I really enjoyed this espionage thriller, and I’m glad I took a chance on it when I spotted it on NetGalley recently.
As the synopsis states it’s about Simon Sharman a former spy, now working in the financial sector who gets caught up in what could be a Russian spy ring in Oxford.
It was partly set in Oxford, which I loved as one of my sisters used to live there and I knew it quite well back in the 80s and 90s. It took me to a few other European locations as well, which really added to my enjoyment of the story.
I liked Simon right from the start, and enjoyed following him on his deep delve into the murky world of the British government with possible links to Russian Oligarchs. At times it felt like I was reading news headlines as the war in Ukraine is mentioned, as well a Prime Minster with a secretive special advisor!
As Simon got closer to finding out the truth I really didn’t know who to trust, and really didn’t know how it was going to end, considering it’s book one in a new series. I needn’t have worried though as the ending was perfect with a good lead into the next book.
Definitely recommended if you enjoy realistic espionage thrillers.
Thanks so much to Canelo and NetGalley for my digital copy via the NetGalley app.

10/10. Like I need another book a sequel or another one by the author!! Such a good book it kept me engaged and I read in one sitting 😂👌🏼😭

I thank the publisher and NetGalley for an advance review copy of this book. This was very much my cup of tea!. Lots of interesting characters, lots of tradecraft and a very clever plot. I will follow this author and look forward to more of the same.

The book "A Spy Alone," written by debut novelist Charles Beaumont is a captivating thriller that delves into the intricate realms of Russia, economics, and politics. While the initial pace might be a little slow, the author compensates with a wealth of complex information that enriches the narrative. The detailed exploration of spycraft adds a layer of authenticity to the story, making it a must-read for espionage enthusiasts. The engaging writing style keeps the reader hooked, seamlessly weaving together the intricate threads of espionage, political intrigue, and economic maneuvering. The novel skillfully navigates through the complexities of the spy world, offering a thought-provoking and intellectually satisfying experience. For those who relish a well-crafted spy story with a focus on real-world issues, "A Spy Alone" is a compelling addition to the genre.

Thank you #Netgalley for the ARC.

A slow start whist the characters get established but then starts to become interesting. I don't feel that it has the qualities of writers like Charles Cumming or Mick Herron but a good first novel.

This was a Very strong contemporary spy novel
A little too long though for my taste
But a satisfying and exciting conclusion

I had trouble getting into this book at first, the language is quite dry and it took quite a few chapters to set the scene. Chapters are written across different time periods and it is not always obvious what some of the events and information means. The book did slowly come together for me and towards the end, the pace picks up and I was fascinated by the plot and the way the different aspects of the book came together.
It shines through that the author knows about undercover work and how businesses and governments can be affected by secrets processes across many years. This makes for interesting and thought provoking reading. I hope that there will be another episode, I want to know more ! So despite the , for me, shaky start to the book, I came to enjoy it
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC

A former spy, Simon Sharman, is now freelance but being dragged back into his old way of life investigating a Russian oligarch's possible dodgy financial dealings linked to an Oxford Professor. Jumps from mid 1990s when Simon was a callow undergraduate at Oxford to today, a somewhat jaded ex-spy. There is plenty of well researched history from the Cambridge spies, Russian interference, the Ukraine war, murky politics, money laundering, issues of trust. Plenty to get your teeth into. I always said shoes say a lot about a person. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy for review.

Review: I enjoyed this novel's pace. There was never a dull moment in the land of espionage. The author is obviously way liberal and waves the Ukraine flag around as a premise for all things Russian/Evil. Might have spent some time going over all the proxy wars in our collective history as conditional evidence.

The continuity errors were consistent especially with regards to firearms. The author does a great job recognizing a Glock's functionality. However, when Simon is shot at in Oxford, he retrieves the loaded gun (one in chamber) as he had dropped it from a roof, waiting for the discharge that never came. In other words, it is still loaded. As he is chased through the woods, he remembers that he "hasn't cocked it". He would not need to, as he never unloaded it.

I liked the new spin on the euro crossroads of money laundering and the inherent corruption in governments. The "this is the new spy game, and no one is playing the old one" is pretty spot on. No one gives a shjt anymore if they are discovered, only mildly annoyed.

I hope Si makes another appearance.

This was a pleasant surprise. A new writer who has knocked it out of the park with his first book.

A well plotted, subtly written and impeccably researched spy thriller questioning whether there was an Oxford spy ring to match that of Cambridge.

No spoilers here but this is a thoughtful and exciting read that heralds the arrival of a new star in the firmament.

Highly recommended.

This review is thanks to a free advance copy, with thanks to Netgalley and Canelo Action.

Billed as Book 1 of the Oxford Spy Ring, the front cover claims that author Charles Beaumont is a former MI6 operative, and you do get the feeling that the little details of how espionage operations work have the tang of authenticity.
I’ve read a lot of spy fiction, it’s one of my favourite genres, and inevitably I find myself comparing the quality of the writing to Le Carré. This is deeply unfair because – beyond being a genre writer – Le Carré was one of the all-time great prose stylists. He could evoke character through dialogue like no-one else, and he could switch viewpoint back and forth seamlessly. And most of all, he could weave fiendishly complex plots in which the wilderness of mirrors that is spycraft was evoked, placing the reader at the heart of situations where you didn’t know what was what or who to trust.
Unfair, as I said, to bring all this to the reading of any other spy novel. Fairer, perhaps to compare Beaumont (almost certainly not his real name) to Mick Herron, who is the master of the modern spy novel, where espionage takes place largely behind computer screens. But if there’s one detail of A Spy Alone that kept throwing me out of my suspension of disbelief, it was anything to do with tech. For example, there is a sequence in this novel where our hero has taken someone’s (locked) phone, but is able to use it to both take and then share photos. While I’m certain you can access the camera without unlocking a phone, I do not believe it is possible to share said photo with anybody without the passcode or biometric log-in. Unless, that is, Android phones are even shitter than I thought they were.
It’s not even a minor quibble, as quite a large plot point rests upon the unlocking of this phone.
As to the rest of it, it rocks along quite nicely, although it’s more of a rear view mirror than a wilderness of them.
We know about the Cambridge spies, but what about Oxford? That’s essentially the premise here, though it shifts the recruitment of spies from the idealistic 1930s to the 1990s. Simon Sharman, slightly chippy Oxford undergrad who doesn’t quite fall into the inner circle of a charismatic Don, finds himself thirty years down the road and looking back through that rear view with fresh eyes. He’s on the wrong side of a career in the security services, though as Mick Herron put it in Nobody Walks, nobody is really done with that career.
The Ukraine War is underway, and Simon is asked to look into Russian money donations to an Oxford college to determine just how dirty the money is. This leads him into a reassessment of events and people from years before.
Technology aside, the plot mechanics work well. I might criticise the fridging of one chracter, but my main criticism is that everything unfolds in a fairly straightforward, thriller-like way. People say things, come up with theories, and they turn out to be true. There’s none of that sense of the very fabric of reality crumbling under your feet, and although there is cause enough for some Le Carré-like righteous anger at the state of the world, it doesn’t really come across.
The novel ends on an anticipatory note: there will be a sequel.

Brits simply produce better spy novels than Americans. Smarter, more sophisticated, more subtle.

Of course, we've had our great spy novelists in America, too — Robert Littell and Charles McCarry come immediately to mind — but you've got to go back a way to find them. Our younger spy novelists don't seem to be interested in anything but producing nearly interchangeable action- thrillers these days. Or maybe it's their publishers who have pushed them in that direction. Either way, the spy novels we're getting in America now are neither intelligent nor thoughtful. They're almost entirely mindless, formulaic action.

As an antidote, I recommend A SPY ALONE. It's exactly the kind of old-school spy novel we can't get here anymore. I'm downright envious of a literary culture that can still produce a Charles Beaumont, while the best we can do is a... uh, okay, no names. I've got to live here.

‘Ware the warlords of our modern times!

Slow start to what becomes a rather compelling story of international intrigue, based mainly on Russian oligarch connections.
Simon Sharmon is our key player, an ex Oxford man, ex intelligence officer who’s operating freelance now.
An acquaintance, Marcus Peebles, employs Simon to look into a mid level oligarch Georgy Sidorov, with reference to an endowerment to Sharmon’s Oxford College, especially at this time of the war in Ukraine.
The action switches between Simon’s Oxford student days, the late nineties and early 2000’s to the mid 2000’s—from Ukraine and Crimea, to the present.
By the end I’m feeling totally paranoid, haunted by the vision of a net of various intelligence agents and investigators from a variety of countries crisscrossing the United Kingdom like one of those diagrams of millions of interconnecting internet webs. Only to my mind they’re spiders webs spinning out of control in the underbelly of our world. Grrr! But who or what’s at the center?
Brexit comes in for a drubbing. Apparently forces were at work to make it happen, leaving Europe vulnerable and open to being ravaged by the Russian Bear. Or is it just the oligarchs and powerful corporations hiding their activities behind various shell companies? If I wasn’t paranoid before with the rise of populism, the spread of international drug lords, human trafficking, the craziness of Putin and his cronies, Britain isolating itself—then I am now. I could be wearing an al foil hat soon!
The question of was there an Oxford spy ring to equal the Cambridge fifties one of Blunt et.al. resonates and Simon’s investigations uncover so much more. Simon’s digging opens up a minefield of boggling possibilities.
An exciting thriller, seemly all too accurate, that left me breathless in its magnitude.
The fact that it’s written by an ex intelligence officer sends cold shivers down my spine.
Beaumont’s certainly up there with my favorite spy writers. The mind games of Le Carré are recalled.

A Canelo ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Rest easy fans of John le Carré we have a new writer to take up the cudgels. Charles Beaumont is definitely a new writer to keep an extremely close eye on; you will almost certainly be rumbled following him though, as this ex Intelligence Services operative will have you marked within seconds, especially if you haven’t changed your shoes!

I have just finished reading A Spy Alone by Charles Beaumont and my only disappointment is that I will have to wait for the sequel as there will surely (hopefully) be one.

2022: Former spy Simon Sharman is eking out a living in the private sector. When a commission to delve into the financial dealings of a mysterious Russian oligarch comes across his desk, he jumps at the chance.

But as Simon investigates, worrying patterns begin to emerge. His subject made regular trips to Oxford, but for no apparent reason. There are payments from offshore accounts that suddenly just… stop.

Has he found what none of his former colleagues believed possible, a Russian spy ring now nestled at the heart of the British Establishment? Or is he just another paranoid ex-spook left out in the cold, obsessed with redemption?

The above fly leaf words do not really do this book justice but I think any expansion from me would be a spoiler as the twists and turns will genuinely leave you breathless.

This highly intelligent and very believable story is so plausible that it will even question your political beliefs.

I was extremely lucky and eternally grateful to receive a pre publication copy of A Spy Alone by Charles Beaumont from #Netgalley in return for an honest review.

My honest review is to beat the doors down on your nearest bookseller on the 26th October 2023 and buy this book.

An entertaining modern spy thriller. Simon Sharman is a freelance former intelligence agent and he is called in to investigate a Russian oligarch. As he digs into the Russian's background he finds himself uncovering what he believes is a major spy ring linked to Oxford.
After the initial flashbacks that set the background, the pace of the story really picks up. I love all the detailed spycraft and there was a good cast of characters to build the story around. I wasn't too sure about the relationship between Simon and Sarah, that didn't feel particularly well done. Sarah came across as a bit of a jumbled character and it was difficult to get a handle on her.
Also, I did feel that the ending fizzled out a bit, I had been hoping for one last twist but the ending did leave an opening for a follow up book.
Overall this was an entertaining read and it will be interesting to read the follow up.

A good book for a debut novel with a good cast of characters and plot.
Could have ended the book better though, thus 3 stars.
Thanks to Canelo and NetGalley for the ARC.

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

Simon, a former spy, is employed to investigate a Russian oligarch who apparently wants to make a substantial donation to an Oxford college, but in doing so, he uncovers evidence that a Russian spy ring may have been active at Oxford for decades. I enjoyed this and read it quickly, although there was quite a lot of complex information about Russia and Ukraine and economics and politics and history (sometimes helpfully explained by one character to another) and some of this went a bit over my head.

I thought the author did a good job of keeping the reader unsure of who Simon could trust. I loved the parts set in Oxford and the mention of my old college, and enjoyed all the spycraft - I'm always going to look at the shoes of people I think might be following me from now on. I found it flowed much better once the flashbacks were over and we were settled in 2022. I didn't really buy into the attraction Simon and Sarah were apparently feeling for one another and I found the ending depressing, although I am sure it was realistic.

As fine a debut novel as you could want.

If I had a penny for every time I've picked up a spy novel, and read on the front "the new John Le Carre", I'd be rich. However, with his debut novel "A Spy Alone", Charles Beaumont has possibly come the closest yet. It really is very good.

Simon Sharman is a former spy, dismissed from the service and eking out a living in the private sector. When a commission to delve into the financial dealings of a mysterious Russian oligarch comes across his desk, he jumps at the chance. But as his investigations develop, Simon sees a deeper patterns emerging, one which harkens back to his days at Oxford, and a certain professor. Has he uncovered a spy ring in Oxford, similar to the Cambridge one? Very soon he is up to his neck in oligarchs, suspicious old-school friends and Russian killers.

This is a fast-moving story, full of spy tradecraft, chases across Europe, hackers and activists. It's also bang up to date, set against Russian's war on Ukraine, and the way in which money passes through London. The author clearly knows his stuff, and it's this level of detail and knowledge that raises this book above others I've read recently.

The cast of characters are sufficiently well drawn to invest the reader in their fates, and the plot, as it develops in all its twists and turns really does draw you in. I particularly liked a nicely plotted review of the events to date in the final pages, to bring it all into focus.

This really could be a story drawn from the mind of Deighton or Le Carre. It will appeal to fans everywhere and I thoroughly recommend it.