A Divided Spy: A Novel (Thomas Kell, 3) Hardcover – February 14, 2017

As a passionate lover of British spy fiction, Charles Cumming is a writer which I religiously follow. These are not silly, super-hero escapades with martinis, shaken not stirred and glamorous vixens dying to give themselves to the brave savior of humanity. His spies are tired, often misunderstood and even more often betrayed by the powerful bosses too entangled with politicians to do any honest work. And there they go, chasing leads and licking their bleeding wounds. Tom Kell is a spy at the end of his tether, dismissed and grieving, but still a spook who knows his trade. It was an immense pleasure to keep his company even for a little while.

Cumming is a very prolific author and he writes very well. Divided Spy, like his other novels, is LeCarre-like in the focus on character development over action and plot (but there is good action too) - and there is a lot of spy agency inside baseball and tradecraft. In his series (this is book #3 with Thomas Kell), the plots build from book to book, so best to read them in order.

Two main plot lines intercut to culminate in a rather bland and predictable ending; the first third of this book is purposefully slow and short on story material, a drawn-out set up without a real foundation of interest.The writer relies too heavily on several technically clumsy shortcuts; condensed passages of summarized exposition and hasty character summaries delivered at regular intervals.Not much nuance or suspense here, rather a somewhat formulaic and workmanlike story lean on actual material stretched out to book length.Cardboard characters, plenty of cliches, simply another thriller lacking thrills, without anything like the intricacy and substance of books by John Le Carre.Comparing Cumming's work to Le Carre's is like comparing a stale doughnut to a flawless Beef Wellington.

Charles Cumming, is the author of three spy thrillers featuring Thomas Kell, and he knows MI6. It seems MI6 was a background for him. Tom Kell had a nasty time with an American CIA agent who was into renditions and water boarding, and Kell took the major blame. He was disinherited from MI6 pending a trial. In his first book of this series, The Foreign Country, Kell was asked to return once again to assist Amelia, the 'C' or Chief of MI6. Amelia had promised Kell a new post. when he helped save Amelia's son. In the second book, A Colder War, someone was leaking secrets in the Bosporus. A fellow colleague was killed in a plane crash, and it was up to Kell to find the reason. Somewhere between, London, Turkey, and Russia, he found a double agent, and lost the love of his life.Here we are, with Tom Kell, disallusioned, grieving his lost love, Rachel, and moving on. He has given up booze and nicotine, and goes to the gym. He unexpectedly receives a call from an old MI-6 friend and goes to meet him. Over dinner he learns that the Soviet mastermind who may have been responsible for Rachel's death is caught in a gay relationship, and that could cause problems for him. The Russian spy Alexander Minasian could be a way for Kell to seek revenge. Kell seeks Amelia's assistance, and with some misgiving she provides some.Kell devises several plans to set up Minasian, but along the way he discovers a larger, more dangerous plot. This is a tricky situation, and one in which Kell must decide what is most important. As an excellent spymaster, Kell knows all the tricks of his trade, but he also uses empathy to gain some kind of trust. "The constant process of lying, of subterfuge, of concealment and second-guessing is exhausting, It is bad for the soul." says one of Kell's antagonist. This has worn Kell down, and as he makes his choices, he realizes what the future will bring.In a release for this novel, it has been mentioned that Colin First has purchased the rights to Cumming's first book, 'The Foreign Country'. Indeed, First would be the perfect Kell.Recommended. prisrob 02-16-17

I am a great fan of Charles Cumming. I always rate his books as 5 stars. However, this one was quite up to 5 stars and I would have given it 4.5 stars if I could. It is a very plausible read of the modern day 'spy' with the gullible Muslim, born in Leeds, who is led astray in Syria and comes back to England, hell bent on causing as much death as possible. Tom Kell, by his devious means, comes across the plot and no one at MI6 believes him so he sets out to negate the Muslim.It was a most enjoyable read and I hope there are more books in Charles Cumming.

DS begins with now retired, divorced Kell being contacted by one of his former colleagues. Mowbray, while on holiday, has recognized a former adversary, Alexander Minasian, also on holiday and with a secret lover, a rather compromising one - a German businessman. Kell believes than Minasian, very highly placed in the Russian SVR, is responsible for the death of a young woman, Kell's former lover. Numerous revenge scenarios race through Kell's mind as Mowbray briefs him.The main plot of DS focuses on how best to leverage the knowledge of the illicit, by Russian standards, gay relationship. Ruin Minasian? Turn him? Interestingly, Kell's former boss, Amelia, aka "C", shows little interest in pursuing Minasian; she suspects it's a Russian trap, too risky.There is also a very interesting sub-plot. ISIS has planted a "warrior" in the UK. He is on a mission to kill a large number of Brits but little more is known about him. The source of this rumored attack? - Minasian.A very good story, with two back-to-back climaxes, both well done. Excellent prose. Great dialog. Can you enjoy DS, if you haven't read the two previous Kells? Absolutely. I must confess that I remember very little of the two previous books, each written at two year intervals.This feels to me like a 5 minus. I suspect it is the last Kell. I think Cumming can do better, so I look forward to the next. Generally, I prefer series, but I believe Cumming's best might be the next stand-alone novel. Or the next....

This has been a great trilogy of Thomas Kell and Amelia Levine books by @CharlesCumming. I have enjoyed all three in equal measure. Highly recommended. Maybe he might make a comeback another time? Or perhaps a prequel.

An excellent read. One of his better books

Charles Cumming really has the knack to create a thrilling narrative. You are definitely engulfed in the story and want to keep on reading. It is a very well written and captivating story.

Al cargar el ebook en el kindle se lee mal, las lineas estan separadas de forma rara, hay frases escritas sobre el texto. Es diferente al resto de ebooks que tengo en el kindle y de mucha peor calidad.

Thrilling book.