A Spy Alone - Paperback

by Charles Beaumont (Author)

'Five stars. One of the best books I've read in a very, very long time' James O'Brien, LBC

'This is first class' The Times 'Excellent' Spectator

'Exceptional' David McCloskey, author of The Seventh Floor

'Everything a John le Carr fan could ever wish for' Private Eye #1615

Everyone knows about the Cambridge Spies from the Fifties, identified and broken up after passing national secrets to the Soviets for years. But no spy ring was ever unearthed at Oxford. Because one never existed? Or because it was never found?

2022: Former spy Simon Sharman is eking out a living in the private sector. When a commission to delve into the financial dealings of a mysterious Russian oligarch comes across his desk, he jumps at the chance.

But as Simon investigates, worrying patterns begin to emerge. His subject made regular trips to Oxford, but for no apparent reason. There are payments from offshore accounts that suddenly just stop.

Has he found what none of his former colleagues believed possible, a Russian spy ring now nestled at the heart of the British Establishment? Or is he just another paranoid ex-spook left out in the cold, obsessed with redemption?

From Oxford's hallowed quadrangles to brush contacts on Hampstead Heath, agent-running in Vienna and mysterious meetings in Prague, A Spy Alone is a gripping international thriller and a searing portrait of modern Britain in the age of cynical populism. Perfect for readers of Charles Cumming, Mick Herron and John le Carr.

Praise for A Spy Alone

'A highly accomplished novel from a new writer of great promise' Financial Times

'A cracker of a debut novel which really does make clear what's been going on' Bill Nighy via The Rake

'A marvellously confident debut, sharply observed and exceptionally well written' Charles Cumming, author of Box 88

'Beaumont is at the forefront of the espionage genre, capturing the changing nature of intelligence: soft influence and business deals are overtaking stolen secrets; long-term insinuation is replacing Cold-War tradecraft. Brilliant' I. S. Berry, author of The Peacock and the Sparrow

'The best spy novel I've read for years... An astonishing debut... and a brilliant portrait of how Britain allowed Russia to game our recent politics, including with Brexit' Luke Harding, author of Invasion: Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival

'Wonderful. Beaumont finds a very moving place in the meditation between older ideas of patriotism and the new world. There are also eerie echoes of the Musk and Vance worldview in the villains, which give it a power and prescience' Rory Stewart, co-host of The Rest is Politics podcast

'Beaumont ... catches the zeitgeist of (le Carr) .... He conveys all the world of espionage with relish, in its murky motives and surveillance techniques and the book races along and makes for a stunning debut' Maxim Jakubowski, Crime Time

'A clever, thrilling spy story that brings the feel of Eric Ambler's shadowy political intrigues right into today's world' Jeremy Duns, author of Free Agent

'Tense, compelling and remarkably timely... Shades of some of the greats of spy fiction it might even be better than Charles Cumming' Dominick Donald, author of Breathe

Author Biography

Charles Beaumont worked undercover as an MI6 operative in war zones, on diplomatic missions and in international business. His work spanned two decades and four continents.