A solid mystery/thriller. But the life is stranger than fiction political world we are living in today makes this story feel a little rote or bland at times.

For me, the most interesting thing about Tom Bradby's novel is the close look we get at what it means to be a wife, mother, and a Secret Service agent. It gives a different perspective to the considerations she has to make. Secret Service as a novel is intriguing, yet full of the office politics common to government work.
That Russia continually tries to intervene in the politics of Western nations is highly topical.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Like so many British novels, this book ends in ambiguity. You’re never sure who Russia’s top-placed spy is despite the complete thrust of the main character’s, Kate Henderson’s, actions throughout the book to determine just that.

It’s a truism that the spy business is a dirty business and spying at MI6 is every bit as dirty as the CIA. Most spy novels have spymasters backstabbing each other in pursuit of personal goals. Their hope is to get ahead in the organization by undermining the accomplishments of rivals and they go so far as to place each other under suspicion of making grievous judgment errors; not too unlike many Washington and London politicians. Like real-life spycraft practices, the book is full of misdirection which keeps the reader guessing. The author’s decision to not answer the underlying question in the reader’s mind with certainty by the end of the book was a mistake in my opinion.

Like most spies, Kate Henderson is a spymaster whose daily struggles with the demands and sacrifices called for by her profession conflict with the need to be a mother to her two children and to be a good wife. Work seems to get in the way of domestic duties and, having a distrustful nature, she can never get comfortable trusting people in her life. As it turned out in the story, that uncertainty was justified.

Although I was a little disappointed with the ending, the book kept my interest. This is a great book for a book club as the ending will lead to a long intellectual discussion among the club members.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This is an espionage novel featuring a female protagonist, Kate, who is head of the Russia desk. It is quite a cerebral read, by which I mean that you have to concentrate. The characters are well portrayed and the plot centres on unmasking which candidate for PM is working for the Russians and also who is their mole, codenamed Viper. There is thankfully little in the way of violent detail (although bad things do happen) and no boring chase scenes.

I did work out who Viper was, although I wasn't sure, and possibly I only worked it out at the point the author intended me to. The portrayal of the way Kate and her husband Stuart juggled their jobs with caring for two teenagers and an appalling mother was interesting - I'm not sure it would have worked with younger children - what did they do then?

Recommended.

Tom Bradby has written a great spy thrill with Secret Service. Utterly engrossing with a well developed plot