dax, we find him in Los Angeles. The year is 1964 and he’s been asked to make contact with a man who, obliquely, is offering information concerning events in World War II. During this American visit, Dax is doubling up by also taking the opportunity to gather material for a travel book he’s writing. As ever, he’s really uncomfortable undertaking these tasks on behalf of the UK agency, yet he’s so in thrall to his ‘master’ Faith Green that he ultimately finds himself doing what ever she commands him to do.
Boyd’s ability to create interesting characters within stories that have a link to real historical events, together with his brilliant descriptions of both time and place always make entering the world he depicts a complete joy. There are brilliant sentences here that made me smile, their complexity and yet their complete clarity demanding that I re-read them for the pure pleasure of so doing. There is drama here and subtle humour too, as Dax stumbles his way through his latest adventure – smoking and drinking hard liquor as he goes.
I won’t disclose anything of the plot – why spoil the joy for future readers – all I will say is that this short series really needs to be read in order as there are spoilers aplenty here.
I really hope there is more to come from Mr Dax, I simply enjoy his adventures and his company so much.
My thanks to Penguin for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Boyd’s ability to create interesting characters within stories that have a link to real historical events, together with his brilliant descriptions of both time and place always make entering the world he depicts a complete joy. There are brilliant sentences here that made me smile, their complexity and yet their complete clarity demanding that I re-read them for the pure pleasure of so doing. There is drama here and subtle humour too, as Dax stumbles his way through his latest adventure – smoking and drinking hard liquor as he goes.
I won’t disclose anything of the plot – why spoil the joy for future readers – all I will say is that this short series really needs to be read in order as there are spoilers aplenty here.
I really hope there is more to come from Mr Dax, I simply enjoy his adventures and his company so much.
My thanks to Penguin for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 3, 2026
With his Soviet handler recalled to Moscow, double agent Gabriel Dax has been having a quieter spell. The British security services are reeling under the revelations about the Cambridge spy ring, and Gabriel’s British handler, Faith Green, asks him to go to the US to interview a dying man who claims that another highly respected man has been spying for the Russians for many years. Gabriel’s interviews with these two men reveal that there may still be a mole working at high levels within MI6.
Meanwhile, Faith has another task for him – to take a picture to Kit Caldwell, apparent defector, in Moscow. Kit is becoming concerned that his Soviet overlords are beginning to suspect, correctly, that his loyalties have always been to Britain, and now he’s asking to be exfiltrated. Faith tells Gabriel he is to help get Kit out. Gabriel, as usual, has no idea how to do this, but Faith assures him Kit has a plan – Gabriel’s task is merely to do what he’s told.
Originally, this was billed as the third part of a trilogy, and therefore I was anticipating having some of the threads that have run through the previous books tied up. What is the truth about the enigmatic Faith? Does she care about Gabriel or is she just using him? Will Gabriel become a full-time spy or break away, back into his real life as a travel writer? But it appears that Boyd has now decided to turn the trilogy into a series, and so the ending of this one is as open as in the previous two.
The books are fun, so there’s no hardship in the prospect of more, but my own feeling is that it becomes harder to maintain Gabriel as an accidental, largely untrained and unskilled spy the longer the situation goes on. And while the Gabriel/Faith dynamic has been intriguing, it needs resolution – how long would a man in reality dangle after a woman who only pays attention to him when she wants something, when he can, apparently, get just about any woman he meets to fall in love and leap into bed with him?
Being a bumbling amateur is part of Gabriel’s charm, however. Personally, I’ve never seen what it is that makes all the different security services see him as an asset. He has no skills in spycraft and seems to pass no valuable information (or even disinformation) to the Soviets, who pay him well for apparently nothing. Whenever he is sent on a mission, I can’t help feeling that if he’s the best the Brits have got, then it’s just as well we’re not fighting the Cold War alone. It’s not entirely his fault – Faith works on a strictly need-to-know basis, and she has clearly decided Gabriel needs to know nothing. He seems eminently suited to be a patsy, and his role often appears to be to undertake dangerous missions for which he is entirely unqualified, but somehow he always comes through. The longer this situation goes on, the less credible it becomes.
Boyd is always a great storyteller, and there are some tense and dramatic scenes in the book, especially during Kit’s escape from Moscow. However, there are also lots of places where not a lot happens for long periods, interspersed with Gabriel’s sexual exploits – not spelled out in detail, thankfully, but still somehow managing to take up a lot of page room.
This review is sounding more negative than I actually feel about the book. I enjoyed it as a superficial and fun romp through the lighter side of the world of espionage, and will certainly read the next one. But on the whole, I’m finding the series progressively less satisfying – an excellent premise that is being stretched too far. My interest in the enigmatic Faith is waning the longer I’m left waiting for answers. And Gabriel’s willingness to be a pawn in her games without ever demanding to know the rules doesn’t make him a standard hero – especially since his only motivation seems to be his lust for her.
In summary, then, an enjoyable read with a couple of thrilling episodes, but overall, for me, the series is beginning to suffer from the law of diminishing returns.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Viking, via NetGalley.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Meanwhile, Faith has another task for him – to take a picture to Kit Caldwell, apparent defector, in Moscow. Kit is becoming concerned that his Soviet overlords are beginning to suspect, correctly, that his loyalties have always been to Britain, and now he’s asking to be exfiltrated. Faith tells Gabriel he is to help get Kit out. Gabriel, as usual, has no idea how to do this, but Faith assures him Kit has a plan – Gabriel’s task is merely to do what he’s told.
Originally, this was billed as the third part of a trilogy, and therefore I was anticipating having some of the threads that have run through the previous books tied up. What is the truth about the enigmatic Faith? Does she care about Gabriel or is she just using him? Will Gabriel become a full-time spy or break away, back into his real life as a travel writer? But it appears that Boyd has now decided to turn the trilogy into a series, and so the ending of this one is as open as in the previous two.
The books are fun, so there’s no hardship in the prospect of more, but my own feeling is that it becomes harder to maintain Gabriel as an accidental, largely untrained and unskilled spy the longer the situation goes on. And while the Gabriel/Faith dynamic has been intriguing, it needs resolution – how long would a man in reality dangle after a woman who only pays attention to him when she wants something, when he can, apparently, get just about any woman he meets to fall in love and leap into bed with him?
Being a bumbling amateur is part of Gabriel’s charm, however. Personally, I’ve never seen what it is that makes all the different security services see him as an asset. He has no skills in spycraft and seems to pass no valuable information (or even disinformation) to the Soviets, who pay him well for apparently nothing. Whenever he is sent on a mission, I can’t help feeling that if he’s the best the Brits have got, then it’s just as well we’re not fighting the Cold War alone. It’s not entirely his fault – Faith works on a strictly need-to-know basis, and she has clearly decided Gabriel needs to know nothing. He seems eminently suited to be a patsy, and his role often appears to be to undertake dangerous missions for which he is entirely unqualified, but somehow he always comes through. The longer this situation goes on, the less credible it becomes.
Boyd is always a great storyteller, and there are some tense and dramatic scenes in the book, especially during Kit’s escape from Moscow. However, there are also lots of places where not a lot happens for long periods, interspersed with Gabriel’s sexual exploits – not spelled out in detail, thankfully, but still somehow managing to take up a lot of page room.
This review is sounding more negative than I actually feel about the book. I enjoyed it as a superficial and fun romp through the lighter side of the world of espionage, and will certainly read the next one. But on the whole, I’m finding the series progressively less satisfying – an excellent premise that is being stretched too far. My interest in the enigmatic Faith is waning the longer I’m left waiting for answers. And Gabriel’s willingness to be a pawn in her games without ever demanding to know the rules doesn’t make him a standard hero – especially since his only motivation seems to be his lust for her.
In summary, then, an enjoyable read with a couple of thrilling episodes, but overall, for me, the series is beginning to suffer from the law of diminishing returns.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Viking, via NetGalley.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
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October 7, 20265 stars. Ripping read. With an ending like that, Mr Boyd had better get cracking on the fourth Gabriel Dax instalment.
This travel crime thriller set in the 1960s starring the functional alcoholic and puffing Billy Gabriel Dax reminds me of Henning Mankells Kurt Wallander with his insecurities. Of course the writer of Any Human Heart makes Mr DAX much more nuanced than Kurt Wallander. The foil of his writing career and his relationships with women like his psychotherapist creates a terrific lead character. While I knew Boyd would not kill him off I had to know how things would play out.
I loved the detail in the fashion descriptions of the immutable Faith Green. Very droll.
The book appears to be linear in its plot. But it isn’t because of the interlinked earlier books. Very clever.
This is published in Australia and England.
This travel crime thriller set in the 1960s starring the functional alcoholic and puffing Billy Gabriel Dax reminds me of Henning Mankells Kurt Wallander with his insecurities. Of course the writer of Any Human Heart makes Mr DAX much more nuanced than Kurt Wallander. The foil of his writing career and his relationships with women like his psychotherapist creates a terrific lead character. While I knew Boyd would not kill him off I had to know how things would play out.
I loved the detail in the fashion descriptions of the immutable Faith Green. Very droll.
The book appears to be linear in its plot. But it isn’t because of the interlinked earlier books. Very clever.
This is published in Australia and England.
Review of advance copy
Was this a thriller? I was not thrilled 👎 how fun is the star update though
Review of advance copy
Bloody, bloody fabulous
July 15, 2026
5* Cold Sunset - William Boyd. A superb end to the brilliant Gabriel Dax trilogy.
Cold war spy caper with Gabriel Dax, travel writer and part time accidental spy, who is now more spy and less travel writer. Instructed by his enigmatic handler Faith Green, Dax is sent to Moscow on a mission which seems suspicious from the outset and is a world of shifting sands and imminent tense danger.
This trilogy is an absolute delight. No wasted words and plots which swing from high tension to considered prose. Dax is the glue but there are other recurring characters and locations which made it a delight to be back in this world. I have listened to Boyd talking about Dax and a possible future reprisal - I sincerely hope that he gets many more outings.
I was excited to get this last volume and it is every bit as good as the preceding books with an ending that is perfect for the series.
Thanks to Penguin / Viking and Netgalley for an ARC.
Cold war spy caper with Gabriel Dax, travel writer and part time accidental spy, who is now more spy and less travel writer. Instructed by his enigmatic handler Faith Green, Dax is sent to Moscow on a mission which seems suspicious from the outset and is a world of shifting sands and imminent tense danger.
This trilogy is an absolute delight. No wasted words and plots which swing from high tension to considered prose. Dax is the glue but there are other recurring characters and locations which made it a delight to be back in this world. I have listened to Boyd talking about Dax and a possible future reprisal - I sincerely hope that he gets many more outings.
I was excited to get this last volume and it is every bit as good as the preceding books with an ending that is perfect for the series.
Thanks to Penguin / Viking and Netgalley for an ARC.
September 28, 2026
Cold Sunset by William Boyd is a highly recommended literary espionage novel and the third book in the in this spy-drenched cold war series featuring Gabriel Dax.
In March of 1964 at the behest of Faith Green at MI6’s Institute of Developmental Studies, reluctant spy and travel writer Gabriel Dax meets with F.T. Falkner in Santa Monica. Falkner, a poet and former member of British intelligence in WWII, has information and a name. He believes Angus Fairford was a double agent for the Soviet Union. Faith orders Dax to talk to Fairford, who currently lives in Indianapolis. Once questioned, Fairford admits to being a double agent and agrees to identify others. Once Dax returns to his cottage in Britain, he soon realizes he is going to be targeted by a hitman and Faith wants him to travel to the Soviet Union.
First, it must be mentioned that I started here, with the third book in the series and I think it would have been a more intelligent choice to start at the beginning. I could immediately tell I was missing backstory and connections from previous adventures. The first two books in the series are Gabriel’s Moon and The Predicament and I would recommend reading them before Cold Sunset. Because I was starting with book three, I also was a bit taken aback by our hero's heavy smoking, hard drinking, and promiscuity. I suppose it represents the 1960's, but it seemed a bit excessive. (This would apply to the description of what Faith is wearing too.)
The writing is quite good and the pace is even in this well-plotted novel. The chronological time line makes traversing the plot a breeze so readers can follow the action and drama along with plenty of treachery, subterfuge, and humor. It becomes clear that trust is a transitory idea that is best met with a cordial suspicion. Even though Dax is completely enamored with his boss, Faith Green, it is clear that she isn't trustworthy, but then this is a novel of spies and double agents, so who is? Even though I was missing backstory, I did enjoy this novel.
Cold Sunset is a great choice for those who enjoy cold war espionage novels and who have read the first two books in the series. Thanks to Grove Atlantic for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
https://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2026/...
In March of 1964 at the behest of Faith Green at MI6’s Institute of Developmental Studies, reluctant spy and travel writer Gabriel Dax meets with F.T. Falkner in Santa Monica. Falkner, a poet and former member of British intelligence in WWII, has information and a name. He believes Angus Fairford was a double agent for the Soviet Union. Faith orders Dax to talk to Fairford, who currently lives in Indianapolis. Once questioned, Fairford admits to being a double agent and agrees to identify others. Once Dax returns to his cottage in Britain, he soon realizes he is going to be targeted by a hitman and Faith wants him to travel to the Soviet Union.
First, it must be mentioned that I started here, with the third book in the series and I think it would have been a more intelligent choice to start at the beginning. I could immediately tell I was missing backstory and connections from previous adventures. The first two books in the series are Gabriel’s Moon and The Predicament and I would recommend reading them before Cold Sunset. Because I was starting with book three, I also was a bit taken aback by our hero's heavy smoking, hard drinking, and promiscuity. I suppose it represents the 1960's, but it seemed a bit excessive. (This would apply to the description of what Faith is wearing too.)
The writing is quite good and the pace is even in this well-plotted novel. The chronological time line makes traversing the plot a breeze so readers can follow the action and drama along with plenty of treachery, subterfuge, and humor. It becomes clear that trust is a transitory idea that is best met with a cordial suspicion. Even though Dax is completely enamored with his boss, Faith Green, it is clear that she isn't trustworthy, but then this is a novel of spies and double agents, so who is? Even though I was missing backstory, I did enjoy this novel.
Cold Sunset is a great choice for those who enjoy cold war espionage novels and who have read the first two books in the series. Thanks to Grove Atlantic for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
https://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2026/...
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
COLD SUNSET opens in 1964 and finds Gabriel Dax in America doing a seemingly small job for his British Intelligence bosses, which leads to rumours of more uncovered treachery in the organisation. Disillusioned, Dax returns home hoping to find solace in his real job as a travel writer. Any peace, however, is short lived and he is soon caught up in the machinations of the Cold War once more.
The celebrated British defector Kit Caldwell, really an MI6 asset, is convinced that the KGB suspects him of treachery and he wants to get out of Moscow as soon as possible. Once more Dax is tasked by his enigmatic handler Faith Green to help, and he is soon on his way to Russia, tasked with delivering a mysterious drawing to Caldwell. Once there he is pulled into a web of shifting loyalties and dangerous escape plans.
COLD SUNSET is another well written and outstanding novel by Boyd. The plotting is intricate and clever, and the pacing is probably brisker this time. The story quickly moves through a series of well-orchestrated twists and turns, and there is genuine suspense as Dax navigates some difficult situations.
Once more Boyd displays a superb sense of place and time and captivates with his portrayal of early 1960s England. The milieu of the time seems spot on to me, and there are some appealing dollops of wry humour.
I also really enjoy the background information on Dax’s primary job as a travel writer, and it is fascinating to watch how he develops the ideas for his travel books.
The characterisations are exceedingly well done and Dax’s reflections on spying and life are poignant and interesting. There is a slight dip in pace towards the end, but the climax is terrific and will leave you wanting another Dax story as soon as possible.
See full review and more at: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/s...
The celebrated British defector Kit Caldwell, really an MI6 asset, is convinced that the KGB suspects him of treachery and he wants to get out of Moscow as soon as possible. Once more Dax is tasked by his enigmatic handler Faith Green to help, and he is soon on his way to Russia, tasked with delivering a mysterious drawing to Caldwell. Once there he is pulled into a web of shifting loyalties and dangerous escape plans.
COLD SUNSET is another well written and outstanding novel by Boyd. The plotting is intricate and clever, and the pacing is probably brisker this time. The story quickly moves through a series of well-orchestrated twists and turns, and there is genuine suspense as Dax navigates some difficult situations.
Once more Boyd displays a superb sense of place and time and captivates with his portrayal of early 1960s England. The milieu of the time seems spot on to me, and there are some appealing dollops of wry humour.
I also really enjoy the background information on Dax’s primary job as a travel writer, and it is fascinating to watch how he develops the ideas for his travel books.
The characterisations are exceedingly well done and Dax’s reflections on spying and life are poignant and interesting. There is a slight dip in pace towards the end, but the climax is terrific and will leave you wanting another Dax story as soon as possible.
See full review and more at: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/s...
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The 3rd in the Gabriel Dax trilogy, but I'm secretly hoping there will be more as this is another sharp piece of writing from the author and wonderfully captures life in the spy world during the cold war era.
Gabriel Dax is the reluctant spy again, wishing he could just be a travel reporter, but once again called into action to investigate a russian spy, who is only too willing to spill the secrets as his time on the planet is coming to an end. But news of this spy doesn't go down too well higher up, which puts Dax in an awful predicament as to who to trust and help.
I love the cloak and dagger of this kind of investigating. With Dax you're always aware he'd be happier walking away from it all, but there's a sense of duty and loyalty, misplaced or not, to carry out this work and the story explores some darker elements of the times and it really does keep you on the edge of your seat as you watch the action and secrets unfold. Highly recommended!
Gabriel Dax is the reluctant spy again, wishing he could just be a travel reporter, but once again called into action to investigate a russian spy, who is only too willing to spill the secrets as his time on the planet is coming to an end. But news of this spy doesn't go down too well higher up, which puts Dax in an awful predicament as to who to trust and help.
I love the cloak and dagger of this kind of investigating. With Dax you're always aware he'd be happier walking away from it all, but there's a sense of duty and loyalty, misplaced or not, to carry out this work and the story explores some darker elements of the times and it really does keep you on the edge of your seat as you watch the action and secrets unfold. Highly recommended!
Review of advance copy
Not sure why Goodreads gave me the message this is pre-publication! Bought a signed hardback copy via Waterstones.
Anyway this is the final? book in the Gabriel Dax Trilogy and once again William Boyd doesn't disappoint. He is an excellent writer and I have greatly enjoyed this mini series of books.
Anyway this is the final? book in the Gabriel Dax Trilogy and once again William Boyd doesn't disappoint. He is an excellent writer and I have greatly enjoyed this mini series of books.
September 30, 2026
Engaging and satisfying. I was hooked right up to the last page.
September 30, 2026
Thoroughly enjoying this series and hope there will be more!
September 7, 2026
Great, now I want to disappear to Greece for four to five months
June 27, 2026
Another enjoyable read by William Boyd in the Gabriel Dax series.
This time the novel is mainly set between UK, USSR and Finland, with old friends and foes all making appearances. The book is well written, with a good pace to the narrative, though having finished the book it is not clear if there will be another sequel.
A good read from a master story teller.
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
This time the novel is mainly set between UK, USSR and Finland, with old friends and foes all making appearances. The book is well written, with a good pace to the narrative, though having finished the book it is not clear if there will be another sequel.
A good read from a master story teller.
I was given a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
July 24, 2026
I have a weakness for spy novels which means that I can find something enjoyable even when they aren’t very good. So I did find something enjoyable in this one. It was the episode in the book covering the attempted exfiltration from Moscow of the hero, Gabriel Dax, accompanied by a double agent. But other than that I am struggling to say anything positive. I think the main problem is that the Dax character is so clearly reminiscent of James Bond with his womanising, drinking, smoking and consumption of fine food and yet he is simply nowhere near as interesting. All these women enthusiastically sleeping with him yet is he happy? Not in the least. Bond does practice some self analysis but with Dax it just comes across as whinging. And Fleming wrote about food and drink so beautifully. I remember reading a description of an Istanbul breakfast of figs, yoghurt, Turkish coffee and a carton of Chesterfields that had me absolutely salivating. But Mr Boyd’s depictions are just as perfunctory as a shopping list. This is apparently the third in a series so there is obviously an audience. But my suggestion is that rather than reading a poor-substitute Bond, go and find the real thing instead. You’ll thank me for it.
Penguin and NetGalley provided me with the review copy.
Penguin and NetGalley provided me with the review copy.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Gabriel Dax, by day is a respectable travel writer. Gabriel Dax, by day is also an efficient and inconspicuous spy in the service of British intelligence. The Institute of Development Studies, by day is a prosaic façade housing within unobtrusive individuals engaged in the research of mundane topics. The Institute of Development Studies, by day is also a muted and oblivious euphemism for MI6, the United Kingdom’s Secret intelligence service. Faith Green, by day, is a highly ranked employee of the Institute of Development Studies. Faith Green, by night, is the handler of Gabriel Dax — and on some opportunistic nights, also his lover.
Gabriel Dax is roused out of his sublime abode that is Rose Cottage, set in a panoramic landscape of rural England, to embark on a journey across the Atlantic to establish a rendezvous with the poet F.T. Falkner. The ravage of a terminal illness finds Falkner at the doorstep of death. The dying man, however, brings to life an explosive revelation involving a former colleague at Bletchley Park, and currently a professor at Carlsen University, Indianapolis, Angus Fairford. Ordered by Faith Green to get to the bottom of things, Dax takes Fairford unawares by springing himself upon the Professor after an insipid lecture on Molière. What Dax learns, more than just stirs a hornet’s nest. There has been an insidious infiltration of the MI6, the nature of which is grave enough to rival the treachery of defectors such as the Cambridge Five.
Before he can realise, the unwitting dilettante is coopted, nay, dragged into an extremely dangerous operation, that involves amongst other things, an intricate process of exfiltration. Partly egged on by his ambivalent feelings for Faith. Partly by the sheer exhilaration spontaneous patriotism can incite, the full-time author and part-time spy is thrown into a roiling cauldron of deceit, desperation, and duplicity.
Boyd has always succeeded in maintaining a mesmerising and almost messianic hold over his readers. Never one to conflate plot with ponderousness, and enthusiasm with egregiousness, he is an absolute master in triggering taut nerves, unpredictable chills, and involuntary nail shortening using teeth as unsuspecting accomplices.
Dax is a helpless albeit inevitable blend of vulnerability and self-preservation. He is the Holden Caulfield who is relentlessly searching for his personal bildungsroman, without realising that the novice has long made the transition to a veteran. While he may not boast a finesse that is the prerogative of le Carré’s Smiley, or lay claims to the ferocity of Len Deighton’s Palmer, he sure can keep Ludlum’s Bourne honest.
Dax is by no stretch of imagination a paragon of virtue. But he is no philanderer either. Firmly in possession of principles to the extent necessary, he manages his excesses methodically and gives vent to his vices in gradation, all the while never forgetting the cardinal tenet of placing his feet firmly on the ground. License to thrill and kill purely on a need to perform basis. Terra Firma when not on unsavoury business.
Cold Sunset is impeccably and refreshingly ‘Boydian’. A wicked juxtaposition of humour and heightened tension, an ingenious blend of caution and carelessness, and an uncanny meeting of the predictable with the startling. In the simplest of terms, an imprimatur of vintage William Boyd. Beginning in the idyllic settings of a sparsely populated village in an English country, traipsing through bustling Indianapolis, making indelible pitstops in Moscow, Leningrad, and Oslo, before finally careening to a thundering stop at picturesque Ikarios in the Island of Corfu, Boyd weaves a tapestry of subterfuge, suspicion, and stellar spy craft.
Cold Sunset – leaves the reader craving for another riveting sunrise!
Gabriel Dax is roused out of his sublime abode that is Rose Cottage, set in a panoramic landscape of rural England, to embark on a journey across the Atlantic to establish a rendezvous with the poet F.T. Falkner. The ravage of a terminal illness finds Falkner at the doorstep of death. The dying man, however, brings to life an explosive revelation involving a former colleague at Bletchley Park, and currently a professor at Carlsen University, Indianapolis, Angus Fairford. Ordered by Faith Green to get to the bottom of things, Dax takes Fairford unawares by springing himself upon the Professor after an insipid lecture on Molière. What Dax learns, more than just stirs a hornet’s nest. There has been an insidious infiltration of the MI6, the nature of which is grave enough to rival the treachery of defectors such as the Cambridge Five.
Before he can realise, the unwitting dilettante is coopted, nay, dragged into an extremely dangerous operation, that involves amongst other things, an intricate process of exfiltration. Partly egged on by his ambivalent feelings for Faith. Partly by the sheer exhilaration spontaneous patriotism can incite, the full-time author and part-time spy is thrown into a roiling cauldron of deceit, desperation, and duplicity.
Boyd has always succeeded in maintaining a mesmerising and almost messianic hold over his readers. Never one to conflate plot with ponderousness, and enthusiasm with egregiousness, he is an absolute master in triggering taut nerves, unpredictable chills, and involuntary nail shortening using teeth as unsuspecting accomplices.
Dax is a helpless albeit inevitable blend of vulnerability and self-preservation. He is the Holden Caulfield who is relentlessly searching for his personal bildungsroman, without realising that the novice has long made the transition to a veteran. While he may not boast a finesse that is the prerogative of le Carré’s Smiley, or lay claims to the ferocity of Len Deighton’s Palmer, he sure can keep Ludlum’s Bourne honest.
Dax is by no stretch of imagination a paragon of virtue. But he is no philanderer either. Firmly in possession of principles to the extent necessary, he manages his excesses methodically and gives vent to his vices in gradation, all the while never forgetting the cardinal tenet of placing his feet firmly on the ground. License to thrill and kill purely on a need to perform basis. Terra Firma when not on unsavoury business.
Cold Sunset is impeccably and refreshingly ‘Boydian’. A wicked juxtaposition of humour and heightened tension, an ingenious blend of caution and carelessness, and an uncanny meeting of the predictable with the startling. In the simplest of terms, an imprimatur of vintage William Boyd. Beginning in the idyllic settings of a sparsely populated village in an English country, traipsing through bustling Indianapolis, making indelible pitstops in Moscow, Leningrad, and Oslo, before finally careening to a thundering stop at picturesque Ikarios in the Island of Corfu, Boyd weaves a tapestry of subterfuge, suspicion, and stellar spy craft.
Cold Sunset – leaves the reader craving for another riveting sunrise!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
4.5 stars
Thanks to NetGalley and Viking for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I LOVE this series, starting with Gabriel's Moon and then The Predicament.
The spy genre is not one I've ever really read much of, but this series has been a revelation. Whether it's because of Boyd's storytelling ability and his fabulous characters, I don't know, but the espionage part is almost background because it's such an exquisite study of human nature.
I love how he's planted this fictional story in real life, in true events, as it keeps the story grounded and makes it more real. I don't know much about this era so I can't say how accurate it is but it feels rooted in history. I find that really impressive, especially as it still sounds like a novel and not a travel guide.
The UK/USSR connection increased the peril. The USSR fell about 18 months before I was born so I don't have any lived experience of it. But there's always been this undercurrent of fear around them that there just isn't with other countries, and I think Boyd has got that just right.
What I did like about it is how much time he takes describing things, even the most mundane things, explaining every aspect of Gabriel's outfit or what he's eating. This might be too slow for some readers but I think it's okay. This series is a mixture of fast paced and slower bits which balances nicely, and I think those more intimate passages bring us closer to the characters. I will say this has more slower parts than longer and whilst I think he's managed that balance - just - it was much slower than the others.
What I like is it's not all espionage. We go through Gabriel's everyday routine, his relationships, and his work as a writer. He is one of those characters that I think you'll either love or be bored by. He's a bit haphazard, lovestruck, and yet relatable. He seems up for anything but I don't think any of it is his choice. But I really like him. He feels normal, like the everyman who got caught up in something bigger than him. He's flawed, he drinks more than he should, and he sleeps with whatever woman takes his fancy. He should be utterly unlikeable but it is this very human nature that I love so much.
You've got the old characters which adds a level of familiarity and continuity, but we also get new ones which keeps it fresh.
Some sequels can be read as standalones. This is not one of them. Each book might have a slightly different main storyline, but the undercurrent of the books and characters flow through all three and you will most definitely be at a disadvantage just reading this one.
It's not like James Bond, it's not full-on action from the first to last page. There are elements of that, but it's more of a genteel spy novel, but no less tense. But it has the bits you expect from an espionage story - action, death, violence, romance, globetrotting, money.
I'm not sure how long this series will go on for - or should go on for - but it's one of the best I've read and I always recommend it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Viking for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I LOVE this series, starting with Gabriel's Moon and then The Predicament.
The spy genre is not one I've ever really read much of, but this series has been a revelation. Whether it's because of Boyd's storytelling ability and his fabulous characters, I don't know, but the espionage part is almost background because it's such an exquisite study of human nature.
I love how he's planted this fictional story in real life, in true events, as it keeps the story grounded and makes it more real. I don't know much about this era so I can't say how accurate it is but it feels rooted in history. I find that really impressive, especially as it still sounds like a novel and not a travel guide.
The UK/USSR connection increased the peril. The USSR fell about 18 months before I was born so I don't have any lived experience of it. But there's always been this undercurrent of fear around them that there just isn't with other countries, and I think Boyd has got that just right.
What I did like about it is how much time he takes describing things, even the most mundane things, explaining every aspect of Gabriel's outfit or what he's eating. This might be too slow for some readers but I think it's okay. This series is a mixture of fast paced and slower bits which balances nicely, and I think those more intimate passages bring us closer to the characters. I will say this has more slower parts than longer and whilst I think he's managed that balance - just - it was much slower than the others.
What I like is it's not all espionage. We go through Gabriel's everyday routine, his relationships, and his work as a writer. He is one of those characters that I think you'll either love or be bored by. He's a bit haphazard, lovestruck, and yet relatable. He seems up for anything but I don't think any of it is his choice. But I really like him. He feels normal, like the everyman who got caught up in something bigger than him. He's flawed, he drinks more than he should, and he sleeps with whatever woman takes his fancy. He should be utterly unlikeable but it is this very human nature that I love so much.
You've got the old characters which adds a level of familiarity and continuity, but we also get new ones which keeps it fresh.
Some sequels can be read as standalones. This is not one of them. Each book might have a slightly different main storyline, but the undercurrent of the books and characters flow through all three and you will most definitely be at a disadvantage just reading this one.
It's not like James Bond, it's not full-on action from the first to last page. There are elements of that, but it's more of a genteel spy novel, but no less tense. But it has the bits you expect from an espionage story - action, death, violence, romance, globetrotting, money.
I'm not sure how long this series will go on for - or should go on for - but it's one of the best I've read and I always recommend it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Gabriel’s Moon and its sequel, The Predicament, follow the career of reluctant spy, Gabriel Dax, a travel writer who has become useful to the British secret service. He’d unknowingly become involved in the movement of information thanks to his brother, and now, because of his infatuation with his handler, Faith Green, finds it difficult to extricate himself from the world of espionage.
In the third book, Cold Sunset, Gabriel can’t ignore the fact that he’s become a killer, with two deaths bugging his conscience, both self-defence, but still. Just as well he continues to see a therapist, who he’d originally contacted for help with a sleeping disorder. Now he unburdens himself quite openly about his spy work, which is troubling, and his relationship with Faith, which also raises red flags.
It’s 1964, and Boyd paints a very realistic and vivid picture of the time. There’s attention to all the details – the clothes and cars, the restaurant meals – that give you time and place without overwhelming us in period colour. We’re also very aware that we’re a couple of decades on from World War II, with social change in the air, that women can have careers, and that we are in the midst of the Cold War.
Gabriel’s trying to complete his new book, On the Beaten Track, with unusual angles to very familiar tourist attractions, a useful cover for a job for Faith in the United States. Nothing is ever quite as simple as she makes out, of course, and on his return he realises he’s in the sights of a man with a grudge – a hangover from what happened in The Predicament. The world of espionage is already encroaching, when Faith has a new assignment for him: to “exfiltrate” their double agent in Moscow.
So not long into the story, the pace is set for some nail-biting situations. Boyd also cleverly brings in characters from the previous books – Tyrone, his London friend who’s something of a fixer, or Varvara, his former Russian contact in London, a set-up designed to keep Gabriel onside with their counterparts in Moscow, and a nice little earner. It’s all meticulously plotted, as any spy novel should be. But it’s also a thoughtful examination of what life as a spy might be like – the lies Gabriel tells people, even his friends, the “kill or be killed” aspect that’s always hovering in the background.
And although Gabriel’s a flawed character – there’s his drinking and poor judgement with women just for staters – he’s also very much aware of how he’s caught in Faith Green’s web and what it’s doing to him. This gives the book an interesting psychological aspect, which along with the brilliantly crafted writing, makes the book a satisfying read.
I read Cold Sunset courtesy of Netgalley and Penguin Random House. Best read after the first two books in the trilogy, Cold Sunset is due for release on 3 September and is a four-star read from me.
In the third book, Cold Sunset, Gabriel can’t ignore the fact that he’s become a killer, with two deaths bugging his conscience, both self-defence, but still. Just as well he continues to see a therapist, who he’d originally contacted for help with a sleeping disorder. Now he unburdens himself quite openly about his spy work, which is troubling, and his relationship with Faith, which also raises red flags.
It’s 1964, and Boyd paints a very realistic and vivid picture of the time. There’s attention to all the details – the clothes and cars, the restaurant meals – that give you time and place without overwhelming us in period colour. We’re also very aware that we’re a couple of decades on from World War II, with social change in the air, that women can have careers, and that we are in the midst of the Cold War.
Gabriel’s trying to complete his new book, On the Beaten Track, with unusual angles to very familiar tourist attractions, a useful cover for a job for Faith in the United States. Nothing is ever quite as simple as she makes out, of course, and on his return he realises he’s in the sights of a man with a grudge – a hangover from what happened in The Predicament. The world of espionage is already encroaching, when Faith has a new assignment for him: to “exfiltrate” their double agent in Moscow.
So not long into the story, the pace is set for some nail-biting situations. Boyd also cleverly brings in characters from the previous books – Tyrone, his London friend who’s something of a fixer, or Varvara, his former Russian contact in London, a set-up designed to keep Gabriel onside with their counterparts in Moscow, and a nice little earner. It’s all meticulously plotted, as any spy novel should be. But it’s also a thoughtful examination of what life as a spy might be like – the lies Gabriel tells people, even his friends, the “kill or be killed” aspect that’s always hovering in the background.
And although Gabriel’s a flawed character – there’s his drinking and poor judgement with women just for staters – he’s also very much aware of how he’s caught in Faith Green’s web and what it’s doing to him. This gives the book an interesting psychological aspect, which along with the brilliantly crafted writing, makes the book a satisfying read.
I read Cold Sunset courtesy of Netgalley and Penguin Random House. Best read after the first two books in the trilogy, Cold Sunset is due for release on 3 September and is a four-star read from me.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
'Cold Sunset' is the third Gabriel Dax spy thriller by William Boyd. I was hooked from the first, 'Gabriel's Moon,' and so turned to page one of 'Cold Sunset' with high anticipation. It is the Sixties, the Cold War and Gabriel, a travel writer cum reluctant spy, is in Los Angeles waiting to meet a poet.
The meat of Gabriel's assignment in 'Cold Sunset' is to go to Moscow to bring in MI6's man in Russia, triple agent Kit Caldwell who is desperate to return to London. Gabriel's visit to LA, and another to Indianapolis, may seem superfluous but read them carefully, there are hints at the deeper story. His Institute of Development Studies handler and occasional lover from the previous two books, Faith Green, is still giving him orders. Faith's job is to root out traitors and when the dying poet tells Gabriel that a former colleague from Bletchley Park is a Soviet spy, Faith sends Gabriel to Indianapolis to check it out. It is a road that leads to Moscow, St Petersburg and the northernmost Finnish-Soviet border. The betrayal, Faith fears, could be a threat as serious as the Cambridge Five and she is under pressure to identify the new traitor, the 'terminte.'
Gabriel is a patriot, a freelance writer trying to make a living, a single man with romantic entanglements, he leads a double-life and is unable to say no to Faith whenever she gives him a mission. The difference is that now he is not a novice at killing men. He knows enough tradecraft to lay false clues, spot a tail and speak in spook language. Yes Boyd's Gabriel Dax books are spy thrillers but the action is not full-on, they are also studies in human nature, in relationships, in the detail of daily life in the Sixties. The finding of a cleaner for his Sussex cottage, leaving out food to tempt Cat his occasionally visiting feline neighbour to be a permanent resident, forgetting to change the sheets on his bed at his London crashpad, his inability to say no to a night with an old girlfriend. Gabriel feels real. People smoked and drunk alcohol more than they do now, it was possible to appear and disappear without leaving a trace, postcards written with short messages were delivered quickly by post.
Reading a William Boyd thriller is like reading no other. A combination of dry wit and literary references, stomach-clenching tension and the ordinary everyday of buying fish and wine for lunch, nervous suspicion and outright fear, 'Cold Sunset' is so Boydian. I had a fondness for his Sussex neighbour Royston Mitchell-Moore in his cherry red corduroy trousers, and old roué Norman Helenhill who reminded me of Olivia Manning's Prince Yakimov in 'Fortunes of War.'
I do hope there will be another Gabriel Dax book, the enigmatic ending suggests there will be. If you think you don't like thrillers, try Boyd.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...
The meat of Gabriel's assignment in 'Cold Sunset' is to go to Moscow to bring in MI6's man in Russia, triple agent Kit Caldwell who is desperate to return to London. Gabriel's visit to LA, and another to Indianapolis, may seem superfluous but read them carefully, there are hints at the deeper story. His Institute of Development Studies handler and occasional lover from the previous two books, Faith Green, is still giving him orders. Faith's job is to root out traitors and when the dying poet tells Gabriel that a former colleague from Bletchley Park is a Soviet spy, Faith sends Gabriel to Indianapolis to check it out. It is a road that leads to Moscow, St Petersburg and the northernmost Finnish-Soviet border. The betrayal, Faith fears, could be a threat as serious as the Cambridge Five and she is under pressure to identify the new traitor, the 'terminte.'
Gabriel is a patriot, a freelance writer trying to make a living, a single man with romantic entanglements, he leads a double-life and is unable to say no to Faith whenever she gives him a mission. The difference is that now he is not a novice at killing men. He knows enough tradecraft to lay false clues, spot a tail and speak in spook language. Yes Boyd's Gabriel Dax books are spy thrillers but the action is not full-on, they are also studies in human nature, in relationships, in the detail of daily life in the Sixties. The finding of a cleaner for his Sussex cottage, leaving out food to tempt Cat his occasionally visiting feline neighbour to be a permanent resident, forgetting to change the sheets on his bed at his London crashpad, his inability to say no to a night with an old girlfriend. Gabriel feels real. People smoked and drunk alcohol more than they do now, it was possible to appear and disappear without leaving a trace, postcards written with short messages were delivered quickly by post.
Reading a William Boyd thriller is like reading no other. A combination of dry wit and literary references, stomach-clenching tension and the ordinary everyday of buying fish and wine for lunch, nervous suspicion and outright fear, 'Cold Sunset' is so Boydian. I had a fondness for his Sussex neighbour Royston Mitchell-Moore in his cherry red corduroy trousers, and old roué Norman Helenhill who reminded me of Olivia Manning's Prince Yakimov in 'Fortunes of War.'
I do hope there will be another Gabriel Dax book, the enigmatic ending suggests there will be. If you think you don't like thrillers, try Boyd.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4 - 5 stars rounded up
Gabriel Dax #3
March 1964, Santa Monica Pier. Travel writer and oft time reluctant spy, occasional hero and saver of days is, as usual, doing Faith Green’s bidding for The Institute of Developmental Studies, aka MI6. Our hero is in California where he receives information relating to World War II, Bletchley Park and a termite, a traitor. It seems all roads lead to the USSR, where Gabriel is eventually dispatched to extract triple agent Kit Caldwell from Moscow. Here, he is drawn into a daring and dangerous escape plan. However, Gabriel reluctantly comes to the unwelcome realisation that he cannot trust those he has previously placed all his faith in……
“I'm back in the U-S-S-R
You don't know how lucky you are, boy
Back in the U-S-S-R”
Actually not that lucky as it turns out.
This is such a good political spy thriller series as Gabriel falls haplessly into one espionage escapade after another. It’s the biggest wonder he can manage to stand up on occasions, as his capacity for alcohol is as legendary as the unmasked traitors such as Kim Philby. In addition, there must be quite a fug around him as he smokes one French cigarette after another! A definite sign of the 1960s times. Gabriel is a very likeable central protagonist although he is very naive and easily led by Faith Green and he does drive me a little bit mad with his continued willingness and her blowing hot and very cold! Still, it makes very good edge of the seat reading.
William Boyd is an excellent writer, he peppers his clever plots with wit and humour and I really enjoy his style. He seamlessly weaves fact with fiction into the plot making it feel authentic as Gabriel gets himself into one pickle after another. He is becoming quite adept as extricating himself from tricky situations and often has luck on his side.
The novel is not fast paced but the slow burn suits the central espionage focus as it twists and turns with revelations, danger and derring do, a spot of romance and a bottle or three. It’s tense on occasions, you feel Gabriel‘s bafflement and loss of trust as things escalate, at times, it appears out of control. The spy game is a dangerous one, who can be trusted in this very murky subterranean world and the unpredictability is what makes them such good reading. This is especially true of attempts to uncover who the latest MI6 termite is.
I hope this series continues, there’s definitely unfinished and unresolved issues so I eagerly anticipate number four. This is a series I can highly recommend as it captures the early 1960’s to perfection.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin General UK for the much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.
Gabriel Dax #3
March 1964, Santa Monica Pier. Travel writer and oft time reluctant spy, occasional hero and saver of days is, as usual, doing Faith Green’s bidding for The Institute of Developmental Studies, aka MI6. Our hero is in California where he receives information relating to World War II, Bletchley Park and a termite, a traitor. It seems all roads lead to the USSR, where Gabriel is eventually dispatched to extract triple agent Kit Caldwell from Moscow. Here, he is drawn into a daring and dangerous escape plan. However, Gabriel reluctantly comes to the unwelcome realisation that he cannot trust those he has previously placed all his faith in……
“I'm back in the U-S-S-R
You don't know how lucky you are, boy
Back in the U-S-S-R”
Actually not that lucky as it turns out.
This is such a good political spy thriller series as Gabriel falls haplessly into one espionage escapade after another. It’s the biggest wonder he can manage to stand up on occasions, as his capacity for alcohol is as legendary as the unmasked traitors such as Kim Philby. In addition, there must be quite a fug around him as he smokes one French cigarette after another! A definite sign of the 1960s times. Gabriel is a very likeable central protagonist although he is very naive and easily led by Faith Green and he does drive me a little bit mad with his continued willingness and her blowing hot and very cold! Still, it makes very good edge of the seat reading.
William Boyd is an excellent writer, he peppers his clever plots with wit and humour and I really enjoy his style. He seamlessly weaves fact with fiction into the plot making it feel authentic as Gabriel gets himself into one pickle after another. He is becoming quite adept as extricating himself from tricky situations and often has luck on his side.
The novel is not fast paced but the slow burn suits the central espionage focus as it twists and turns with revelations, danger and derring do, a spot of romance and a bottle or three. It’s tense on occasions, you feel Gabriel‘s bafflement and loss of trust as things escalate, at times, it appears out of control. The spy game is a dangerous one, who can be trusted in this very murky subterranean world and the unpredictability is what makes them such good reading. This is especially true of attempts to uncover who the latest MI6 termite is.
I hope this series continues, there’s definitely unfinished and unresolved issues so I eagerly anticipate number four. This is a series I can highly recommend as it captures the early 1960’s to perfection.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin General UK for the much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of *Cold Sunset* before publication. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
*Cold Sunset* is a stylish and intelligent Cold War thriller filled with shifting loyalties, concealed motives and the constant possibility of betrayal. Gabriel Dax, a travel writer who has been reluctantly drawn into the world of espionage, is sent to Moscow to deliver a mysterious drawing to Kit Caldwell, a celebrated British defector now living as a Hero of the Soviet Union.
Caldwell is convinced that the KGB suspects him of treachery and asks Gabriel to help him escape across the Russian border into Finland. When Gabriel’s enigmatic handler, Faith Green, orders him to assist, what should have been a relatively simple assignment becomes an increasingly dangerous operation. Gabriel must navigate a world in which almost everyone is performing a role and loyalty can change according to circumstance.
Gabriel remains an engaging protagonist because he is not a conventional, highly trained spy. He is intelligent and observant, but he is also vulnerable, uncertain and frequently caught between people who understand the rules of espionage far better than he does. His reluctance makes the danger feel more believable, while his complicated relationship with Faith adds emotional tension to the mission.
The Moscow setting is one of the strongest aspects of the novel. William Boyd creates an atmosphere of surveillance, suspicion and restrained danger, where an apparently harmless conversation or minor mistake could have serious consequences. The period detail is vivid without overwhelming the story, and the escape planning gradually builds a strong sense of pressure.
The pacing is measured rather than relentlessly fast, with much of the suspense developing through conversations, observation and uncertainty about who can be trusted. Readers expecting continuous action may find the early sections slower, but the tension increases steadily as Gabriel becomes more deeply involved in Caldwell’s situation. Some of the shifting allegiances require close attention, although they also make the mystery more rewarding.
Overall, *Cold Sunset* is an absorbing and sophisticated espionage novel with an excellent Cold War atmosphere, a likeable reluctant spy and a carefully constructed story of loyalty and deception. It combines literary writing with genuine suspense and offers a compelling conclusion to Gabriel Dax’s latest assignment. Although the pacing is occasionally slow, the strong setting, intelligent plotting and moral uncertainty made this a highly enjoyable read.
*Cold Sunset* is a stylish and intelligent Cold War thriller filled with shifting loyalties, concealed motives and the constant possibility of betrayal. Gabriel Dax, a travel writer who has been reluctantly drawn into the world of espionage, is sent to Moscow to deliver a mysterious drawing to Kit Caldwell, a celebrated British defector now living as a Hero of the Soviet Union.
Caldwell is convinced that the KGB suspects him of treachery and asks Gabriel to help him escape across the Russian border into Finland. When Gabriel’s enigmatic handler, Faith Green, orders him to assist, what should have been a relatively simple assignment becomes an increasingly dangerous operation. Gabriel must navigate a world in which almost everyone is performing a role and loyalty can change according to circumstance.
Gabriel remains an engaging protagonist because he is not a conventional, highly trained spy. He is intelligent and observant, but he is also vulnerable, uncertain and frequently caught between people who understand the rules of espionage far better than he does. His reluctance makes the danger feel more believable, while his complicated relationship with Faith adds emotional tension to the mission.
The Moscow setting is one of the strongest aspects of the novel. William Boyd creates an atmosphere of surveillance, suspicion and restrained danger, where an apparently harmless conversation or minor mistake could have serious consequences. The period detail is vivid without overwhelming the story, and the escape planning gradually builds a strong sense of pressure.
The pacing is measured rather than relentlessly fast, with much of the suspense developing through conversations, observation and uncertainty about who can be trusted. Readers expecting continuous action may find the early sections slower, but the tension increases steadily as Gabriel becomes more deeply involved in Caldwell’s situation. Some of the shifting allegiances require close attention, although they also make the mystery more rewarding.
Overall, *Cold Sunset* is an absorbing and sophisticated espionage novel with an excellent Cold War atmosphere, a likeable reluctant spy and a carefully constructed story of loyalty and deception. It combines literary writing with genuine suspense and offers a compelling conclusion to Gabriel Dax’s latest assignment. Although the pacing is occasionally slow, the strong setting, intelligent plotting and moral uncertainty made this a highly enjoyable read.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
William Boyd has done it again. With Cold Sunset, the third installment in his Gabriel Dax series, he delivers a spy novel that feels less like genre fiction and more like literature.
It is 1964, and Cold War Moscow is doing what Cold War Moscow does best: simmering with paranoia, secrets, and the constant threat of exposure. Gabriel Dax, that most reluctant of spies — a travel writer who somehow keeps finding himself in the killing business — is tasked with delivering a mysterious Blanco drawing to Kit Caldwell, a celebrated triple-agent living large as a Hero of the Soviet Union. Caldwell, convinced the KGB is closing in, wants Gabriel to do the unthinkable: smuggle him across the Russian border to Finland. With his enigmatic handler Faith Green pushing him forward, Gabriel is once again pulled into a world where loyalty is a moving target and trust is a luxury no one can afford.
Readers who came to Boyd through le Carré will feel right at home here. Cold Sunset inhabits the same shadow-drenched moral universe as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy — all Cold War fog and psychological tension, with precious little in the way of gadgets or car chases. This is character-driven espionage at its most literary, and Boyd's storytelling genius is on full display. The prose is elegant, the atmosphere immersive, and the ethical murk that surrounds Gabriel genuinely uncomfortable in the best possible way.
As for Gabriel himself — three books in, he is now a three-time killer, which sits uneasily on a man who never asked for any of this. He is no James Bond. He does not sip martinis shaken not stirred; he drinks whatever he can lay hands on, and plenty of it. He shares his bed with three women in the course of this story, yet there is nothing glamorous about it. Boyd resists the seductions of the spy fantasy at every turn, keeping Gabriel grounded, flawed, and utterly human. That is precisely what makes him such compelling company.
My only caveat — and it is less a complaint than an observation — is that the ending is deliberately ambiguous, the kind of conclusion that leaves threads dangling rather than tying them off. It is both satisfying and maddening at once, clearly designed to presage, if not outright demand, a fourth and possibly final book to close things out properly. Consider yourself warned, and consider yourself hooked.
A big thank you to the publisher and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#ColdSunset #NetGalley
It is 1964, and Cold War Moscow is doing what Cold War Moscow does best: simmering with paranoia, secrets, and the constant threat of exposure. Gabriel Dax, that most reluctant of spies — a travel writer who somehow keeps finding himself in the killing business — is tasked with delivering a mysterious Blanco drawing to Kit Caldwell, a celebrated triple-agent living large as a Hero of the Soviet Union. Caldwell, convinced the KGB is closing in, wants Gabriel to do the unthinkable: smuggle him across the Russian border to Finland. With his enigmatic handler Faith Green pushing him forward, Gabriel is once again pulled into a world where loyalty is a moving target and trust is a luxury no one can afford.
Readers who came to Boyd through le Carré will feel right at home here. Cold Sunset inhabits the same shadow-drenched moral universe as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy — all Cold War fog and psychological tension, with precious little in the way of gadgets or car chases. This is character-driven espionage at its most literary, and Boyd's storytelling genius is on full display. The prose is elegant, the atmosphere immersive, and the ethical murk that surrounds Gabriel genuinely uncomfortable in the best possible way.
As for Gabriel himself — three books in, he is now a three-time killer, which sits uneasily on a man who never asked for any of this. He is no James Bond. He does not sip martinis shaken not stirred; he drinks whatever he can lay hands on, and plenty of it. He shares his bed with three women in the course of this story, yet there is nothing glamorous about it. Boyd resists the seductions of the spy fantasy at every turn, keeping Gabriel grounded, flawed, and utterly human. That is precisely what makes him such compelling company.
My only caveat — and it is less a complaint than an observation — is that the ending is deliberately ambiguous, the kind of conclusion that leaves threads dangling rather than tying them off. It is both satisfying and maddening at once, clearly designed to presage, if not outright demand, a fourth and possibly final book to close things out properly. Consider yourself warned, and consider yourself hooked.
A big thank you to the publisher and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#ColdSunset #NetGalley
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The best and final Gabriel Dax story.
"Cold Sunset" is the final part of the Gabriel Dax trilogy, featuring the reluctant spy of the same name. It opens in March 1964, and finds Dax in California, on another job for MI6's Faith Green, while also carrying out research for his latest book. His job is to meet with a reclusive author, an MI6 asset who has news of a Russian double-agent living in America. Dax follows up on this and ends up interviewing the agent, Angus Fairford, who admits to feeding vital information from Bletchley Park to the Russians during the war. Afterwards Dax rewards himself with a visit to Parker Baumgarten, with whom he worked on a previous job.
Returning home, Dax is debriefed, before getting down to work on his book, but it isn't long before Faith imposes on him again - the spy, Kit Caldwell, currently in Russia, wants to be brought home, and he only wants Gabriel Dax to do it. And so, with three or four story arcs already in motion, the reader and Gabriel are thrown into a fast-moving and complex story of betrayal, revenge, and conspiracy. His adventures in Russia are particularly well told, and the threads of the piece are nicely brought together. . Once again, real-life events are woven into the story, and there's an authentic 60's vibe to the prose - William Boyd is certainly a master of the set scene. As with the previous books, Gabriel's home life, his relationships, and his work are nicely balanced with the complicated double life he leads- how he manages to push out best selling travel books is a mystery.
