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Elliot Kane #2
Ascension
British spy Elliot Kane is forced out of semi-retirement to investigate a colleague’s suspicious death on Ascension Island, a remote and rocky outpost of the British military in the middle of the Atlantic.
Despite uncovering a deep plot to incite a new world war, Elliot Kane has been on probation with the service since his misadventures in Kazakhstan. Having taken up a job teaching college literature and linguistics, he surprisingly enjoys living a conventional life and wonders if he would even go back to spycraft. Then a colleague from an ages-ago mission reaches out with a request. One of her tech specialists was on a long-term mission, in deep cover, but has suddenly killed himself. The agency is afraid to finish this vital mission without knowing what prompted this seemingly healthy man to take his own life. The carrot in this offer is helping his old friend; the stick is a worse punishment from the Agency if he doesn’t comply. So Elliott poses as an academic researcher and heads to one of the most remote places on the planet, Ascension Island.
Arriving on a rocky, barely livable island located in the Atlantic Ocean, halfway between Brazil and Angola, Kane is unsure whom to trust and why this lonely outpost is so important to the British military . . . until he uncovers dangerous secrets that lead straight back to London’s highest offices.
Despite uncovering a deep plot to incite a new world war, Elliot Kane has been on probation with the service since his misadventures in Kazakhstan. Having taken up a job teaching college literature and linguistics, he surprisingly enjoys living a conventional life and wonders if he would even go back to spycraft. Then a colleague from an ages-ago mission reaches out with a request. One of her tech specialists was on a long-term mission, in deep cover, but has suddenly killed himself. The agency is afraid to finish this vital mission without knowing what prompted this seemingly healthy man to take his own life. The carrot in this offer is helping his old friend; the stick is a worse punishment from the Agency if he doesn’t comply. So Elliott poses as an academic researcher and heads to one of the most remote places on the planet, Ascension Island.
Arriving on a rocky, barely livable island located in the Atlantic Ocean, halfway between Brazil and Angola, Kane is unsure whom to trust and why this lonely outpost is so important to the British military . . . until he uncovers dangerous secrets that lead straight back to London’s highest offices.
327 pages, Paperback
First published July 6, 2021
146 people are currently reading
927 people want to read
About the author
Oliver Harris
14 books237 followersOliver Harris's novels to date are The Hollow Man, Deep Shelter, The House of Fame, A Season in Exile - all featuring Detective Constable Nick Belsey - and A Shadow Intelligence, Ascension and The Shame Archive featuring MI6 officer Elliot Kane.
Oliver was born in north London. He has an MA in Shakespeare Studies from UCL, and an MA in creative writing from UEA. His PhD on psychoanalysis and Greek philosophy was published by Routledge in 2016 (Lacan's Return to Antiquity). He currently teaches creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
His Facebook page can be found by clicking here.
Oliver was born in north London. He has an MA in Shakespeare Studies from UCL, and an MA in creative writing from UEA. His PhD on psychoanalysis and Greek philosophy was published by Routledge in 2016 (Lacan's Return to Antiquity). He currently teaches creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
His Facebook page can be found by clicking here.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
June 18, 2021
Elliot Kane #2
4.5
Elliot is on ‘probation’ following issues with his last operation in Kazakhstan and is teaching at Oxford University. Kathryn Taylor, a colleague from the previous mission brings him out of ‘retirement ‘ to investigate the death of Rory Bannatyne who has been secretly working on a project in the strategically important Ascension Island. Kane poses as an historical researcher, Dr Edward Pearce and makes the long journey to the remote island.
I really enjoyed this ‘Spooks’ style thriller which has so many tentacles spreading into the fascinating, secretive world of espionage. This is a cleverly constructed thriller building the layers a bit at a time so the reader can follow and make sense of the complexity. The author writes in such a confident fashion so as to make the events seem all too believable taking the investigation across several global agencies, some friendly and some not. We delve into areas that seem futuristic now but are plausible in decades to come. The pace is fast, it’s very well written and the mystery at the heart of Ascension is really good featuring characters that are well fleshed out. I especially enjoy the setting on Ascension Island which I’ve heard of but knew very little about beyond location. There are some very good descriptions of the island' island life, it’s flora and fauna which are fascinating and it adds a lunar like atmosphere to the storytelling. I think the setting is an inspired choice, adding the element of authenticity to the plotting.
Overall, this is a really good thriller, I enjoy how it ends too and I’m eagerly anticipating what the future holds for Kane and Taylor. I recommend this to fans of the thriller genre.
With thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group.
**Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island roughly midway between West Africa and Brazil. It is a British overseas territory along with St Helena and Tristan da Cunha, all of which are on the British Green list of countries you can safely visit!!! There’s an RAF base there, a European Space Agency tracking station also NASA tracks space debris from here and it has important UK/USA intelligence facilities.
4.5
Elliot is on ‘probation’ following issues with his last operation in Kazakhstan and is teaching at Oxford University. Kathryn Taylor, a colleague from the previous mission brings him out of ‘retirement ‘ to investigate the death of Rory Bannatyne who has been secretly working on a project in the strategically important Ascension Island. Kane poses as an historical researcher, Dr Edward Pearce and makes the long journey to the remote island.
I really enjoyed this ‘Spooks’ style thriller which has so many tentacles spreading into the fascinating, secretive world of espionage. This is a cleverly constructed thriller building the layers a bit at a time so the reader can follow and make sense of the complexity. The author writes in such a confident fashion so as to make the events seem all too believable taking the investigation across several global agencies, some friendly and some not. We delve into areas that seem futuristic now but are plausible in decades to come. The pace is fast, it’s very well written and the mystery at the heart of Ascension is really good featuring characters that are well fleshed out. I especially enjoy the setting on Ascension Island which I’ve heard of but knew very little about beyond location. There are some very good descriptions of the island' island life, it’s flora and fauna which are fascinating and it adds a lunar like atmosphere to the storytelling. I think the setting is an inspired choice, adding the element of authenticity to the plotting.
