The Power Bug

by Geoffrey Osborne

A British scientist formulates a new oil refining technique, based on the use of bugs... It could change everything. Only Russia can check the Red Chinese menace, but is Russia the right place to go with this formula? The scientist must escape from Rangoon to Russia. Soviet agents arrange this, but China, Britain and America are equally determined to get the formula. Who will end up with the formula? British Secret Serviceman James Dingle has to pit his wits against the Russians, the Chinese and Burma’s formidable counterespionage chief. Will he succeed, and most of all, will he survive? A dangerous chase ensues that leads Dingle through Burma and reaches its exciting climax high in the Himalayas. The Power Bug is a chilling tale of espionage in a race against time, full of suspense until the very last page. Praise for Geoffrey Osborne ‘A chilling political thriller’ – Richard Foreman Geoffrey Osborne is an author of suspense thrillers, including Checkmate for China, Death’s No Antidoteand Balance of Fear.

176 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 3, 2017

About the author

Geoffrey Osborne, born in Gravesend on March 10, 1930, lived in Erith, Kent, until 1939, when he was evacuated to his grandparents' farm in North Wales. Later, education at King's School Rochester was followed by National Service in Germany with the Royal Scots Greys, as the gunner in a Centurian tank. His career as a journalist began as a reporter on the Gazette in South Shields, where he met his late wife, Dorothy. Later, after working as a sub-editor on the Journal in Newcastle and The Daily Telegraph in Fleet Street, he joined Bristol's Evening Post, becoming the chief-sub-editor. The author of six spy thrillers and many short stories, he lives in North Somerset. The Syndicate Six Murder is the first of a series featuring Detective Inspector Dorothy Fraser.

Reviews

[Mandy Walkden-Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable romp through the later 1960s political landscape of spy versus spy.

It's a while since I've read any spy fiction both written and set in the late 1960s, in fact I think the last one was by this same author. It's always amusing to see such things as cablegrams popping up, one quickly forgets how much technology has morphed over the decades;

A stolen formula, a trek through the Himalayas and enough action to keep one's interest. Likeable characters, even the bad guys and a fun read all round.

Well written, has aged well and I enjoyed the laconic British humour that pops up to lighten the darker moments.

I do wish Endeavour Press would stop publishing older tomes without having at least one pair of human eyes checking the result of the transfer via OCR from print to digital. At least this book's error rate is less heinous than some I've read from this publisher, but it's still somewhat irritating to be tossed out of the story trying to work out what the word(s) should have been.