The Long Run

by Ted Allbeury

In Washington, in London, in Berlin, very different men confront a future they distrust and despise. In the years since the end of the Cold War, true power seems to have shifted from their nations' natural leaders to a gaggle of irresponsible journalists and self-seeking politicians, cynically manipulating news and public opinion to their own ends. These men have not forgotten the lessons of five decades of clandestine struggle. And when a long-dead spy's secrets resurface, they see an opportunity. But can any man, no matter how well-meaning, seize the reigns of power without endangering the very way of life he seeks to protect?

Genres: Espionage

395 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

1917 - 2005. Also wrote under the pseudonyms Richard Butler and Patrick Kelly.

Ted Allbeury was a lieutenant-colonel in the Intelligence Corps during World War II, and later a successful executive in the fields of marketing, advertising and radio. He began his writing career in the early 1970s and became well known for his espionage novels, but also published one highly-praised general novel, THE CHOICE, and a short story collection, OTHER KINDS OF TREASON. His novels have been published in twenty-three languages, including Russian. He died on 4th December 2005.


See also: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/j...
and
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/t...

Reviews

[AJourneyWithoutMap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ted Allbeury was a respected spy writer who had served as a secret agent in the war and the cold war. He was one of the most productive of the internationally recognized spy fiction writers of, and during the peak of his career managed to write four novels in one year under his own name, plus others under the pen names Richard Butler and Patrick Kelly.

The Long Run by Ted Allbeury was first published in 1996 and is written in his usual trademark style, full of suspense which will endear to his legion of fans. The novel is absorbing and enjoyable. I’m consider myself fortunate enough to try out some of his books through Ted is no more.

[Nigel Pinkus · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reader will find themselves in post Cold War Europe where the Wall has fallen, Europe has changed, new allegiances have been formed and where the German Intelligence service (the BND) has now teamed up with England (MI6) and the US (the CIA). The central figure in the story, James Mason, has been set on assignment to investigate the death of Charlie Foster, but by about half through the book the reader is presented with a drastic change in the story.
Whilst there are a vast array of characters there were actually only a handful of important ones to remember. These were: Mason, Alteri, Maguire and Rosen. In this instalment, Allbeury wished to emphasise the relationship between Mason and Rosen and the conflict that a secret service agent has between the job and being human. Can you do your job properly, while at the same time showing empathy and compassion for innocents (maybe) and people caught in the middle?

Whilst an authentic read, it felt a little tired like the Director- General Sir Peter Crombie. Also, Allbeury didn't present a great deal of knowledge of the high-tech industry that is now used by the intelligence agencies and wasn't convincing that the far-right were, in fact, the new evil of the 21st century. John Le Carre, “Absolute Friends” and "A Most Wanted Man" and the six Joe Herron’s, 'Jackson Lamb' books were all better than this read. Even, Richard Flanagan's,"Short Black 1 The Australian Disease: On the Decline of Love and the Rise of Non-Freedom" which was about many things, but also about the far-right is also worth a read. They were all four to five star reads while this one gets a solid three and a half. This was not bad, though.

Ted Allbeury wrote a staggering 42 novels and used two other pen names ~ Richard Butler and Patrick Kelly as well. Here are 29 other read’s from Allbeury, all rated accordingly:

THE GOOD (Four to Five Stars): 'The Lantern Network', 'A Wilderness of Mirrors', 'A Time Without Shadows' aka 'The Rules of the Game', 'The Only Good German' aka ‘Mission Berlin’, 'The Dangerous Edge', ‘Palomino Blonde’ aka 'Omega- minus','The Lonely Margins', ’The Crossing' aka ‘The Berlin Exchange’, 'Seeds of Treason', 'Other Kinds of Treason', 'Special Forces' aka 'Moscow Quadrille', the feel good, 'The Girl From Addis', 'Pay Any Price' and the rather exceptional, and this person's favourite, 'The Line-Crosser' (published in 1993).

THE AVERAGE (Two or Three Stars): Some other novels that this person thought were either average or only okay were: 'Show Me a Hero', 'No Place to Hide' aka ‘Hostage’, ‘The Reckoning’, ’The Twentieth Day of January’ a.k.a. ‘Cold Tactics’, 'Shadow of Doubt', ‘Deep Purple’ and 'The Long Run'.

THE UGLY (One or two stars): It’s, however, probably best to stay away from: ‘Aid and Comfort’, ‘The Assets' aka “Due Process’, 'The Secret Whispers’, 'The Alpha List', ’Consequences of Fear' aka ‘Smokescreen’ and ’The Spirit of Liberty', 'The Reaper' aka 'The Stalking Angel' and he also wrote, ’The Choice' which is not espionage and this reader thought not a good one. Cheers.

[Jak60 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is not bad, it just has too many ingredients in it - both in terms of storylines and characters.
We have of course the spy story and this is one of the few occasions where Allbeury moves on other grounds that SOE/WWII and cold war; the story is not bad but it clearly shows he’s not on his turf.
Allbeury tries then to interweave into this story another major theme, ie the role of media; the underlying notion is that the media people would not be entitled to expose and attack the sleaze of the politicians essentially because they are as corrupted as them. And that such corrupted media serve (even if only involuntarily) the cause of anarchists and terrorists.
Now, these are thesis (which by the way I disagree with) of such complexity deserving the deep analysis of dedicated books; dropping them here and there in the context of a fiction novel sounds like sociology for dummies.
The attempt to integrate the two storylines is not completely successful so it is like following different threads.

Ted Allbeury was a very prolific writer with a highly volatile quality, spanning from excellent to less than mediocre; so, for the readers approaching Allbeury from scratch, there is a risk of starting on the wrong foot and to stop there and this would be a shame as in his best clothes, Allbeury can be as good as Len Deighton. Some navigation guidance might therefore help for handling properly Allbeury's body of work; here's my take on it.
Good/Very Good (4-5 stars): Seeds Of Treason (my personal favourite), The Other Side Of Silence, A Time Without Shadows, The Dangerous Edge, A Wilderness Of Mirrors, Moscow Quardille, The Only Good German, Shadow Of A Doubt, The Lonely Margins, The Line-Crosser, Beyond The Silence
About OK (3 stars): Palomino Blonde, The Special Collection, The Twelfth Day In January, The Crossing, The Lantern Network, Shadow Of Shadows
Not Worth (1-2 stars): Show Me A Hero, Deep Purple, The Long Run, No Place To Hide, The Girl From Addis, Pay Any Price and Snowball.

[Lysergius · Rating 3 out of 5]

No, not the Large print version...