Overall, this is a really good thriller, I enjoy how it ends too and I’m eagerly anticipating what the future holds for Kane and Taylor. I recommend this to fans of the thriller genre.
With thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group.
**Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island roughly midway between West Africa and Brazil. It is a British overseas territory along with St Helena and Tristan da Cunha, all of which are on the British Green list of countries you can safely visit!!! There’s an RAF base there, a European Space Agency tracking station also NASA tracks space debris from here and it has important UK/USA intelligence facilities.
May 5, 2021
I was rather disappointed in Ascension. I thought its predecessor, A Shadow Intelligence, was very good; this wasn’t in the same class, I’m afraid.
After his traumatic time in Kazakhstan, Elliot Kane has left the Intelligence Services and is quietly lecturing on obscure subjects in Oxford. He is, naturally, dragged back to investigate the suspicious suicide of someone he had worked with previously. This was on Ascension Island, a small, bleak island in the South Atlantic which has great significance for international communications and hence for intelligence agencies. A frankly rather mundane plot develops in which Kane, very clumsily for an experienced undercover agent, looks into dodgy goings-on on the island.
It’s fine in its way, but unlike A Shadow Intelligence, this seemed like a pretty run-of-the-mill whodunnit with some espionage stuff thrown in. Oliver Harris doesn’t quite manage to develop a sense of place as he did so well before, nor does he give such a good picture of the messy, murky world of geopolitics. They’re there, but far less convincing this time, as Kane blunders about drawing attention to himself and it ends with a race-against-time climax which left me pretty cold.
This is a perfectly decent beach read, but I was expecting far more from Harris and I can only give this a rather lukewarm recommendation.
(My thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC via NetGalley.)
After his traumatic time in Kazakhstan, Elliot Kane has left the Intelligence Services and is quietly lecturing on obscure subjects in Oxford. He is, naturally, dragged back to investigate the suspicious suicide of someone he had worked with previously. This was on Ascension Island, a small, bleak island in the South Atlantic which has great significance for international communications and hence for intelligence agencies. A frankly rather mundane plot develops in which Kane, very clumsily for an experienced undercover agent, looks into dodgy goings-on on the island.
It’s fine in its way, but unlike A Shadow Intelligence, this seemed like a pretty run-of-the-mill whodunnit with some espionage stuff thrown in. Oliver Harris doesn’t quite manage to develop a sense of place as he did so well before, nor does he give such a good picture of the messy, murky world of geopolitics. They’re there, but far less convincing this time, as Kane blunders about drawing attention to himself and it ends with a race-against-time climax which left me pretty cold.
This is a perfectly decent beach read, but I was expecting far more from Harris and I can only give this a rather lukewarm recommendation.
(My thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC via NetGalley.)
July 12, 2021
Ascension: the most remote island in the world. Elliot Kane, former spy, trying to leave the world of espionage behind. Kathryn Taylor: a stalled career in MI6, running the South Atlantic desk. Rory Bannatyne: covert technical specialist. Dead, apparently of suicide. Three friends from a mission many years ago reconnect when one of them dies on Ascension Island. Rory Bannatyne had been tasked with tapping a new transatlantic data cable, but a day before he was due to return home he is found hanged. When Kathryn Taylor begs Kane to go over and investigate, he can't say no, but it's an uneasy reintroduction to the intelligence game.
Ascension is a curious legacy of England's imperial past. Only employees and their families are allowed to live there. It's home to several highly-classified government projects, a British and American military base, and forty dead volcanic cones. Entirely isolated from the world, the disappearance of a young girl at the same time as Rory's death means local tensions are high. Elliot needs to discover what happened to her as well as to Rory. But the island contains more secrets than even the government knows, and it's not going to give them up without a fight.
This is compulsive and engaging spy fiction written with Harris’ trademark elegance and featuring a plot crafted and woven to near perfection. The story twists back and forth with some exciting surprises and misdirection to throw readers off the scent as to where the plot may be heading. Everyone must be viewed with suspicion and it's a great idea to be as cynical as Diogenes if you're involved in the spy game. The description of this remote island simply teeming with ecological delights brings the island vividly to life, and although this is much more of a slow burn thriller, Harris ratchets up the (geopolitical) tension impeccably from the mid-point onwards. Highly recommended.
Ascension is a curious legacy of England's imperial past. Only employees and their families are allowed to live there. It's home to several highly-classified government projects, a British and American military base, and forty dead volcanic cones. Entirely isolated from the world, the disappearance of a young girl at the same time as Rory's death means local tensions are high. Elliot needs to discover what happened to her as well as to Rory. But the island contains more secrets than even the government knows, and it's not going to give them up without a fight.
This is compulsive and engaging spy fiction written with Harris’ trademark elegance and featuring a plot crafted and woven to near perfection. The story twists back and forth with some exciting surprises and misdirection to throw readers off the scent as to where the plot may be heading. Everyone must be viewed with suspicion and it's a great idea to be as cynical as Diogenes if you're involved in the spy game. The description of this remote island simply teeming with ecological delights brings the island vividly to life, and although this is much more of a slow burn thriller, Harris ratchets up the (geopolitical) tension impeccably from the mid-point onwards. Highly recommended.
July 15, 2021
I love Oliver Harris’s books. Shadow Intelligence was terrific. The Nick Belsey series knocked my socks off. Ascension is good, but. Something I can't put my finger on. Perhaps the terrain was hard to get my brain around. The book was weirdly slow then incredibly fast, with some things falling into place almost too easily. Was it a Kane book or a Taylor book? Perhaps we'll know in the third installment. I will say, when I got to the end I was disappointed it was over.
July 29, 2021
A very good, intelligent espionage thriller that moves from a dead agent on the tiny Atlantic island of Ascension to plans to militarize space (ascension, get it?). The POV switches back and forth between the agent sent out to investigate and his control on London who stumbles into the larger dimensions of the great power plot.
July 12, 2021
Ascension is the sophomore instalment in the Elliot Kane series featuring the former MI6 spy. Despite uncovering a deep plot to incite a new world war, Elliot Kane has been on probation with the service since his misadventures in Kazakhstan. Having taken up a job teaching college literature and linguistics, he surprisingly enjoys living a conventional life and wonders if he would even go back to spycraft. Then a colleague from an ages-ago mission reaches out with a request. One of her tech specialists was on a long-term mission, in deep cover, but has suddenly killed himself. The agency is afraid to finish this vital mission without knowing what prompted this seemingly healthy man to take his own life. The carrot in this offer is helping his old friend; the stick is a worse punishment from the Agency if he doesn’t comply. So Elliott poses as an academic researcher and heads to one of the most remote places on the planet, the British Overseas Territory of Ascension Island.
Arriving on a rocky, barely livable island located in the Atlantic Ocean, halfway between Brazil and Angola, Kane is unsure whom to trust and why this lonely outpost is so important to the British military until he uncovers dangerous secrets that lead straight back to London’s highest offices. This is compulsive and engaging spy fiction written with Harris’ trademark elegance and featuring a plot crafted and woven to near perfection. The story twists back and forth with some exciting surprises and misdirection to throw readers off the scent as to where the plot may be heading. Everyone must be viewed with suspicion and it's a great idea to be as cynical as Diogenes if you're involved in the spy game. The description of this remote island simply teeming with ecological delights brings the island vividly to life, and although this is much more of a slow burn thriller, Harris ratchets up the (geopolitical) tension impeccably from the mid-point onwards. Highly recommended.
Arriving on a rocky, barely livable island located in the Atlantic Ocean, halfway between Brazil and Angola, Kane is unsure whom to trust and why this lonely outpost is so important to the British military until he uncovers dangerous secrets that lead straight back to London’s highest offices. This is compulsive and engaging spy fiction written with Harris’ trademark elegance and featuring a plot crafted and woven to near perfection. The story twists back and forth with some exciting surprises and misdirection to throw readers off the scent as to where the plot may be heading. Everyone must be viewed with suspicion and it's a great idea to be as cynical as Diogenes if you're involved in the spy game. The description of this remote island simply teeming with ecological delights brings the island vividly to life, and although this is much more of a slow burn thriller, Harris ratchets up the (geopolitical) tension impeccably from the mid-point onwards. Highly recommended.
January 26, 2021
First off, my thanks to Netgallery for the ARC version of this book!
This is another amazing book by Oliver Harris, involving the protagonist Elliot Kane from his previous book A Shadow Intelligence. As everyone can already read the book synopsis I won't bother with a retread except to say that are a lot more layers to the initial investigation plot. The first quarter of the book has what I felt to be a very 'True Detective' vibe surrounding the death of a tech specialist and former MI6 associate on a remote island with the latter half becoming more a spy thriller in the likes of a modern day John Le Carre (RIP).
Harris' writing style, heavily detailed at times in random subjects, takes some getting use to but for fans of the thinking man's spy thriller genre you won't be disappointed. My main reason for rating this 4 stars out of 5 was due to the fact that the level of description about Ascension Island and its history I found to be a bit much at times, however, part of the appeal of Harris' novels is his ability to take his characters to adventures in less traveled places in literature and describe them in remarkable detail.
I highly recommend this book, especially to any fans of Olen Steinhauer or the previous novel A Shadow Intelligence. I hope Harris continues writing more Kane novels and look forward to reading them!
This is another amazing book by Oliver Harris, involving the protagonist Elliot Kane from his previous book A Shadow Intelligence. As everyone can already read the book synopsis I won't bother with a retread except to say that are a lot more layers to the initial investigation plot. The first quarter of the book has what I felt to be a very 'True Detective' vibe surrounding the death of a tech specialist and former MI6 associate on a remote island with the latter half becoming more a spy thriller in the likes of a modern day John Le Carre (RIP).
Harris' writing style, heavily detailed at times in random subjects, takes some getting use to but for fans of the thinking man's spy thriller genre you won't be disappointed. My main reason for rating this 4 stars out of 5 was due to the fact that the level of description about Ascension Island and its history I found to be a bit much at times, however, part of the appeal of Harris' novels is his ability to take his characters to adventures in less traveled places in literature and describe them in remarkable detail.
I highly recommend this book, especially to any fans of Olen Steinhauer or the previous novel A Shadow Intelligence. I hope Harris continues writing more Kane novels and look forward to reading them!
April 12, 2021
I have a thing for remote islands, there is something wonderfully fascinating about them. This book is set on an island called Ascension, a legacy of the days of the British Empire and it is located in the middle of nowhere in the South Atlantic.
The story follows Elliot Kane, a former undercover operative who is trying to leave his spying days behind him and Kathryn Taylor, head of MI6's South Atlantic division. They worked together many years ago with a man called Rory Bannatyne and he has just turned up dead.
His death has been ruled a suicide but as he was deep uncover on the aforementioned Ascension Island, Kathryn wants Elliot to go there and find out if this was the case or if there was foul play involved. The island may be in the middle of nowhere but it is a hub of technology with both the RAF, USAF and BBC holding court at various parts of the island.
Rory is also under suspicion due to the disappearance of a local girl who vanished at the same time as his supposed suicide. Did he kill her or was his cover blown by an unknown enemy?
I really enjoyed this book, it was the perfect thriller with plenty of twists and turns. You don't know who is up to no good and who is innocent. My main reason for reading this book was the setting and I loved the remoteness that was conjured up by the author. All these people sent to this remote rock to carry out their jobs surrounded by extraordinary flora and fauna not to mentioned miles and miles of ocean.
If you are looking for a good easy but thrilling read, this will be for you.
Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
The story follows Elliot Kane, a former undercover operative who is trying to leave his spying days behind him and Kathryn Taylor, head of MI6's South Atlantic division. They worked together many years ago with a man called Rory Bannatyne and he has just turned up dead.
His death has been ruled a suicide but as he was deep uncover on the aforementioned Ascension Island, Kathryn wants Elliot to go there and find out if this was the case or if there was foul play involved. The island may be in the middle of nowhere but it is a hub of technology with both the RAF, USAF and BBC holding court at various parts of the island.
Rory is also under suspicion due to the disappearance of a local girl who vanished at the same time as his supposed suicide. Did he kill her or was his cover blown by an unknown enemy?
I really enjoyed this book, it was the perfect thriller with plenty of twists and turns. You don't know who is up to no good and who is innocent. My main reason for reading this book was the setting and I loved the remoteness that was conjured up by the author. All these people sent to this remote rock to carry out their jobs surrounded by extraordinary flora and fauna not to mentioned miles and miles of ocean.
If you are looking for a good easy but thrilling read, this will be for you.
Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
October 1, 2023
Hmmm… I had high hopes for this and it did start off well but ended up being hugely underwhelming.
The story of modern day spying set(partly) on an Island in the South Atlantic, it starts off with the returning to England from Ascension of the dead body of an agent. No one knows what happened to him.
Another agent is sent undercover to try and find out what happened to him while investigations continue at home too.
So far so good. But it ends up just all being a little underwhelming. Too little time is spent on Ascension. The hugely complicated and contrived way we end up at a rather simplistic explanation to all the happenings on Ascension can be a bit of a chore.
It’s not a bad book per se but it’s not really that good either. It’s all a bit flat. I expected the agent on Ascension to be the main character but we only spend time with him intermittently.
It passed the time but there was definitely something missing. It’s a book that’s instantly forgettable.
The story of modern day spying set(partly) on an Island in the South Atlantic, it starts off with the returning to England from Ascension of the dead body of an agent. No one knows what happened to him.
Another agent is sent undercover to try and find out what happened to him while investigations continue at home too.
So far so good. But it ends up just all being a little underwhelming. Too little time is spent on Ascension. The hugely complicated and contrived way we end up at a rather simplistic explanation to all the happenings on Ascension can be a bit of a chore.
It’s not a bad book per se but it’s not really that good either. It’s all a bit flat. I expected the agent on Ascension to be the main character but we only spend time with him intermittently.
It passed the time but there was definitely something missing. It’s a book that’s instantly forgettable.
October 16, 2022
My first encounter with this author, as for some unfathomable reason my library only has this one book of his stocked which happens to be #2 in a series. Shame, because now I'd very much like to read more of his work!
Set partially in London and partially on the remote South Atlantic island of Ascension, this is a clever, twisty spy thriller that slowly ratchets up the suspense with each chapter. Entertaining and easily kept me hooked.
Set partially in London and partially on the remote South Atlantic island of Ascension, this is a clever, twisty spy thriller that slowly ratchets up the suspense with each chapter. Entertaining and easily kept me hooked.
January 11, 2024
Easy to read, with two interesting stories that overlap nicely for a pleasurable reading experience. Personally felt the ending was extreme and didn't fit the small scale throughout the rest of the book.
September 28, 2022
Having spent 6 months living and working on Ascension Island - described as the most remote island in the world - I was more interested in reading this book based on its location rather than the story!
I'd probably rate the actual story 3.5 but rounding it up to a 4 as it brought back so many memories of my time based there as an RAF Officer.
I'd probably rate the actual story 3.5 but rounding it up to a 4 as it brought back so many memories of my time based there as an RAF Officer.
March 30, 2025
Well written. Page turner Opens ones eyes to what is most certainly occurring in the space race.
June 20, 2025
Very good, tight plot, not a superman protagonist, off the curve surroundings, have my eyes on this chap, will surely deliver future espionage classics.
January 21, 2022
A cracking good read. This was a bit of a wild card for me. I was drawn to the unusual location of Ascension Island, my husband has visited and the company I previously worked for had a big presence there (they even got a mention. A very enjoyable spy novel.
December 10, 2021
If you are needing something short to read this is a good book. Not much action. It does have a good flow but lacks the punch. The one big thing I can say is Space Force is here to stay.
March 12, 2021
I started reading Oliver Harris with A Shadow Intelligence and am now looking for more of his work. Thanks to Houghton Mifflin and Net Galley for an ARC of this one. It's a winner. in both SI and Ascension, Harris spends a good deal of time on the setting. I knew very little about Ascension Island and found his history and descriptions of the place fascinating. Also love his observations about spies, their relationship with others and well as how they justify their life. Aside from all that, the story is fast-paced and credible. I'm looking forward to his next, Season in Exile, in 2022.
