Synopses & Reviews
The new installment in Stella Rimington's series of frighteningly authentic espionage thrillers (Chicago Tribune) featuring the fiercely intelligent, ambitious MI5 officer Liz Carlyle.
Liz has been transferred to counter-espionage--the hub of MI5 operations during the Cold War, which has been scaled back as anti-terrorism has gained priority. But there's plenty for her to do: there are more spies operating in London in the twenty-first century than there were during the height of East-West hostilities. Even the Russians still have a large contingent, although now they spy on the international financial community and on the wealthy ex-pat oligarchs who make England their domain.
In her new assignment, Liz quickly uncovers a plot to silence one of these Russians: Nikita Brunovsky, an increasingly vocal opponent of Vladimir Putin. The Foreign Office is adamant about forestalling a crime that could become a full-blown international incident, but there's not a single clue as to how the assassination will be carried out--and Liz is solely responsible for averting disaster. So she goes undercover, attaching herself to Brunovsky's retinue: racing against the clock to determine who betrayed him and suddenly facing a wholly unexpected second task--unmasking a Russian operative working undercover alongside her.
Dame Stella has once again distilled her experience as the first woman Director General of MI5 into a spy novel of arresting psychological complexity and unflagging suspense.
Synopsis
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'Readers can expect authenticity - and that is what she delivers.' The Times
ILLEGAL ACTION is the third thriller from the former head of MI5 and bestselling author Stella Rimington, featuring MI5 officer Liz Carlyle.
When MI5 intelligence officer Liz Carlyle learns of a Russian government plot to kill super-rich Nikita Brunovsky - a man who openly criticises the Putin regime from his London base - it's a race against time to track down the killer. How the man is to be silenced is unclear, but the Foreign Office dreads any kind of incident and Liz must work fast to protect him.
As she goes undercover, desperately trying to find out who in Brunovsky's retinue might betray him, Liz discovers that an 'illegal' Russian agent has arrived in London. Is this the assassin she is seeking? Under an assumed name, caught up in the high-octane world of the oligarchs, Liz soon finds herself in terrible danger...
Synopsis
The third thriller from the former head of MI5, featuring MI5 officer, Liz Carlyle.
Liz Carlyle has been transferred to Counter-Espionage, along with her research sidekick Peggy Kingsolving. Once the hub of MI5 operations, the department has been reduced in size since the end of the Cold War, and priority within the service is on counter-terrorism.
Yet there is plenty for Liz to do. In fact, there are more spies operating in London today than during the height of East-West hostilities. This includes Russian spies, who continue to operate in number. What has changed is their targets — now they spy on the international financial community, as well as on the wealthy, influential Russian “oligarchs,” many of whom live in London.
Liz learns of a Russian government plot to silence one of these oligarchs, Nikita Brunovsky, who is an increasingly vocal opponent of Putin. How he is to be kept quiet is unclear, but since the Foreign Office dreads any kind of incident, Liz is assigned to keep it from happening.
To protect Brunovsky from his Kremlin foes, Liz goes undercover and joins the oligarchs retinue as she tries to determine who around the Russian might be willing to betray him, and hoping at the same time to learn the identity of a certain Russian “illegal” operative working undercover.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
About the Author
Stella Rimington joined the Security Service (MI5) in 1965 and rose to become Director-General in 1992 — the first woman to hold the post. Her biography,
Open Secret, and the first two Liz Carlyle novels,
At Risk and
Secret Asset are available in Arrow.
From the Trade Paperback edition.