A Spy Alone

The Oxford Spy Ring, Book 1

By: Charles Beaumont

Narrated by: David Thorpe

Everyone knows about the Cambridge Spies from the fifties, identified and broken up after passing national secrets to the Soviets for years. But no spy ring was ever unearthed at Oxford. Because one never existed? Or because it was never found . . . ?

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?

From Oxford's hallowed quadrangles to brush contacts on Hampstead Heath, agent-running in Vienna and mysterious meetings in Prague, A Spy Alone is a gripping international thriller and a searing portrait of modern Britain in the age of cynical populism.

Contains mature themes.

©2023 Charles Beaumont (P)2024 Tantor

politics ruined plot

Good bones of a story but the tradecraft descriptions are repetitive and basic, and the political commentary is fatuous.

A tangled web of intrigue

The story takes you down and through Oxford College intrigue into the spy world. It takes off from there.

Could have been better.

The book started well and included more minute details that seem accurate. Around the second half of the book, the clear political bent was obvious and became tiresome.

Good performance, mediocre writing

Doesn't break any new ground. It barely breaks any old ground. Trite plot, silly political commentary. There are too many good espionage thrillers out there to waste your time on this.

A Spy Alone

Great storyline with a lot of connections to current day global politics. Also like the narrator, very well read.