It’s 1967 and Richard Knox, freshly returned to active duty after a year out of the field, is ordered to uncover the invisible enemy that’s infiltrated the Service in his absence.
His quest takes him from London to Hong Kong, a city on the brink of chaos, where he discovers the lines between friend and foe have never been more blurred.
In this crackerjack Cold War thriller, MI5 faces a deadly threat, one only Richard Knox can avert. But who is behind this assault? How long have they been operating? And what is their endgame?
I'm thrilled to be hosting the blog tour for A Game of Deceit today. Huge thanks to Tim Glister, Point Blank Books and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me and for sending me a copy of the novel.
There are always certain books I look back on particularly fondly; the first two instalments in the Richard Knox spy series, Red Corona and A Loyal Traitor definitely fall into that category and so, of course, A Game of Deceit was one of my most highly anticipated reads of the year. Having practically inhaled it, I am delighted to say that it more than exceeded my high expectations and I was utterly blown away by this clever, beautifully written thriller.
Set a year after the events in A Loyal Traitor, it's worth mentioning that it's not necessary to have read the previous novels but I strongly recommend that you do. The returning characters and mentions of earlier escapades will obviously resonate more strongly with those familiar with the books and it's really satisfying to see how Tim Glister is developing the series as it progresses. The prologue immediately sets a chilling tone and introduces a mystery which isn't revealed until much later. When Richard Knox appears in the first chapter, he is thrust into a dramatic scene which serves to remind us of his recent travails and results in him doubting whether he is as sharp as he once was. We learn that the international intelligence agencies are noticing the worrying disappearance of key scientists but as concerning as this may be, Knox's boss at MI5, James Holland, has even more troublesome news for him. The Service has been infiltrated and for once, it looks like the Soviet Union is not the enemy.
The authentic sense of time is always exceptional in this series and A Game of Deceit is as immersive as ever. It's just over a year since the start of the Cultural Revolution in China and there is understandable concern that one of the powerful agencies operating within the country might be trying to extend Mao Zedong's reach globally. Knox is sent to Hong Kong, ostensibly to arrange the return of a Labour peer's daughter who has been arrested at a pro-communism protest on the island, however, he is also under orders to discover what he can regarding the lie of the land in this politically sensitive part of the world. I really enjoyed being given a fresh perspective on the Cold War; the excellent descriptions of a turbulent Hong Kong brings the place vividly to life but striking as the visual imagery is, it's the way in which Tim Glister captures the tinderbox feel of the island which is really impressive.
As Knox is drawn into a dangerous investigation with frightening ramifications, the international interconnectedness of spycraft comes to the forefront once again. The depictions of this convoluted, secretive world are a highlight of the series and here, the inevitable reintroduction of key players from previous books is engineered to feel entirely natural. The characterisation is first-rate and the emotional toll of the profession, particularly regarding guilt, is examined with empathetic perceptiveness. Meanwhile, the exploration of what drives people to behave as they do is fascinating. There's an unsettling air of uncertainty running throughout A Game of Deceit and as familiar faces face deadly, unknown enemies, just who can be trusted seems more opaque than ever.
There are nail-biting action scenes littered throughout the novel with the superbly crafted plot designed to keep readers on the edge of their seat from start to finish. As the horrifying truth – or at least some of it – is finally revealed, the blisteringly tense conclusion is a heart-pounding race against time. Perhaps even more tantalisingly, the stage is now primed for more explosive revelations and missions of global importance in the future.
A Game of Deceit is exciting, compelling literary entertainment of the highest order; this is espionage fiction at its most breathtaking and I cannot recommend it highly enough!
A Game of Deceit is published by Point Blank Books, purchasing links can be found here or order from your favourite independent bookshop.
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Thanks for the blog tour support x
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