Fans will be glad to know that old faces are back - Gabriel's gorgeous uncle, Aldous, Russian spy Varvara, and ex-girlfriend Lorraine and her brother Tyrone all have parts to play. Plus there's his analyst, Dr Haas, who really needs a fuller part. The final third of the book is also worth mentioning - Faith and Gabriel have the chance to live the life they might have had, if not for all the spying stuff, and while the ending might make the reader assume there's another book coming, as it is, it's a fitting close to their story.
This is by far the most satisfying book in the trilogy, with lots of action, plenty of cloak-and-dagger, and the usual satisfying storytelling that only William Boyd can fit into 250 pages.
Highly recommended.
"Cold Sunset" is the final part of the Gabriel Dax trilogy, featuring the reluctant spy of the same name. It opens in March 1964, and finds Dax in California, on another job for MI6's Faith Green, while also carrying out research for his latest book. His job is to meet with a reclusive author, an MI6 asset who has news of a Russian double-agent living in America. Dax follows up on this and ends up interviewing the agent, Angus Fairford, who admits to feeding vital information from Bletchley Park to the Russians during the war. Afterwards Dax rewards himself with a visit to Parker Baumgarten, with whom he worked on a previous job.
Returning home, Dax is debriefed, before getting down to work on his book, but it isn't long before Faith imposes on him again - the spy, Kit Caldwell, currently in Russia, wants to be brought home, and he only wants Gabriel Dax to do it. And so, with three or four story arcs already in motion, the reader and Gabriel are thrown into a fast-moving and complex story of betrayal, revenge, and conspiracy. His adventures in Russia are particularly well told, and the threads of the piece are nicely brought together. . Once again, real-life events are woven into the story, and there's an authentic 60's vibe to the prose - William Boyd is certainly a master of the set scene. As with the previous books, Gabriel's home life, his relationships, and his work are nicely balanced with the complicated double life he leads- how he manages to push out best selling travel books is a mystery.
Fans will be glad to know that old faces are back - Gabriel's gorgeous uncle, Aldous, Russian spy Varvara, and ex-girlfriend Lorraine and her brother Tyrone all have parts to play. Plus there's his analyst, Dr Haas, who really needs a fuller part. The final third of the book is also worth mentioning - Faith and Gabriel have the chance to live the life they might have had, if not for all the spying stuff, and while the ending might make the reader assume there's another book coming, as it is, it's a fitting close to their story.
This is by far the most satisfying book in the trilogy, with lots of action, plenty of cloak-and-dagger, and the usual satisfying storytelling that only William Boyd can fit into 250 pages.
Highly recommended.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is the third of William Boyd’s novels featuring travel writer turned spy Gabriel Dax. If you haven’t read the first two, Gabriel’s Moon and The Predicament, I highly recommend you do so as it will make this book much easier to follow – and they are both excellent books in their own right, so you won’t regret it.
Cold Sunset opens in 1964 with Gabriel in California where he has been instructed by MI6 to make contact with poet Francis Falkner who says he suspects his former Bletchley Park colleague, Angus Fairford, of passing information to the Russians during the war. As always, Gabriel feels uncomfortable with this kind of task and would prefer to spend his time in America researching his new book, but by now he’s so deeply entangled with his double life and the requests of his MI6 handler Faith Green that he doesn’t know how to get out of it.
After returning to England (and dealing with the reappearance of a villain from the previous book who comes looking for revenge), Gabriel finds himself sent on yet another mission, this time to Russia to help exfiltrate Kit Caldwell, a triple agent who is trapped in Moscow. Gabriel has successfully managed to convince Russia’s KGB that he himself is a secret agent working for them but how much longer will he be able to keep up this pretence?
Since starting this series I’ve been particularly intrigued by Gabriel’s relationship with Faith Green. Her true motives have never been clear: Gabriel is infatuated with her, but does she really have feelings for him or is she just using him for her own purposes? I’ve never trusted her at all but Gabriel trusts her completely, which is quite frustrating! However, Boyd does a great job of keeping us wondering exactly what she’s up to and whether she’s really the person Gabriel thinks she is. I’d hoped for some answers to my questions in this book, but I’m not going to tell you whether I got them or not as that would be giving too much away!
Another thing I love about these books is the range of interesting locations Gabriel visits. The settings for the previous books included the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala and Berlin; in this one, he finally makes his long-awaited trip to Russia, where the novel’s most dramatic scenes take place, and there’s also a section set on a Greek island. Although Gabriel finds that his travel writing usually has to take second place to his spying, we do still hear a lot about the books he’s working on and they actually sound fascinating – I wish they were real! His current project is On the Beaten Path, which looks at famous tourist attractions from unusual perspectives, and his next book, The Job, will explore people in different countries working in the same three basic jobs.
As for William Boyd’s own next book, who knows? This has been marketed as a trilogy but it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, with some key plot points still unresolved. Maybe we’re supposed to draw our own conclusions or maybe the door has been left open for another Gabriel Dax novel at some point.
Cold Sunset opens in 1964 with Gabriel in California where he has been instructed by MI6 to make contact with poet Francis Falkner who says he suspects his former Bletchley Park colleague, Angus Fairford, of passing information to the Russians during the war. As always, Gabriel feels uncomfortable with this kind of task and would prefer to spend his time in America researching his new book, but by now he’s so deeply entangled with his double life and the requests of his MI6 handler Faith Green that he doesn’t know how to get out of it.
After returning to England (and dealing with the reappearance of a villain from the previous book who comes looking for revenge), Gabriel finds himself sent on yet another mission, this time to Russia to help exfiltrate Kit Caldwell, a triple agent who is trapped in Moscow. Gabriel has successfully managed to convince Russia’s KGB that he himself is a secret agent working for them but how much longer will he be able to keep up this pretence?
Since starting this series I’ve been particularly intrigued by Gabriel’s relationship with Faith Green. Her true motives have never been clear: Gabriel is infatuated with her, but does she really have feelings for him or is she just using him for her own purposes? I’ve never trusted her at all but Gabriel trusts her completely, which is quite frustrating! However, Boyd does a great job of keeping us wondering exactly what she’s up to and whether she’s really the person Gabriel thinks she is. I’d hoped for some answers to my questions in this book, but I’m not going to tell you whether I got them or not as that would be giving too much away!
Another thing I love about these books is the range of interesting locations Gabriel visits. The settings for the previous books included the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala and Berlin; in this one, he finally makes his long-awaited trip to Russia, where the novel’s most dramatic scenes take place, and there’s also a section set on a Greek island. Although Gabriel finds that his travel writing usually has to take second place to his spying, we do still hear a lot about the books he’s working on and they actually sound fascinating – I wish they were real! His current project is On the Beaten Path, which looks at famous tourist attractions from unusual perspectives, and his next book, The Job, will explore people in different countries working in the same three basic jobs.
As for William Boyd’s own next book, who knows? This has been marketed as a trilogy but it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, with some key plot points still unresolved. Maybe we’re supposed to draw our own conclusions or maybe the door has been left open for another Gabriel Dax novel at some point.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Cold Sunset is the third book in William Boyd’s James Bond-light Gabriel Dax series. Dax is a travel writer who, in the first book of this series - Gabriel’s Moon - also became an agent for the British Security Services. While he is still a bona fide travel writer, Dax uses his research travel as cover. This third book in the series, very much deals with the aftermath of events in the previous book (The Predicament) and a longer running issue involving a triple agent who has defected to Russia but still secretly works for MI6.
Cold Sunset opens in 1964 with Dax in America to meet a dying poet called Falkner who has information for him. Falkner worked at Bletchley Park during the war, something that in the 1960s was still not widely known about. Falkner points Dax to a colleague from the time who had passed information to the Russians and is now an academic at a small American university. This seemingly discrete job will have further ramifications when Dax learns that there may yet be another mole in the MI6. But before that he has to deal with a hit man seeking revenge and support the exfiltration of fake double agent Kit Caldwell from Russia.
Gabirel Dax continues to be a fascinating character to spend time with. Dax, is still trying to navigate a complicated love life – his obsession with his mercurial handler Faith Green, his ex-girlfriend who might want to try and snare him again, and a couple of other flings along the way. Boyd drops in titbits from Dax’s sessions with his psychiatrist giving Freudian glimpses into some of these relationships. As the series progresses Dax is developing his spycraft, skills that stand him in good stead when he learns he is being stalked by a CIA assassin. But he is also trying to live his life as a travel writer, a calling that for him is more than just a cover story.
Cold Sunset is another great entry in an engaging and entertaining espionage series. Boyd, through Dax, gives a great feel for the places that he visits – in this case America, Russia, England and Greece – while also lampooning the slightly more purple prose of Dax’s own writing about these places. But this is still an spy story where no one can be trusted and Boyd also manages to retain a high level of ambiguity, leaving Dax’s story well and truly open for another instalment.
Cold Sunset opens in 1964 with Dax in America to meet a dying poet called Falkner who has information for him. Falkner worked at Bletchley Park during the war, something that in the 1960s was still not widely known about. Falkner points Dax to a colleague from the time who had passed information to the Russians and is now an academic at a small American university. This seemingly discrete job will have further ramifications when Dax learns that there may yet be another mole in the MI6. But before that he has to deal with a hit man seeking revenge and support the exfiltration of fake double agent Kit Caldwell from Russia.
Gabirel Dax continues to be a fascinating character to spend time with. Dax, is still trying to navigate a complicated love life – his obsession with his mercurial handler Faith Green, his ex-girlfriend who might want to try and snare him again, and a couple of other flings along the way. Boyd drops in titbits from Dax’s sessions with his psychiatrist giving Freudian glimpses into some of these relationships. As the series progresses Dax is developing his spycraft, skills that stand him in good stead when he learns he is being stalked by a CIA assassin. But he is also trying to live his life as a travel writer, a calling that for him is more than just a cover story.
Cold Sunset is another great entry in an engaging and entertaining espionage series. Boyd, through Dax, gives a great feel for the places that he visits – in this case America, Russia, England and Greece – while also lampooning the slightly more purple prose of Dax’s own writing about these places. But this is still an spy story where no one can be trusted and Boyd also manages to retain a high level of ambiguity, leaving Dax’s story well and truly open for another instalment.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Three books in, and William Boyd still has me following Gabriel Dax into the murky world of Cold War espionage.
It’s 1964. Moscow is simmering. Gabriel has a mysterious drawing to deliver to Kit Caldwell — triple agent, Soviet hero and increasingly nervous man who thinks the KGB is onto him.
His solution?
Escape to Finland.
Gabriel’s job?
Get him there.
Simple, obviously. 🙃
What follows is a wonderfully tangled web of shifting loyalties, dangerous alliances and people who are rarely quite what they seem.
Including Gabriel’s enigmatic MI6 handler, Faith Green.
Gabriel’s infatuation with Faith has simmered throughout the series, and their on-off affair adds another deliciously complicated strand to the story. Professionally, she’s the woman giving him orders. Personally… well, things are considerably less straightforward.
And Boyd is brilliant at making that ambiguity feel entirely at home in Gabriel’s world.
The writing is sublime. The evocation of 1960s England and the Cold War is superb, and the way fictional lives are woven through real historical events is masterful.
But what I particularly love about this series is the juxtaposition.
Cloak and dagger.
International intrigue.
Possible assassination.
And then… the daily minutiae of ordinary life.
It’s funny, dry and wonderfully human.
Gabriel himself is hardly your conventional spy. Three books in, he’s now a three-time killer — something that sits rather awkwardly on the shoulders of a man who never exactly set out to become one.
No shaken Martinis. No Aston Martins.
Just a flawed, reluctant man drinking too much and wondering, presumably, how on earth he ended up here.
That’s what makes him so compelling.
Boyd gives us espionage without the glamour, tension without the theatrics and a literary thriller where the most dangerous weapon is often knowing too little about whom to trust.
And then comes the ending.
Let’s just say… it leaves the door open.
Very open.
Is this really the end of Gabriel Dax’s story?
I sincerely hope not.
Because after three books, I’m not quite ready to say goodbye.
It’s 1964. Moscow is simmering. Gabriel has a mysterious drawing to deliver to Kit Caldwell — triple agent, Soviet hero and increasingly nervous man who thinks the KGB is onto him.
His solution?
Escape to Finland.
Gabriel’s job?
Get him there.
Simple, obviously. 🙃
What follows is a wonderfully tangled web of shifting loyalties, dangerous alliances and people who are rarely quite what they seem.
Including Gabriel’s enigmatic MI6 handler, Faith Green.
Gabriel’s infatuation with Faith has simmered throughout the series, and their on-off affair adds another deliciously complicated strand to the story. Professionally, she’s the woman giving him orders. Personally… well, things are considerably less straightforward.
And Boyd is brilliant at making that ambiguity feel entirely at home in Gabriel’s world.
The writing is sublime. The evocation of 1960s England and the Cold War is superb, and the way fictional lives are woven through real historical events is masterful.
But what I particularly love about this series is the juxtaposition.
Cloak and dagger.
International intrigue.
Possible assassination.
And then… the daily minutiae of ordinary life.
It’s funny, dry and wonderfully human.
Gabriel himself is hardly your conventional spy. Three books in, he’s now a three-time killer — something that sits rather awkwardly on the shoulders of a man who never exactly set out to become one.
No shaken Martinis. No Aston Martins.
Just a flawed, reluctant man drinking too much and wondering, presumably, how on earth he ended up here.
That’s what makes him so compelling.
Boyd gives us espionage without the glamour, tension without the theatrics and a literary thriller where the most dangerous weapon is often knowing too little about whom to trust.
And then comes the ending.
Let’s just say… it leaves the door open.
Very open.
Is this really the end of Gabriel Dax’s story?
I sincerely hope not.
Because after three books, I’m not quite ready to say goodbye.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Kim Philby, the third “Cambridge Spy” defected in 1963. A year later, Gabriel Dax is in LA meeting a contact who might identify the “Fourth Man”. Gabriel is a professional Travel writer and an occasional, reluctant, MI6 asset, i.e. he’s not an actual agent of MI6, but can do a bit of spying while travelling the world. Back in the UK, he is MI6’s link to Moscow based, deep penetration agent, Kit Caldwell, although the KGB believe that Kit is their spy and Gabriel is his source. At times he wonders how he got into this mess, while acknowledging that being in love with Faith Green the head of a covert MI6 unit may be the reason. It now looks like Kit’s role as a double agent is compromised, because there is a new spy on the block. Kit need to get out of the USSR before he is exposed and then killed. Gabriel, on the pretext of writing a chapter about Moscow, is sent to help him exfiltrate.
This is the third book in what was flagged as a Trilogy. It works perfectly well on its own, although understanding Gabriel will benefit from reading the earlier books. It is well-written and plotted, although I did feel that the plot mechanics were a bit obvious. As usual, it is immersed in the real world of the time, its culture and its politics – Philby’s defection rocked the SIS. This is the world of the later Bond Books and the early Smiley Books, and it feel at home with these, though it is more Smiley than Bond. The last fifty pages or so seem to be setting up a different dynamic and presage a sequel, so perhaps it isn’t just a Trilogy after all.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.
This is the third book in what was flagged as a Trilogy. It works perfectly well on its own, although understanding Gabriel will benefit from reading the earlier books. It is well-written and plotted, although I did feel that the plot mechanics were a bit obvious. As usual, it is immersed in the real world of the time, its culture and its politics – Philby’s defection rocked the SIS. This is the world of the later Bond Books and the early Smiley Books, and it feel at home with these, though it is more Smiley than Bond. The last fifty pages or so seem to be setting up a different dynamic and presage a sequel, so perhaps it isn’t just a Trilogy after all.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
We are now quickly on to Boyd's third spy thriller featuring Gabriel Dax. Looking back, our hero has moved on considerably since we were first introduced to him. He is still a moderately unwilling spy, but he has proved to be very good at the work - mostly because he acts quickly and professionally in stressful situations.
"The Institute" is steeped in the world of 1960s espionage: moles and defectors, the Cambridge spy ring, the elusive fourth (and perhaps fifth) man, and spies coming in from the cold. It is a world built on betrayal and double-dealing. Even Gabriel himself finds he has become embroiled in a sanctioned pretence of being a double agent, which at times seems almost like a joke.
As if that were not enough, he is still being pursued by a hitman in the wake of his previous mission. This finally forces him to go abroad and off-grid for several months, during which time he usefully occupies himself by writing about his recent travels for his new book, "On the Beaten Track".
It is obvious that he greatly enjoys his "real" job as a travel writer, which some might now justifiably call his "cover"! He clearly relishes both the travel and the writing, and it is almost ironic that his espionage work gives him the opportunity to visit places that would otherwise have remained beyond his reach.
The novel ends on an unsettling note. There is an air of mistrust, and a number of questions remain unanswered, not only for the reader but also for Gabriel himself, as he is no fool. Thus we leave him deep in thought about his future in general and, more personally, about his relationship with his beloved Faith Green.
"The Institute" is steeped in the world of 1960s espionage: moles and defectors, the Cambridge spy ring, the elusive fourth (and perhaps fifth) man, and spies coming in from the cold. It is a world built on betrayal and double-dealing. Even Gabriel himself finds he has become embroiled in a sanctioned pretence of being a double agent, which at times seems almost like a joke.
As if that were not enough, he is still being pursued by a hitman in the wake of his previous mission. This finally forces him to go abroad and off-grid for several months, during which time he usefully occupies himself by writing about his recent travels for his new book, "On the Beaten Track".
It is obvious that he greatly enjoys his "real" job as a travel writer, which some might now justifiably call his "cover"! He clearly relishes both the travel and the writing, and it is almost ironic that his espionage work gives him the opportunity to visit places that would otherwise have remained beyond his reach.
The novel ends on an unsettling note. There is an air of mistrust, and a number of questions remain unanswered, not only for the reader but also for Gabriel himself, as he is no fool. Thus we leave him deep in thought about his future in general and, more personally, about his relationship with his beloved Faith Green.
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