The Fox

Starred review from September 17, 2018
A lifetime of experience from both bestseller Forsyth (The Day of the Jackal) and his lead character, Sir Adrian Weston, informs every page of this terrifically entertaining spy thriller in the classic tradition. Sir Adrian may be retired from the British Secret Intelligence Service, of which he was once deputy chief, but he remains Prime Minister Marjory Graham’s personal adviser on matters concerning national security. When the U.S. National Security Agency is hacked, and it turns out that the perpetrator is Luke Jennings, an 18-year-old computer genius in the U.K., Adrian not only offers advice but comes up with a plan. After convincing the American president, a thinly disguised stand-in for Donald Trump, that there’s a major espionage opportunity here, Adrian initiates Operation Troy, whose object is “the greatest deception in the history of the cyberworld.” Adrian ensconces Luke, now known as the Fox, with his computer and his mother in a series of British safe houses while the spymaster concocts devilishly clever online attacks on the Russians, Iranians, and North Koreans. The risks for Adrian and Luke increase with each operation. That these attacks seem to explain some real-life events make the book even more fascinating. Along the way, Forsyth details the nuts and bolts of modern espionage. Genre fans will be enthralled. Agent: Jonathan Lloyd, Curtis Brown (U.K.).

Imagine if the greatest computer hacker in the world were a teenager with Asperger's syndrome--who works for the good guys. Narrator David Rintoul will make you believe it is so in this audiobook. In his crisp British accent, Rintoul tells the story of a boy who doesn't understand his power or why he is being used by people who say he is saving the world. Rintoul employs a dizzying number of accents and voices as the boy is hunted by governments around the world. The hero, a semiretired British MI6 agent, is as determined to keep the boy, nicknamed "The Fox," safe as world governments are to capture him. M.S. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine