I generally like any book with a ‘spy’ theme and I’m so glad this book didn’t disappoint.

I really liked Kate’s character and I’m glad that to a certain extent her storyline involved her children and how she struggles to balance being a mum and doing the job that she does. I found her to be very relatable in this sense.

I enjoyed the book so much I went off and purchased the next in the series!

As usual in my reviews I will not rehash the plot...

I had "mislaid" this book (though I knew I'd started it!) so was glad to find it again and finish it.

This was an enjoyable read, with good plotting and characters, and a few twists and turns along the way. The pace was good and kept the tension going - I felt the plot was very believable and would not have been surprised to see something similar on the news!

I'll happily read more by this author.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own,

Having not read any Tom Bradby before, I went in with open eyes and my eyes didn't close. I was hooked!

This was a pleasure to read and as it's listed as #1 Kate Henderson, I'm excited to see if there are more going to come. Really excited.

I love crime and I love Spooks so this had all of the hopes of something I would love and I was not disappointed.

I will not say anything about the book but if you love crime, MI5/MI6 then get this read!

I'm now off to see what else this author has written.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this opportunity. Not only was it a fantastic book but you've opened my eyes to an author that I didn't know I would love.

This was a really good book that keeps your interest all the way to the end. What an end it was too!! I really didn't see it coming. It felt real rather than an all out Hollywood explosion version of a spy thriller, like a modern day Agatha Christie!

How to publish a successful novel? Choose a celebrity – tick. Choose a popular theme: spy thriller with a mole – tick. What can go wrong?

Tom Bradby is a successful newscaster, journalist, author and generally nice guy. He has intimate knowledge of politicians and royalty so the intrigue, immoral behaviour and scandals described in the novel may have a hint of truth!

The espionage and political shenanigans provide the basis of an enjoyable read. The twists and turns in this thriller lead to a pulsating climax.

Kate is a UK spy trying to land a senior Russian spy who wishes to defect. He has allegedly knowledge of the PM’s deviant sexual behaviour and financial evidence of bribes received from his Russian masters. In the background there is a mole leaking information to the Russians. Kate’s husband was believed to be the original culprit but he is now resident in Moscow. But could there be another mole at a senior level?

The espionage and political manouvres are excellent. However, Kate’s personal backstory with her dysfunctional family lacks credibility. It feels like padding at times. Shame as the story is otherwise very entertaining

A gripping, edge of your seat spy thriller. Tom writing books is a well kept secret and more people need to read this. The second book in the series is now out and I can’t wait to jump into it to see where Kate goes next!

Kate the Head of MI 6 Russian desk gets a tip off that leads to a successful operation to obtain valuable intelligence. The shocking info is that the PM will resign due to ill health and that one of the likely candidates for the job is in the pay of the Russians and that there is also a mole in MI 6. This amazing info brings the credibility of the operation into doubt and throws into light all the political manoeuvrings and power struggles in MI 6 as to what is to be done. The need to obtain collaborating information gives rise to a high risk operation which turns into a trap with an agent killed and Kate and her partner narrowing escaping the same fate. Nothing gets resolved and with a exposure of the mole within leaves Kate devastated and discredited. It is obvious that there is more to follow.

I received an invite to review the second book and as I hate to start halfway in a series decided to read the first book first.
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I am always a bit skeptical when books are loudly compared to other reads. This title has a 'if you enjoyed I Am Pilgrim...'. I loved I Am Pilgrim so my curiosity was raised.
This book is missing about 400 pages though which were needed to really pull me in the story. It is well written, there is excitement, emotion, doubt and an interesting puzzle. But all these things are touch and go. Someone on the team is killed, the other members go home and the next day they go on with their investigation. There are a lot of situations like that which does not help with getting really invested in the story. But it is a good espionage thriller with some very scary people involved.
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Character wise I was having the same problem, there are not enough pages to really bond with them. I had a difficult time with Kate. She is a mom and though I am all for, that should not stop you from doing what you want, I did wonder if it was really needed to put her life on the line. It was clear there were some trouble juggling it all at home which made me wonder what both adults were doing.
Other characters are introduced trough Kate her eyes making it more difficult to get to know them. I might have enjoyed a double narrative for this story, though I am not sure with which other character as there were a few in an interesting position for that.
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I am very curious about the next book Double Agent, where it will pick up and what adventure is going to happen there. A fun and quick read for a rainy day or next to the pool.

Who can you trust? An excellently crafted novel that sat appropriately in 2019 British politics. Kept me gripped until the final page, with a complex array of characters and unfolding events. Brilliant!!

This is the type of fiction to pack on our two weeks summer holidays; shame for now we’re in lockdown and waiting to escape.
This spy thriller is just the escape we need however; packed with political intrigue and Russian interference in government elections and deep seated agents.
A special operation seems to good to be true when MI6 hear information around the PM’s health and the possible general election where one of the candidates has strong leanings toward the Kremlin. Furthermore in intel implies the agency is compromised with a mole ready and willing to ensure the result is in Russia’s favour.
In the past MI6 have been manipulated by false whispers and it is treated suspiciously until the PM unexpectedly steps aside.
The book is rooted in relationships; secrets and lies and that shady area of spies and departmental ambition. People’s motives and associations are placed under the microscope as the spies investigate themselves while trying to protect the country at large.
That the author’s protagonist is a married woman with teenage children and strained relationships with her own Mother adds to the tension. It is also a breath of fresh air as we see a woman risking her life in the field while seemingly unable to win an argument with her kids.
I loved the humanity of the story; and I felt the characters were fleshed out and believable. The tension is high and the stakes involve life and death decisions.
Kate is a good spy but as the investigation proceeds you feel she can not be a loyal wife, supportive parent and faithful agent of the government.
I warmed to her character and found the book easy to read, especially with her being the driving force of the novel.
A book that you can whizz through and enjoy; great escapism but routed in the trends and realities of modern espionage. A clever piece and full of insight and the occasional lighter moment. I particularly liked the quip of calling out one of the team as thinking he was the embodiment of George Smilely.
Read as the follow-up is out at the end of May. Book 2 - Double Agent. Not such a wait for me but for many Bradby left a few unanswered issues in this first outing. I can’t wait to see Kate back and hopefully stronger and ready to kick ass.

Kate Henderson, a senior MI6 Russian specialist finds herself embroiled in Cold War politics. The British Prime Minister announces that he is resigning due to ill health and there appear to be two main candidates vying to succeed him, one somewhat suspected of having underhand dealings with the Russians, and the other, Imogen, a friend of Kate and her husband. Kate is called upon to seek out a mole, to whom they have given the code name Viper, the general thinking being that he is either an employee of MI6 or working in the government and could possibly be Imogen’s rival. Kate heads to Greece where it is thought that secret meetings, possibly involving Viper, will be taking place on a Russian oligarch’s private yacht. She manages to get a ‘plant’ in the form of a chid’s nanny on board the yacht but things go badly wrong. Back in the UK she finds that her husband is spending an inordinate amount of time helping Imogen with her campaign and her life seems to go from bad to worse but she never gives up in her search for the mole. A truly gripping read and a book that I found myself reading well into the night - couldn’t put it down.....

An absolute page-turner of a book. A really well-developed plot, with believable characters. Suspicion moved from one to another as the plot evolved.

Great fun - I am now devouring the sequel.

Secret Service was a decent spy thriller, but I did have my reservations.

Tom Bradby has created Kate Henderson, family woman and chief of the Russia section at MI6. A tip-off leads her and her team to begin a hazardous operation which reveals both possible Russian interference in the appointment of a new Prime Minister, that there may be a Russian agent among the candidates and that someone is leaking secrets to the Russians. The plot moves along quite nicely, the who-can-I-trust stuff is nicely done and Tom Bradby writes pretty well much of the time. It does get a bit clunky in places, and although the dialogue is generally convincing, characters do tend to lapse into pretty stilted speeches rather regularly. Bradby is also no stranger to a cliché, which gets a bit much at times with sentences like, “I’d like to bury my head in the sand, but I need to go home and face the music.”

Overall, it was sufficiently involving to keep me interested until the end. It’s nothing that special but it’s not bad by any means and I’ll try the next one because there’s promise here. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

(My thanks to Penguin Random House for an ARC via NetGalley.)

This seems to be a reworking of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (the original series of which I am currently watching on DVD) but it was a good enough and entertaining read for me to give it four stars. I worked out the ending, but not quite all of the intricacies.
With thanks to the publsihers for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. I am moving on to the sequel now which is due to be published at the end of this month (May 2020)

A really well-written book with a timely modern theme around Russian interference. Full of tension and hugely gripping. I've not read anything from the author before but I'd definitely be interested in more in the future.

Wow - I absolutely devoured this book.

I was second guessing all the way through but still didn't guess what was really happening. This is just the type of book I love reading - a well thought out political thriller with plenty of action and great characters with a plot line you can sink your teeth into!

I've already pre-ordered the next book in this series.

I like Tom Bradby as a broad cast journalist and was looking forward to reading this book. However, I found it difficult to get into and so did not fish.

I am not a huge fan of spy stories, but wanted to give this one a try, I’m so glad I did. Kate is a mum, wife and an MI6 agent who is trying to juggle all of these at once. The story is a great read and it has helped to convert me to wanting to read more books of a similar vein,

A good start in what I thought l would be a fantastic series to follow. Just enough intrigue and thrills to keep you going through each chapter

The UK political thriller for Bodyguard fans!

Kate Henderson was thought to live in ordinary family life with her husband, Stuart and their children. She was the secret agent, working for MI6 with Rav. She had to find the Russian mole who infiltrated the UK political cabinet.

There was the rumour that the British Prime Minister had cancer and would resign. One of the cabinet ministers, who might be the Russian mole, would succeed him. The time was against Kate as she battled to uncover the truth.

The world was unstabilised towards the crisis as the Cold War was making a comeback to haunt the generations of the 80s. Then, shocking events began to happen with some deaths, and her family was on thin ice.

I was stunned at the end of the novel, as the Russian agent was unveiled. I love this brilliant novel.

Columbpoirot

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review