March 30, 2022
Ascension Island is a tiny, remote and inhospitable island in the middle of the Atlantic about halfway between Angola and Brazil, a volcanic outcrop with very little water or vegetation. Not a very interesting place, and certainly not a promising setting for a cutting-edge suspense novel, right?
Except that it happens to be a key piece of real estate for international communications, hosting (according to Wikipedia) "a Royal Air Force station, a European Space Agency rocket tracking station, an Anglo-American signals intelligence facility and the BBC World Service Atlantic Relay Station". Aha.
Elliot Kane is a crack MI6 agent, currently under a cloud for going off the reservation in his previous adventure (see my review of A Shadow Intelligence) and banished to an obscure teaching gig at Oxford. When an agent he once worked with turns up in a coffin shipped from Ascension, an apparent suicide, Kane's superior Kat Taylor smells a rat and tabs Kane unofficially to go and find out what's going on out there in the middle of the ocean. Kane finds a curious community, a mixture of military and civilians, bored adults and disaffected teenagers. Something is rotten on Ascension, as a young girl has just gone missing, and everybody's on edge. The story jumps back and forth between the barren landscape of the island and the treacherous corridors of power in London as Taylor and Kane home in on the source of the disturbance from different directions. A major international crisis looms.
There's lots of intrigue involving the deep state and sinister corporations, all hinging on the highest of high-tech premises. Kane is at the center of the story only physically; most of the heavy lifting is done by Taylor back in London. A convoluted and entertaining tale of 21st-century espionage.
Except that it happens to be a key piece of real estate for international communications, hosting (according to Wikipedia) "a Royal Air Force station, a European Space Agency rocket tracking station, an Anglo-American signals intelligence facility and the BBC World Service Atlantic Relay Station". Aha.
Elliot Kane is a crack MI6 agent, currently under a cloud for going off the reservation in his previous adventure (see my review of A Shadow Intelligence) and banished to an obscure teaching gig at Oxford. When an agent he once worked with turns up in a coffin shipped from Ascension, an apparent suicide, Kane's superior Kat Taylor smells a rat and tabs Kane unofficially to go and find out what's going on out there in the middle of the ocean. Kane finds a curious community, a mixture of military and civilians, bored adults and disaffected teenagers. Something is rotten on Ascension, as a young girl has just gone missing, and everybody's on edge. The story jumps back and forth between the barren landscape of the island and the treacherous corridors of power in London as Taylor and Kane home in on the source of the disturbance from different directions. A major international crisis looms.
There's lots of intrigue involving the deep state and sinister corporations, all hinging on the highest of high-tech premises. Kane is at the center of the story only physically; most of the heavy lifting is done by Taylor back in London. A convoluted and entertaining tale of 21st-century espionage.
December 23, 2021
Like an excellent meal, but slightly under seasoned.
Can't fault the quality of writing or plotting but was just something missing from it getting 5 stars. I thought there was just too little depth and background. The action was superb, as was the characterization, but I would have just liked a little more "why".
Can't fault the quality of writing or plotting but was just something missing from it getting 5 stars. I thought there was just too little depth and background. The action was superb, as was the characterization, but I would have just liked a little more "why".
May 25, 2021
This is the first spy thriller I have read by this author and it was more than decent and kept me entertained throughout.
It covers a mission to Ascension Island to investigate a mysterious death and provides deep insight into the world of the spy and his/her tradecraft.
Much happens and sometimes I got slightly confused about who was who and for whom they worked but in essence this was an exceptionally well plotted and written thriller that both thrilled and entertained in equal doses. It also gave me a welcome geography lesson regarding Ascension Island!
It covers a mission to Ascension Island to investigate a mysterious death and provides deep insight into the world of the spy and his/her tradecraft.
Much happens and sometimes I got slightly confused about who was who and for whom they worked but in essence this was an exceptionally well plotted and written thriller that both thrilled and entertained in equal doses. It also gave me a welcome geography lesson regarding Ascension Island!
February 1, 2022
My first try with this author and it's a winner. A Strong 4. This is a real spy/mystery novel written in the slower moving, relatively bloodless British "le Carre" tradition. If you only like the spy/SpecOps type books with a killing a minute, regardless of the need, this probably isn't for you.
It's the 2nd in the Elliot Kane series, but no need to read them in order. If you like this type of writing style, give it a try. I liked it well enough that I'm going to go back and try a couple of Harris' older books.
It's the 2nd in the Elliot Kane series, but no need to read them in order. If you like this type of writing style, give it a try. I liked it well enough that I'm going to go back and try a couple of Harris' older books.
June 3, 2021
Asension started at low tension for a spy thriller. Indeed, I had nearly reached the book's midpoint before I couldn't put it down. By the end, I realized I enjoyed the experience.
However, in order to deliver its ending, author Oliver Harris needed to introduce new characters, which reduced the tension level too fast for my taste as a reader.
All-in-all, I think it might be a worthwhile read.
However, in order to deliver its ending, author Oliver Harris needed to introduce new characters, which reduced the tension level too fast for my taste as a reader.
All-in-all, I think it might be a worthwhile read.
July 13, 2021
Ascension Island is half way between Brazil and Africa. It is 35 square miles with 800 people stationed at bases for the US and the UK. It is fairly desolate, but important for communications. With a new fiber optic cable project scheduled, Rory Bannatyne had been sent by the English government to discover a way to tap into the communications. The same day that a young girl disappears from the island, Rory is found hanging from a tower, an apparent suicide. Suspicion for the disappearance falls on Rory. Kathryn Taylor, in charge of the Southern Atlantic area for MI6, calls on Elliott Kane to investigate.
