The Trinity Six

Starred review from January 3, 2011
British author Cumming (Typhoon) revitalizes the moribund cold war spy novel in this stunning stand-alone that centers on the "Cambridge Five" (Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, et al.), who betrayed their country to the Soviet Union during and after WWII. Fifteen years after 76-year-old Edward Crane is pronounced dead at a London hospital in 1992, academic Sam Gaddis learns that Crane was the oft-rumored sixth man in the Cambridge spy ring—and that he's alive and ready to tell his story. Gaddis, a well-regarded scholar of modern Russia who needs money to support his ex-wife and their daughter, thinks he can turn this bombshell into a bestselling book. But the people who know about it, including one of Gaddis's best friends, journalist Charlotte Berg, are turning up dead—and the intelligence agencies in Britain and Russia would prefer to squelch the story. Cumming's knowledge of the spy business, his well-crafted prose, and his intensely engaging plot make this a breakthrough novel. 100,000 first printing.

A hot thriller about a secret from the Cold War asks the question: Was there a sixth British double agent working for the Soviets along with Philby and Blunt and the others we know about? And if so, was he a triple agent, and why exactly does everyone who stumbles on the story meet such bad and sudden ends? Who needs the story quashed--the Putin-like Sergei Platov or MI6? John Lee doesn't distinguish much among the voices of, say, Tanya the spy, Holly the girlfriend, or Natasha the ex-wife, but, to be fair, they're fairly stock characters. Tension and pacing are what matter most to this listening experience, and at these Lee is impeccable. If you're one of Smiley's people, you'll love it. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine