A cloak-and-dagger book again, but this one is the Real McCoy. A veteran CIA operative of three decades, Jason Matthews has seen and done it all. As the saying goes, he knows where the bodies are buried. The theme of The Kremlin's Candidate is that the US is engaged in a second Cold War, brought about by Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin.
By Jason Matthews, Penguin, 628 pp, Available at Asia Books and leading bookshops, 325 baht.
His objective is to replace the US as the world's superpower, to which end there's nothing he won't do. Washington places roadblocks in his way, but in this Digital Age each side makes electronic and technological advances that their spies try to steal from one another. Weapons capabilities have advanced significantly since the 20th century.
The author sets up a Romeo and Juliet scenario. Nate is a top CIA man, Dominica the darling of SVR (the successor to the KGB's foreign operations). Her wish to be a ballerina is thwarted when her intelligence is noted. The powers that be force her to become a "sparrow" -- a prostitute espionage agent. She keeps to herself how much she hates it.
Matthews details how she seduces males and females high up in US intelligence, then threatens to expose them unless they agree to work for Russia. She carries out assassinations on the orders of her superiors. Her missions take her as far afield as Austria, Finland, Turkey and the US.
Inevitably, Nate and Dominica cross paths. Opposites attract. In time, she realises that a free country is preferable to a police state. Nevertheless, defecting serves no purpose. She would be more effective staying in place as a mole, secretly feeding secrets to the US. Even more dangerous, they become lovers.
Russian counterintelligence nabs Nate, unaware of the affair. Believing he knows who the mole in their midst is, he is interrogated. Tortured is closer to the truth. As delineated by the author, the Gestapo were amateurs by comparison. The reader will be put off her food. Can Nate withstand the ever increasing pain or reveal the love of his life?
In this novel, Jason Matthews uses real names and imaginary ones. The point he makes and reiterates is that the Cold War, which may at any time turn into a hot one, still rages with Russia, even if they have long turned their back on Leninism.
Knife to a gunfight
By Tom Marcus, Pan, 327pp, Available at Asia Books and leading bookshops, 350 baht.
I have mixed feelings about guns. Needed in war to protect one's country, what about in peacetime to protect one's self? Self-defence is a primary instinct, yet there are legal limits over the extent to which we can do this.
Kill a rapist and you may well be arrested for manslaughter. A plea that nothing else would have stopped him may be sidetracked in court by questions about whether you were licensed to possess the firearm. Couldn't you have used another weapon, like a kitchen knife? The reasons for wanting a handgun are at least clear to those who have one.
Cops in some countries (e.g. the US) pack guns while cops in other countries (e.g. the UK) don't. In Capture Or Kill former MI5 operative Tom Marcus is unhappy about this, but stops short of saying it in so many words. When MI5 -- the British counterpart to the FBI -- faces gangs known to wield guns, it has to step back and call in the armed police or special forces.
For over 300 pages, protagonist Matt Logan (based on a real-life MI5 surveillance agent) is tracking down two Muslim terrorists in London, nicknamed Iron Sword and Stone Fist. They are up to no good. What exactly that is, the reader is left wondering about for half the story. There are also turncoats thwarting Logan and his female partner, Alex.
The nefarious plan turns out to be to abduct and kill the Foreign Secretary. MI5's intrepid duo follow the terrorist to a moored yacht. The penultimate chapter features Logan, armed with a knife, facing off against terrorists armed with pistols. What chance does he have?
The big plus of Capture Or Kill is its authenticity. Having seen MI5 from the inside, Marcus has plenty of insights to share with us. Logan believes what he is doing is of benefit to his country. Still, he is under no illusions that he will overcome all the dangers he constantly faces. And he's aware that many terrorists in the UK remain unidentified.
The gun issue is hinted at through MI5's frustrations at not being able to finish the jobs they work so long and hard at.
