There’s nothing quite like a good spy thriller, and this one is a page-turner.

With a hero, Aubrey Argylle, as dashing as James Bond if not as suave; a team of CIA operatives trying to foil the dastardly plans of a vicious, colourless Russian; and all the latest technology, it is a most satisfactory read.

That Russian, Vasily Fedorov, flat-faced and repellent, bears a certain resemblance to Russia’s current strong man; while his Botoxed and equally-repellent wife is not just there as decoration, as revealed in the final pages.

What readers should remember, while noting the current publicity hoopla over the new film, Argylle, is that it represents the fourth (unpublished) novel in this spy series by Conway. The second planned film in the franchise is touted as following the storyline of this first novel. Still with me on this?

But back to the book . . . With an unfortunate first name, with which some members of his CIA team taunt him, Argylle, who speaks several languages, never knew his parents were involved in the drug trade until after an Asian drug lord killed them.

He was recruited to the CIA by its formidable yet diminutive female operations officer, highly intelligent and with an encyclopaedic knowledge.

Then starts a rollercoaster of a story, with the team still smarting from a disastrous Iran operation which uncovered one of them as a mole. There is action in Monaco, a monastery on Mt Athos in Greece, the grounds of a great French chateau, and the caverns of the Tatra Mountains in Poland, with high-tech coverage of the team, but also clues in basic star chart navigation.

The body count mounts but Conway never lets the action or the tension subside. Argylle is not entirely unscathed but like Bond, will he get the girl?

Reviewed by Jennifer Somerville

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elly Conway is the pen name of two authors Terry Hayes and Tammy Cohen who wrote Argylle.

The film, a spy comedy, which was apparently inspired by the book was directed and produced by Matthew Vaughn, and written by Jason Fuchs. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Henry Cavill, Sofia Boutella, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, and Samuel L Jackson.

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