Box 88

Lachlan Kite Series, Book 1

By: Charles Cumming

Narrated by: Charlie Ansen

A secret agent comes of age - and reckons with the legacy of his first mission - in this thriller by New York Times best seller Charles Cumming, "the best of the new generation of British spy writers" (The Observer).

Lachlan Kite is a member of BOX 88, an elite transatlantic black-ops outfit so covert that not even MI6 and the CIA are certain of its existence - but even the best spy can't anticipate every potential threat in a world where dangerous actors lurk around every corner. At the funeral of his childhood best friend, Lachlan falls into a trap that drops him into the hands of a potentially deadly interrogation, with his pregnant wife, also abducted, being held as collateral for the information he's sworn on his own life to protect.

Thirty years earlier Lachlan, then just out of the upper-class boarding school where he was reared, was BOX 88's newest recruit. In the haze of a gap-year summer, in which the study of spycraft was intertwined with a journey of self-discovery, he cut his teeth on a special assignment on the coast of France, where a friendship allowed him special access to one of Iran's most dangerous men. Today, Lachlan's nostalgia for the trip is corrupted by recollection of the deceit that accompanied it, but in order to save his family, he'll be forced to revisit those painful memories one last time.

©2020 Charles Cumming (P)2022 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Gripping story

Could not put this book down, I even had dreams about it.
Very interesting book full of twists.

Fascinating spy tale

The idea of a secret British and America spy agency may seem unlikely in these fractious times, but if you can suspend you imagination, this is an absorbing tale.

Good story in need of an editor

This book has an interesting premise—a secret agency more secret than the CIA, MI6 etc and its recruitment of a young man to get inside an Iranian plot to blow up an American subway. It’s just takes too too long in setting up the story of the 18 year old recruit. The jumping back and forth between the past and present and multiple action points deprives the story of suspense. If I were reading this I would have skimmed a fair amount of it, but listening makes it a slower process. It was interesting overall but tightened up it would have been a lot better.

A good modern spy story with ties to historical Iran and the Shaw

The structure in which the story was told. Stopping the modern day narative and flashing back to the past in a just in time / need to know manner. It kept you from guessing the plot line.

A great story as a base for future series.

Great writing and story which flowed well, despite jumping from present to past. Can’t wait for future adventures of the Box 88 team.