Vagabond

November 23, 2015
British author Seymour returns, with mixed results, to the conflict between the Irish Republican Army and Great Britain that catalyzed his first novel, Harry’s Game (1975). In the present day, tensions in Northern Ireland are on the rise. Two Russian agents, who are working from the Czech Republic, are happy to sell weapons to patient, simmering IRA terrorist Malachy Riordan through middleman Ralph Exton, a small-time smuggler who desperately needs money. Exton is afraid of his Russian clients and of the MI5 agents who have made him a reluctant double agent. Seymour excels at creating characters with deep backstories: Riordan, the not-posh MI5 agent Gaby Davies, an unusually honest copy in Prague named Karol Pilar, and, best of all, the legendary double agent brought out of retirement to handle Exton, Danny Curnow (code name Vagabond). He also does a fine job of capturing the enduring hostility on both sides, but a slow-moving, hard-to-fathom plot makes this a slog. Agent: Jonathan Lloyd, Curtis Brown (U.K.).

Starred review from November 15, 2015
Twenty years after the IRA declared a cease-fire in Northern Ireland, a small, unreconstructed group of its members are plotting to buy weapons from a Russian arms dealer. A legendary runner of agents for MI5 known as Vagabond is called out of self-imposed retirement to thwart their efforts to stir up trouble. For 16 years, Vagabond--given name Danny Curnow--has been leading tours of World War II sites in Normandy to get over the psychic hurt of manipulating too many intelligence officers to their deaths. But "Desperate," as he's also known, can't sit on the sidelines when British double agent Ralph Exton leads republican Malachy Riordan to Prague to do business with a one-time Russian intelligence agent now involved in organized crime. A host of characters adds to the intrigue, including Matthew Bentinick, the higher-up to whom Curnow is unflaggingly loyal, and ambitious MI5 agent Gaby Davies. Will Exton have the gumption to follow through on his assignment in the face of mortal danger? The action unfolds slowly with all its individual stories, interconnected points of view, and shifts between present and past. But in this, his 30th novel (and fourth concerning the Troubles), Seymour has his fragmented narrative down to such a science there's never any doubt that we will be rewarded for our patience. As classic a thriller as this is, it boasts a sharp contemporary edge that traffics as much in cynicism as despair (everyone is haunted by a death or moral failure). In either mode, the tension builds. An author who seemingly can do no wrong, British spymaster Seymour delivers another first-rate effort--this one focused on an old-fashioned hero facing up to new challenges.

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Starred review from December 15, 2015
It's easy to accept Seymour's premise: in villages outside Belfast, something called the Organisation is trying to resurrect the Troubles, which ravaged Northern Ireland for decades. The Organisation is actually just two men and two unproven teens who can't forget dead family and friends, but they believe new weapons will draw recruits. They turn to Exton, a Brit, who can broker a deal with a former Russian military intelligence captain who made himself rich after the collapse of the USSR, and who also hates the British. But Exton is a tout, an informer for MI5. Exton's handler is an ambitious young woman whom higher-ups have deemed too inexperienced, and they decide to find Danny Curnow, called Vagabond, their coldest, most effective handler during the worst of the conflict. But Curnow left, sickened by the savagery, torture, and death he engineered. He has resurrected himself, in Normandy, leading tourists through WWII battle sites, somehow comforted by savagery that had a purpose. Will Danny find the ruthlessness he once displayed? Seymour has created a dozen compelling, complex characters and discursively reveals what makes them tick. And along the way, he movingly sketches some of the pivotal events of twentieth-century history. Seymour's legion of fans will love Vagabond. bb(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)