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4.0 out of 5 starsThe ghost of Philby haunts the corridors of Whitehall
Reviewed in the United States on 6 April 2016
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Michael Bar-Zohar has done many things in his life in addition to writing thrillers. He served in the Israeli Knesset, worked closely with their defence and intelligence services and was awarded the French Legion of Honour. As a result, he comes well equipped to recreate the shadowy world of spies. "A spy in winter" was one of his early works and although it is a little dated now, it still makes for good reading. Bar-Zohar's sense of place is a stronger feature of his writing than characterisation and as his anti-hero and former KGB agent travels through England and Europe, the reader is given evocative descriptions of the places he visits. Conspiracy and deception are the order of the day as the British intelligence agencies are embroiled once again in the legacy of the Philby spy scandal they hoped they had left behind. New traitors are being exposed and murdered and it is the unlikely trio of aged Soviet masterspy, British TV journalist and ailing police inspector who must stop the rot. Expect lots of twists and turns in this exciting espionage tale.