Elliott is a former agent who worked with Kathryn and Rory in the past but is now lecturing on literature as he works on his doctorate. A few days after he is approached, he is on his way to Ascension Island as Dr. Edward Pearce to research British Colonial history. He is supposed to keep a low profile but he finds himself in a fight to defend a young boy on his first night there. Back in England Kathryn discovers that Rory’s death was not suicide. In his last postcard to his sister, he asked her to find out about a Dr. Moretti, an employee on a military base in California who had committed suicide by hanging. Could there be a tie between the two deaths? Under pressure from her superiors and ordered to deal with the police investigation into Rory and the girl’s disappearance, she is in danger of losing her own position if she can’t find answers. Then a second girl disappears and someone throws suspicion on Elliott. The young boy who Elliott saved was a friend to both of the girls and may be able to help him discover the truth.
Oliver Harris draws a vivid picture of life on a small island that few people have even heard of. It is a desolate outpost and its’ inhabitants must find what enjoyment they can. He draws on modern technology and the developments in communications and space to provide an intriguing tale of espionage and murder that is highly recommended. I would like to thank NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin for providing this book for my review.
Elliott is a former agent who worked with Kathryn and Rory in the past but is now lecturing on literature as he works on his doctorate. A few days after he is approached, he is on his way to Ascension Island as Dr. Edward Pearce to research British Colonial history. He is supposed to keep a low profile but he finds himself in a fight to defend a young boy on his first night there. Back in England Kathryn discovers that Rory’s death was not suicide. In his last postcard to his sister, he asked her to find out about a Dr. Moretti, an employee on a military base in California who had committed suicide by hanging. Could there be a tie between the two deaths? Under pressure from her superiors and ordered to deal with the police investigation into Rory and the girl’s disappearance, she is in danger of losing her own position if she can’t find answers. Then a second girl disappears and someone throws suspicion on Elliott. The young boy who Elliott saved was a friend to both of the girls and may be able to help him discover the truth.
Oliver Harris draws a vivid picture of life on a small island that few people have even heard of. It is a desolate outpost and its’ inhabitants must find what enjoyment they can. He draws on modern technology and the developments in communications and space to provide an intriguing tale of espionage and murder that is highly recommended. I would like to thank NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin for providing this book for my review.
April 5, 2023
Whilst the plot sounded interesting it was more the location in which the majority of the book was set that intrigued me more. Born, raised and (currently) still living on the South Atlantic Islands of Ascension and St. Helena, its not often you get come across the islands being used as the backdrop for an espionage thriller.
I have to note the isolation/detachment that many visitors report feeling, has been arcuately captured, I have known people to step off the plane to take up employment and immediately work on getting on the next flight out.
The story unfolds using two POV, which switch back and forth between Elliot Kane who has been sent to Ascension to investigate the death of a fellow agent - whether it had anything to do with the mysterious disappearance of young girl, plus ascertain how much of the project the dead agent was working on had been compromised, and the other POV is from his controller Taylor who is working on things on London.
Overall a good read, the pace and anticipation builds as the story progresses.
I haven't read the first book, but didn't feel like that undermined this story in any way.
However, I think that the author got some places, names and/or directions mixed up - it was a bit confusing like for example to be to be told Kane was heading to English Bay so imagining events unfolding there but then realizing that the location description and distance travelled sounded more like Northeast Bay (which for anyone who has been here, would understand there is a difference, vegetation, wildlife, nearby buildings and foot/vehicular traffic); while I eventually got into the mindset where I could overlook these discrepancies - and I appreciate 99.99% of other readers would not have registered - I had to drop a half star.
3.5 stars
I have to note the isolation/detachment that many visitors report feeling, has been arcuately captured, I have known people to step off the plane to take up employment and immediately work on getting on the next flight out.
The story unfolds using two POV, which switch back and forth between Elliot Kane who has been sent to Ascension to investigate the death of a fellow agent - whether it had anything to do with the mysterious disappearance of young girl, plus ascertain how much of the project the dead agent was working on had been compromised, and the other POV is from his controller Taylor who is working on things on London.
Overall a good read, the pace and anticipation builds as the story progresses.
I haven't read the first book, but didn't feel like that undermined this story in any way.
However, I think that the author got some places, names and/or directions mixed up - it was a bit confusing like for example to be to be told Kane was heading to English Bay so imagining events unfolding there but then realizing that the location description and distance travelled sounded more like Northeast Bay (which for anyone who has been here, would understand there is a difference, vegetation, wildlife, nearby buildings and foot/vehicular traffic); while I eventually got into the mindset where I could overlook these discrepancies - and I appreciate 99.99% of other readers would not have registered - I had to drop a half star.
3.5 stars
March 7, 2022
The book is a spy/crime thriller set in Ascension Island - where former spy is sent following the death of former colleague- his mission to find out if the proposed tapping of new fibre optic cables has been compromised. The complication being that a teenage girl has gone missing, and their boss, Katherine Taylor, has previoudly hushed up collegue's interest in teenagers on a previous mission.
The story is quite slow paced over the first half but i was comfortable with the considerable scene setting as Ascension Island became the ultimate closed community of simmering tensions and corruption. However, the novel really falls apart when it flips back to katherine in London - about 5 chapters are devolved to a rather ridicious over-complicated subplot which makes no overall difference to the story and is just hackneyed spy tropes...it reads like author is trying to 'pad-out' the story to distract reader from the weak main plot.
Switch back to Ascension Isle and the mission has been completely forgotten by both the auyhor and main character - and focus is on Kane as another girl goes missing. Kane goes on the run from police and mob rule when he figures out who is the 'sleeper agent' that killed the teenagers and his colleague. The pacing of this stage was good but the rationale for the murders implausible, and the reveal of the agent so obvious that it really let the whole thing down. The is also no effort at any point by Kane to find out if the proposed tapping of fibre optic cables had been compromised- so the whole premise is ignored/shelved.
