A Foreign Country

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller of the Year. Selected by Sunday Times Books of the Year and The Guardian as Best Thriller of the Year. Perfect for fans of John le Carré, a gripping and suspenseful spy thriller from 'the master of the modern spy thriller' (Mail on Sunday)

Six weeks before she is due to take up her position as the first female head of MI6, Amelia Levene vanishes without a trace.

Her disappearance is the gravest crisis MI6 has faced for more than a decade. There has been no ransom demand, no word from foreign intelligence services, no hint of a defection.

Should news of Levene's disappearance leak out, the consequences would be catastrophic. But for disgraced MI6 officer Thomas Kell, the crisis offers a chance for redemption. He is approached by his former employers and ordered to find her.

Kell's search takes him first to France, then North Africa, where he discovers an extraordinary secret hidden deep in Levene's past. it is a secret that could fatally compromise Britain's national security - and for which Kell could pay with his life.

This is another first-rate intelligent thriller which will cement Cumming's reputation as one of the most engaging British novelists writing today.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Amelia Levene is about to become the first woman to run the British intelligence agency MI6 when she mysteriously disappears. Disgraced former officer Thomas Kell is recruited to find her. He quickly learns that she has not been kidnapped; she's hiding on purpose. What would motivate someone at the height of their career to give it all up? What he uncovers, with Levene's help, unveils a dark conspiracy that goes back years. VERDICT Cumming's sixth thriller (after The Trinity Six) simmers and crackles until the explosive finale. Where in other novels Kell would need the entire narrative to find Levene, he discovers her whereabouts almost immediately. That plot twist along with the surprises that follow make this a worthwhile read that will appeal especially to readers who appreciate John le Carre, Olen Steinhauer, and David Ignatius. [See Prepub Alert, 2/12/12; 100,000-copy first printing.] (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

In this audio edition of Cumming's thriller, narrator Jot Davies's crisp, stiff-upper-lip performance perfectly captures Thomas Kell, a former British agent who was unceremoniously dismissed from MI6 after two decades of service for his involvement in a torture scandal. But to his surprise, Kell's given a shot at reinstatement. All he has to do is find a missing person, the agency's first female chief, Amelia Levene, who went missing in France prior to her official appointment. Davis's characterizations are subtle but effective: a slightly softer delivery for females, an understated accent for French characters. His rendition of Amanda captures the character's sophisticated haughtiness, as well as her self-doubt, while his Kell remains unflappably British in his quest for answers and redemption. A St. Martin's hardcover. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Amelia Levene and Thomas Kell, once colleagues as MI6 field agents, have seen their careers move in opposite directions. Amelia is about to become the first woman to head the agency, leapfrogging ambitious but less talented male bureaucrats. Kell has been forced into retirement, scapegoated by those same bureaucrats in the wake of revelations and uproar about torture. Kell is recalled because Amelia abruptly takes a week's leave in the south of France and, even more abruptly, disappears into thin air. Kell's job is to find her. This plot synopsis is mere prelude. Cumming, once recruited to MI6, has fashioned a gripping story of conspiracy, the Arab Spring, MI6 politics, maternal love, and a man with a talent for the clandestine. Amelia and Kell are complex, engaging characters, and Kell's tradecraft will delight espionage lovers. The conspiracy might strain credulity a bit, but stranger things have happened in the Great Game, and Cumming's track record (The Trinity Six, 2011) ensures demand for this one.--Gaughan, Thomas Copyright 2010 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

A deadly long-shot mission gives a disgraced secret agent a chance at redemption. Isolated pieces--the dissolution, in Tunisia a generation ago, of the marriage of Jean-Marc Daumal and wife Celine over his affair with nanny Amelia Weldon; the present-day murder of elderly Parisians Philippe and Jeannine Malot on a Cairo street; the kidnapping of a target nicknamed HOLST by one Akim Errachidi and his team--precede the introduction of dissolute Thomas Kell, waking up in a hotel room with another hangover eight months after his surgical dismissal, after two decades of service, from Britain's MI6. A call from his old pal, Jimmy Marquand, sobers Kell immediately. The new MI6 chief-designate, Amelia Levine, has gone missing before even assuming the job. Kell knew Amelia well, and he leaps at the chance to be back in the game. He checks files, Amelia's car and her room, noting that the signs indicate abduction. He questions veteran agents Bill and Barbara Knight, pictures of concern and cooperation with Kell...until he leaves, and their manner turns conspiratorial, and they hint at allegiances other than MI6. Using Amelia's Blackberry as a guide, Kell follows her movements over the previous two weeks. Cumming flashes back to Amelia for the same period; when she's found by Kell, it's just the beginning of a complicated cat-and-mouse game stretching back to the trio of prologue events and weaving together personal and political tangles. Cumming's sixth thriller (The Trinity Six, 2011, etc.) is smart and intricate, with a large cast of cool characters and an authentic feel. ]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.