Red Station

September 27, 2010
British author Magson (No Kiss for the Devil) takes a break from crime fiction with this solid, suspenseful first of a new espionage series. When a drug bust on the Essex coast commanded by MI5 agent Harry Tate goes bad, resulting in the deaths of a member of his team and two civilians, Harry's superiors post him to Red Station (located in Georgia near South Ossetia), where agents who have committed serious errors are tucked away from the eyes of the press. Harry soon figures out that the job is a sham and that those agents who decide to try to return to England wind up dead. He manages to escape Red Station with some of his fellow black sheep just as the Russian army moves into the area, as it did in real life in August 2008. Harry is an intriguing addition to the ranks of the genre's reluctant spies, and readers will eagerly await his next adventure.

October 15, 2010

An MI5 agent outwits his handlers.

A botched MI5 operation causes Harry Tate to be whisked out of England before the press gets hold of him and he blabs secrets his boss George Paulton, MI6 nabob Lord Bellingham and the subcommittee overseeing security chair Marcella Rudmann would rather remain secret. Off he goes to a remote outpost in South Ossetia, an area trying to break away from Georgia. Harry, supposedly the new cultural attaché—though nobody really believes that, certainly not the Moscow-approved mayor Kostova—learns that his four officemates are also disgraced agents who have been sidelined to keep their mouths shut. Still, they're being tailed, and Harry makes it his business to find out by whom. Turns out by other members of British Intelligence. Then the Russians are on the move to reclaim Ossetia, but rather than get Harry and the Red Station members out, somebody called the Hit is sent in to assassinate them, a task the annihilator has performed twice before on station members. The chase is on. Will Harry survive? Of course he will, but not before a major car chase, a last-minute rescue by the mayor's bodyguard and some computer wizardry that proves MI5 and MI6 bigwigs—bigger fry than Harry—were responsible for the event that led up to his banishment, as well as other deaths staged to protect their reputations.

First in a proposed thriller series that promises to be heavy on derring-do, political malfeasance and the hero's invincibility.

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Starred review from October 15, 2010

Magson, author of the well-received mystery series featuring Riley Gavin and Frank Palmer (No Tears for the Lost), introduces MI5 agent Harry Tate in this thriller series launch. Though loyal and able, Harry is blamed for a drug-bust fiasco and posted to the Republic of Georgia. Completely off the grid, the Red Station in Mtskheta shelters several of MI5's erring agents and lies directly in the path of the Russian army's stealth move into South Ossetia. Stronger and smarter than he looks, Harry susses out shockingly incriminating facts about British domestic and international espionage operations as well as about his own earlier debacle. Harry's headlong flight from the impending war and from an agency assassin gives Magson plenty of ammo for a ramped-up spy story of unusual vigor and imagination. VERDICT Most spy and suspense collections in public libraries should gladly take reserves for this new player in the thriller genre. The plotting is intricate, the black hats and white hats are hard to distinguish, and the action is intense and fast-paced. Look for more from Magson, a strong contender in a field long dominated by John le Carre and Ian Fleming.--Barbara Conaty, Falls Church, VA

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2010
When a drug bust led by British agent Harry Tate ends in disaster, Harry knows hell bear the blame, even though last-minute budget cuts contributed to the missions failure. What Harry doesnt expect is that the Whitehall mandarins will hustle him out of England overnight and send him to Red Station, a remote outpost where washed-up spooks are sent. Arriving at his destination, Harry meets the other exiles Whitehall has seen fit to punish and assumes his days will be dull and boring until hehopefullyis forgiven and can return to London. But within a few days, Harry realizes some very strange things are going on at Red Station. For one thing, he and his fellow spooks are being watched 24/7. For another, rumor has it the Russians are about to invade England. And two of his fellow exiles who were supposedly recalled by London have disappeared. Not content to wait and see, Harry takes things into his own hands and soon discovers corruption at the highest levels of the British government. The nail-biting suspense, high-octane action, and keep-em-guessing plot set this book apart from the usual spy thriller, but its smart, tough, fearless, quick-thinking superspook Harry Tate who puts it in a whole other league. Superb!(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)