Overall its okay - the setting and the slow burn well staged, but it was just let down by a rather weak plot and the imposition of the spy tropes to pad it out.
The story is quite slow paced over the first half but i was comfortable with the considerable scene setting as Ascension Island became the ultimate closed community of simmering tensions and corruption. However, the novel really falls apart when it flips back to katherine in London - about 5 chapters are devolved to a rather ridicious over-complicated subplot which makes no overall difference to the story and is just hackneyed spy tropes...it reads like author is trying to 'pad-out' the story to distract reader from the weak main plot.
Switch back to Ascension Isle and the mission has been completely forgotten by both the auyhor and main character - and focus is on Kane as another girl goes missing. Kane goes on the run from police and mob rule when he figures out who is the 'sleeper agent' that killed the teenagers and his colleague. The pacing of this stage was good but the rationale for the murders implausible, and the reveal of the agent so obvious that it really let the whole thing down. The is also no effort at any point by Kane to find out if the proposed tapping of fibre optic cables had been compromised- so the whole premise is ignored/shelved.
Overall its okay - the setting and the slow burn well staged, but it was just let down by a rather weak plot and the imposition of the spy tropes to pad it out.
January 26, 2025
Top notch thriller in which the main protagonists don’t find out what is really going on until near the end. At first it seems to be a fairly routine (if irritating) mission for Elliot Kane to journey undercover to Ascension Island to find out what had caused a former colleague to commit suicide. The dead man was a communications whizz who’d worked in Oman some years previous with Elliot and his then boss Kathryn Taylor who is now relegated to MI5’s South Atlantic first desk. He was found dead on the same day that a young girl went missing on the island.
While Kathryn explores things from the UK, Elliot tries to mingle inconspicuously with the odd selection of expats and military personnel enduring the difficulties of remote existence in a frazzled volcanic landscape (“The Moon landings were filmed right here”). He is singularly unsuccessful in his bid as he is freighted with the interest inflicted on the incomer, especially one who gets embroiled in a fight within hours of his arrival. I quote:
Eighty percent of spying is pretending to be drunk with men you wouldn’t choose to be drunk with.
Things rapidly get out of hand in London as well as on the island when it becomes clear that the dead man had stumbled across a project so secret that no one person has access to the whole picture but suffice to say it involves the arrays of antennae, radar, undersea cables and potential destabilisation of world order. The films, “You Only Live Twice” and “Dr No” would serve as a reasonable template.
I’m not sure why my edition has those intrusive Americanisms, fit (as a past tense) and suspenders which had me visualising the Westminster underground bunker (very James Bond) full of scantily clad girls rather than just blokes with their jackets off.
While Kathryn explores things from the UK, Elliot tries to mingle inconspicuously with the odd selection of expats and military personnel enduring the difficulties of remote existence in a frazzled volcanic landscape (“The Moon landings were filmed right here”). He is singularly unsuccessful in his bid as he is freighted with the interest inflicted on the incomer, especially one who gets embroiled in a fight within hours of his arrival. I quote:
Eighty percent of spying is pretending to be drunk with men you wouldn’t choose to be drunk with.
Things rapidly get out of hand in London as well as on the island when it becomes clear that the dead man had stumbled across a project so secret that no one person has access to the whole picture but suffice to say it involves the arrays of antennae, radar, undersea cables and potential destabilisation of world order. The films, “You Only Live Twice” and “Dr No” would serve as a reasonable template.
I’m not sure why my edition has those intrusive Americanisms, fit (as a past tense) and suspenders which had me visualising the Westminster underground bunker (very James Bond) full of scantily clad girls rather than just blokes with their jackets off.
July 18, 2022
Very interesting and enjoyable.
Some reviewers have complained that this book doesn't match the quality of the author's previous Elliot Kane novel, 'A Shadow Intelligence.' I disagree. It's a different story, to be sure. In the earlier book, Kane is visiting a place rich in history and culture, and there's plenty of time spent on describing both, which the author does well. In this story Kane is visiting Ascension, a tiny island with no real history or culture. It's a true "desert island," inhabited only by a small number of people who come there from other places to work and leave as soon as their work is done. It's like an offshore oil rig or a station in Antarctica, a place where no one really lives. But such places have their own unique atmosphere, and the author is effective in letting the reader see that.
Some reviewers have called this a "run of the mill mystery." I don't agree with that either. Elliot Kane goes to Ascension to investigate suspicious events surrounding a secret MI6 project having to do with monitoring international telecommunications, which is quite important to 21st century intelligence gathering. But he and his colleague Catherine Taylor, who is handling the London end of the investigation, find themselves caught up in something even more important, and more dangerous. There's plenty of suspense and plenty of action here. Highly recommended.
Some reviewers have complained that this book doesn't match the quality of the author's previous Elliot Kane novel, 'A Shadow Intelligence.' I disagree. It's a different story, to be sure. In the earlier book, Kane is visiting a place rich in history and culture, and there's plenty of time spent on describing both, which the author does well. In this story Kane is visiting Ascension, a tiny island with no real history or culture. It's a true "desert island," inhabited only by a small number of people who come there from other places to work and leave as soon as their work is done. It's like an offshore oil rig or a station in Antarctica, a place where no one really lives. But such places have their own unique atmosphere, and the author is effective in letting the reader see that.
Some reviewers have called this a "run of the mill mystery." I don't agree with that either. Elliot Kane goes to Ascension to investigate suspicious events surrounding a secret MI6 project having to do with monitoring international telecommunications, which is quite important to 21st century intelligence gathering. But he and his colleague Catherine Taylor, who is handling the London end of the investigation, find themselves caught up in something even more important, and more dangerous. There's plenty of suspense and plenty of action here. Highly recommended.
April 13, 2022
I loved this book! It started as an espionage novel – carefully paced, well plotted and absorbing. Then, about two thirds of the way through, it morphed into something more akin a thriller, and I found it unputdownable.
Bannatyne had been working on a covert project to access a new transatlantic fibre-optic cable. The spooks are worried that he and his work may have been compromised, so Taylor asks ex-agent Elliot Kane (who had previously worked with her and Rory in Oman) to go to Ascension to see what he can discover.
The very next day The Times breaks a story of a teenage girl who has gone missing on Ascension, about the time Bannatyne died. Now things are less clear-cut and Kane has left before the Home Office pathologist tells Taylor that Bannatyne’s death wasn’t suicide.
What sets this book apart from a traditional spy story is the way the author builds the tension so cleverly. There are two storylines: one on Ascension and the other in London, so although the reader can see the links, Taylor and Kane are working almost independently. As the story flips between London and Ascension Island the tensions and difficulties in each investigation are clear to see and the truth, when it’s uncovered, comes from out of the blue.
This isn’t an out-and-out thriller. It’s more measured than that and a really satisfying book to read. Excellent!
Review by: Cornish Eskimo
Bannatyne had been working on a covert project to access a new transatlantic fibre-optic cable. The spooks are worried that he and his work may have been compromised, so Taylor asks ex-agent Elliot Kane (who had previously worked with her and Rory in Oman) to go to Ascension to see what he can discover.
The very next day The Times breaks a story of a teenage girl who has gone missing on Ascension, about the time Bannatyne died. Now things are less clear-cut and Kane has left before the Home Office pathologist tells Taylor that Bannatyne’s death wasn’t suicide.
What sets this book apart from a traditional spy story is the way the author builds the tension so cleverly. There are two storylines: one on Ascension and the other in London, so although the reader can see the links, Taylor and Kane are working almost independently. As the story flips between London and Ascension Island the tensions and difficulties in each investigation are clear to see and the truth, when it’s uncovered, comes from out of the blue.
This isn’t an out-and-out thriller. It’s more measured than that and a really satisfying book to read. Excellent!
Review by: Cornish Eskimo
February 1, 2023
This book has 327 pages split into 35 chapters.
My husband had bought this book for himself and enjoyed it so I thought I would try it.
I can see the attraction but it wasn't for me at all. I read books carefully and will always try to read the first 50 pages slowly in order to understand the setup. This novel seems to be overcomplicated and needed a lot of effort - I found that I was having to flip back several times in just the first few chapters which made the reading experience a chore.
It turns out that there has been a previous Elliot Kane book and I suspect this one would have made more sense if the books had been read in order.
The characters weren't developed in a plausible way and the plot pace was inconsistent - dragging at times then (briefly) going at a speed which was nearly impossible to follow.
The info about the island was interesting and I'm glad I came away with some knowledge.
I struggled through but really didn't enjoy this novel. I'm not a big fan of spy thrillers although occasionally enjoy one or two. I guess it is good that we all like different books to stop life being boring.
I didn't enjoy the complexity of the book but not sure I'm the best person to judge.
My husband had bought this book for himself and enjoyed it so I thought I would try it.
I can see the attraction but it wasn't for me at all. I read books carefully and will always try to read the first 50 pages slowly in order to understand the setup. This novel seems to be overcomplicated and needed a lot of effort - I found that I was having to flip back several times in just the first few chapters which made the reading experience a chore.
It turns out that there has been a previous Elliot Kane book and I suspect this one would have made more sense if the books had been read in order.
The characters weren't developed in a plausible way and the plot pace was inconsistent - dragging at times then (briefly) going at a speed which was nearly impossible to follow.
The info about the island was interesting and I'm glad I came away with some knowledge.
I struggled through but really didn't enjoy this novel. I'm not a big fan of spy thrillers although occasionally enjoy one or two. I guess it is good that we all like different books to stop life being boring.
I didn't enjoy the complexity of the book but not sure I'm the best person to judge.
July 14, 2021
Ascension by Oliver Harris is a spy thriller set on a tiny rock in the South Atlantic called Ascension Island. This island is a communications outpost that has many important implications for several nations. Elliot Kane is living his life as an academic when he is approached by his former boss at MI6 to help figure out why one of the UK operatives has committed suicide while working on Ascension. Around this same time a local girl goes missing and of course, the operative is being blamed. Something seems off and Kane agrees to head down there posing as a researcher to try to see what is going on. Kane arrives and quickly realizes things are very different on Ascension Island and he has to watch his every step because he’s on his own.
I enjoyed the story overall. I liked the Kane character—he approached things well and wasn’t afraid to get involved in things. He wasn’t as much of a fighter as characters like Mitch Rapp and Scot Harvath, if you’re into spy novels, but he still got the work done. Overall, I enjoyed Ascension. I think people that enjoy spy thrillers would enjoy this book but I think people that aren’t into the genre would think it is slow.
I enjoyed the story overall. I liked the Kane character—he approached things well and wasn’t afraid to get involved in things. He wasn’t as much of a fighter as characters like Mitch Rapp and Scot Harvath, if you’re into spy novels, but he still got the work done. Overall, I enjoyed Ascension. I think people that enjoy spy thrillers would enjoy this book but I think people that aren’t into the genre would think it is slow.
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