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The Spy in Question
Discovery means certain death. And he’s running out of time.
It’s 1990, and Dmitry Kalyagin is about to attain membership in Gorbachev’s politburo when his long-dormant status as a “mole” for the British is suddenly reactivated.
English intelligence man George Parker, feeling indebted to Kalyagin, initiates a covert effort to pull the agent out before his identity can be uncovered by the Soviets.
But as the body count starts to rise, Parker’s attempts to protect Kalyagin are hampered by both Russian ruthlessness and British indifference. As desperation begins to set in, the battle to save Kalyagin will lead to a climactic showdown in the Moscow streets, between two networks of spies.
It’s 1990, and Dmitry Kalyagin is about to attain membership in Gorbachev’s politburo when his long-dormant status as a “mole” for the British is suddenly reactivated.
English intelligence man George Parker, feeling indebted to Kalyagin, initiates a covert effort to pull the agent out before his identity can be uncovered by the Soviets.
But as the body count starts to rise, Parker’s attempts to protect Kalyagin are hampered by both Russian ruthlessness and British indifference. As desperation begins to set in, the battle to save Kalyagin will lead to a climactic showdown in the Moscow streets, between two networks of spies.
319 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 1988
36 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 8, 2025
A real treat to find a Spy writer I had no knowledge of even if finding the books in his series takes fortitude. Sebastian’s re-creation of the Cold War USSR, both 1968’s Estonia and 1990s Moscow is very authentic and he uses the bleak architecture, frigid December weather, and sometimes, his spare prose, to convey the drudgery of day-to-day Soviet Russians, the mind-numbing bureaucracy of both the foreign British embassy personnel and the Soviet state, as well as the lemming-drive-to survive, rapacious greed, and sometimes, martyred acceptance. Introducing us to the soon-to-be dismantled network of spies supplying the British with inside information in the beginning of the book and then recalling them in the 1990 Moscow gives us a good continuity and a stake in the minor CHs as well as major. Even the vilest of these CHs appear human and conflicted. Sebastian reminds me of prime Len Deighton, and current Paul Vidich in his ability to integrate the superb spy craft details, along with the political, economic, and cultural specifics, adding to the Tone, which decorates the Setting, and enriches major CHs, both British and Russian, who become individuals to the reader as their desires, fears, and realities color the excellent plotting. The plot is somewhat obvious to a dedicated spy story reader as Cold War politics dance with the spying, counter-spying, betrayal, and retribution, but Sebastian surprised me a few times and made me want the next book in the series. This one had a realistic and traumatic ending; however, threads involving a few CHs promise we should see them in the ongoing series. RED FLAGS: Brutal Violence; Torture; Historical Misogyny. Other authors I would say are also readalikes besides the Deighton and Vidich mentioned above, is Dan Fesperman, David McClosky, and Mick Herron.
December 30, 2021
This was a hidden gem of a book.
This is not a well known book or author and I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked it up from a charity shop.
What I found when I delved in to this book was an authentic bleak and gripping spy novel. It captured the spirit of life in Moscow in 1990, no doubt helped by Sebastian's time as a BBC television correspondent in Russia. The way Moscow is described in day and night, the weather, the people and the shadow spies operate ratchets up the tension as the book goes on.
What really impressed me about this book is how unsentimental it is about the lives of spies, moles, traitors and those who control them, as as the international political waters they operated in and the amoral games played by all sides at a great cost during the Cold War.
The themes of loyalty, betrayal, power, status, the reality of life in Soviet Russia and how the system operated, alongside human emotions of love, lust, desire, fear and excitement are really well done.
The way lives are hung on a thread and brought callously to an end adds to the quality of the book.
This is an authentic, gripping tension filled spy novel which was well worth reading and I would definitely recommend.
This is not a well known book or author and I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked it up from a charity shop.
What I found when I delved in to this book was an authentic bleak and gripping spy novel. It captured the spirit of life in Moscow in 1990, no doubt helped by Sebastian's time as a BBC television correspondent in Russia. The way Moscow is described in day and night, the weather, the people and the shadow spies operate ratchets up the tension as the book goes on.
What really impressed me about this book is how unsentimental it is about the lives of spies, moles, traitors and those who control them, as as the international political waters they operated in and the amoral games played by all sides at a great cost during the Cold War.
The themes of loyalty, betrayal, power, status, the reality of life in Soviet Russia and how the system operated, alongside human emotions of love, lust, desire, fear and excitement are really well done.
The way lives are hung on a thread and brought callously to an end adds to the quality of the book.
This is an authentic, gripping tension filled spy novel which was well worth reading and I would definitely recommend.
December 15, 2023
This is the first book in a series of three. Do try to read them in order. (Spy in Question/ Spy Shadow/ Saviour's Gate)
For any, the Cold War is "history".
The author was a top journalist during the period, visiting the USSR when that was not easy. He bring knowledge of that place, that time to the novels.
His trilogy is built around a fascinating premise... but it is so much more than a clever plot.
The characters... some transparently actual historical figures... are beautifully developed.
The mood of the era is conveyed.
The writing is excellent... I felt as if I were "there" as I worked my way through the chapters.
Very atmospheric. Not your usual "noisy, car chase" thriller.
For any, the Cold War is "history".
The author was a top journalist during the period, visiting the USSR when that was not easy. He bring knowledge of that place, that time to the novels.
His trilogy is built around a fascinating premise... but it is so much more than a clever plot.
The characters... some transparently actual historical figures... are beautifully developed.
The mood of the era is conveyed.
The writing is excellent... I felt as if I were "there" as I worked my way through the chapters.
Very atmospheric. Not your usual "noisy, car chase" thriller.
January 22, 2020
Cold war Britain and Russia spy on spy, MI6 and KGB. Once you get past the challenging Russian names the story pulls you in. Author Tim Sebastian was a BBC correspondent in Russia, expelled under suspicion of being a spy himself. Denied it - but who really knows ? 😉
October 20, 2014
A good Soviet thriller which conjurs up Moscow in a vivid manner. Like many of these types of novel it is essentially melancholy with no real winners and just a nihilistic view of life as a spy. Therefore pretty realistic, and I love these kind of books. I would recommend it to anyone who like spy novels, they won't be disappointed.
August 1, 2019
Tim Sebastian is a journalist and this reads like his reports from Moscow. Convincing and realistic.
August 1, 2015
Bleak spy story.
August 3, 2013
What a spy novel should be. Real without being voyeuristic. Another way to remember the Cold War without romanticizing it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews