Nobody writes more enjoyable spy thrillers than Charles Cumming ANTHONY HOROWITZ

Cumming has breathed new life into the spy novel BEN MACINTYRE

The rightful inheritor of John le Carrs crown OBSERVER

Lachlan Kite should have left fieldwork behind by now.

As director of covert intelligence agency Box 88, hes at the apex of his espionage career. But when Martha Raine a woman he hasnt seen in twenty years begs for his help, Kite finds himself back in the game, racing to avert disaster.

Kite must find Marthas son, Max, who vanished in Athens with his girlfriend, Yasmine. But the couple arent just missing, theyre running for their lives. Two rival agencies are hunting them, both with orders to kill on sight.

Max and Yasmine are carrying a dizzying secret, one which could pull apart the foundations of the Middle East for a generation. If Kite fails to save them, the costs both personal and professional will be catastrophic.

If there was any question as to who is the rightful inheritor of John le Carrs crown as the king of elegant spy fiction, this proves that its Cumming beyond any doubt Observer