Free Agent

Written by Jeremy Duns

Narrated by Gerard Doyle

This electrifying debut from Jeremy Duns launches a trilogy of Cold War spy thrillers. It's 1969, and a KGB colonel has just entered the British High Commission in Nigeria and asked to defect. For MI6 agent Paul Dark, it's a promising opportunity. But Dark soon finds himself in trouble and on the run. "A wholly engrossing and sophisticated spy novel set against a forgotten corner of 20th-century history."-William Boyd, Booker and Whitbread Prize winner

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 23, 2009
• ISBN: 9781440718397

Reviews for Free Agent

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reason for Reading: I don't typically read modern spy novels as I'm not interested in today's political climate. However, I used to be quite addicted to them in the eighties when I read the likes of James Bond, Robert Ludlum and Gorky Park. When I read the synopsis that this was set in the middle of the Cold War, the plot really intrigued me. Comments: Paul Dark is an MI6 agent, has been since World War II and still is now in 1969. Since the War, the various British agencies have found KGB double agents within its ranks and every now and then another one comes to light but it's been years now since they've uncovered any. Now a Russian wants to defect and he says he has information on a British double agent who has been working for the KGB since WWII, that's 24 years of leaking information to the other side! MI6 wants to know who this agent is and Paul finds himself one of the agents whose been around that long and thus, falling under suspicion. Paul starts to find out that his whole life is starting to unravel and as he becomes cornered he decides to fight back.Set first in London, then quickly moving to Nigeria amidst the fighting of the Civil War in 1969, this is a fast-paced, exciting and shocking thriller. Filled with just the right amount of historical and political information to make the reader knowledgeable without *ever* going overboard into boredom territory. The book has obviously been heavily researched. After reading the final paragraphs of Chapter One it is impossible not to be completely hooked on this book. In fact, I dare you to read *just* the first chapter. With so many twists and turns in the plot one never really knows who the bad guy(s) is or are. Paul knows more than the reader does so we are often shocked rather nonchalantly by a sudden action of the main character. But there are also many secrets that Paul is not aware of and those reveals are brilliantly crafted by the author. This book will keep you guessing right up to the last page where the ending is not what you think it's going to be.Paul Dark's character is well written. He's one of these ambiguous sorts who is not really a likable character, he can be downright nasty and cold hearted at times, but the author has made him human and Paul grows on you and by the end of the book I actually liked the guy, well as much as you can like that type. Secondary characters were hit and miss. Some really stood out whether they lasted one chapter or several, such as a female journalist and Chief. While others seemed rather two dimensional, Paul's superiors, and others were rather stereotypical, the lazy, drinking, fat, colonial office head just putting in his time. But whether the characters were fully fleshed or not I will say they were all very colourful.A very satisfying read. A cleverly crafted thriller. I will definitely be reading the next two in the trilogy. I've also been reminded how much I enjoy reading Cold War spy novels and will have to make sure I read one every now and then.

[ectopicbrain · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good blend of wartime Germany and modern Africa.

[dooney-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very good serious espionage novel. The protagonist is very compelling and complex, both shockingly cold and brutish at times and others almost sympathetic, definitely a character with hidden surfaces, one I would like to get to know better in other books. The pace of the book was good, it is obviously well researched, with a good sense of the time period but the author does not feel the need to bore the reader by dragging in too much background in order to applaud his effort. Very good.

[speesh-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well, well. How much did I enjoy this?

Plenty.

Let's see: Spies. The Second World War. Spies. The Cold War. Spies. The 1960's. Spies. Yup! Everything set fair for me to enjoy this one.

And I did.

If I might give you some advice based on my reading of this one; have a good grip on this book right from the start.

For, after just a few pages, there I am, staring blankly at the page I just read, blinking, with my jaw bouncing back up off floor. And I'm wondering; 'The hell happened there?! Did he just...? But I thought...? Did that really...' 'Cat, meet pigeons' indeed. And you're only 13 pages in. Ha! Excellent stuff.

Yes, you know you're in unchartered enjoyment territory when a book throws a huge great spanner in your works, even before you've got the works in gear.

It wouldn't be easy describing the plot without giving away the start. Which is essential for what follows. However, the plot summary on the back of the book does do an excellent job of sidestepping the shock at the start. It gives nothing away, while giving a reasonably full synopsis of the story. I can't do better, so here's what my copy of the paper book says;

"British agent Paul Dark has had a stellar career - until now. A Soviet defector has credible information that there is a double agent within MI6, and Dark finds himself in the frame. Arrest could be only moments away. Worse, he has discovered that everything he has believed in for the last twenty-four years - the very purpose that drives him - has been built on a lie. Now he wants answers, no matter what he has to do to get them."

Free Agent is a satisfyingly well-plotted story that has its roots in the confusion and panic in Germany - and Europe in general - after the end of the Second World War. And of course the start of the Cold War. New ideologies are forming, becoming entrenched and making both sides vulnerable. To both sides. The main story takes place in 1969. Beginning in England, but then taking us out to Nigeria, during its civil war with those trying to break away and form a new country; Biafra. Here, the conflict is on the surface a civil war involving the potential breakaway of the Biafran province from Nigeria. But it is (naturally) being used as a playing field for the Eastern and Western colonial powers - old and new - to do more than just rattle their sabres. I loved the description the book quotes as being from a Swahili saying, that 'when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.'

The book for me brought back many interesting youthful memories - and some shocking images. And, I'm ashamed to admit, some rather tasteless 'jokes'. We didn't know better. I remember the trauma of the Biafran conflict, the harrowing images and the British attempts at salvaging (for the British) a rapidly deteriorating situation (I also realised I remember Wilson's 'warship diplomacy', in trying to solve/end the Rhodesian 'problem' as well). In fact, there were many times during reading the reading of 'Free Agent' where I had to pause and let up some of my own memories bubble up, memories that Free Agent had reminded me I'd forgotten were there.

The story moves at a good pace, though never too fast to be trivial. There are twists and turns, but thanks to a well-constructed and believable plot, feel natural and never forced. There are also interesting ideas and themes that are given time to develop and come to fruition - while always retaining the book's urgency and the hero's need for solving his own personal issues, in what becomes a rather hectic race against time. In Paul Dark, I think Jeremy Duns has created a very interesting, complex character. With Dark, what you see isn't always what you get and I don't think I'm giving too much away if I say that he is a character I thought I shouldn't really sympathize with, but did. And a character I was and am, interested in finding out more about. More about his motivations, his past, his present and hopefully his future - however long that future might be.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and look forward to reading more about Paul Dark. And Jeremy Duns is a really interesting Tweeter too - as of course befits a fellow Englishman now sensible enough to be living in Scandinavia!

*I would like to point out that the Goodreads language description for this paperback version, says 'Croation'. This is decidedly not the case!

[mswallack_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Duns' debut novel scores well by just about any measure. First, the protagonist, Paul Dark, is very original. I thoroughly enjoyed watching him squirm and try to come to grips with his own sense of morals and/or lack thereof. Often, just as I thought I really had a feel for who Dark is, he'd do or say something to surprise me. Second, as anyone who knows me or who reads my reviews knows, I've read a lot of espionage thrillers over the years, but I don't think that I've ever read one that focused on the Nigerian civil war, a subject about which I knew very little. Thus, Duns' narrative and the ties to history kept me on my toes. I also thought that Duns' did a magnificnet job of capturing the time period. Several times, I thought I'd found an anachronistic error (e.g., a reference to the Concorde) that I promptly looked up and, to my surprise, each time Duns was correct. I don't know if his portrayal of life among diplomats and the press in 1969 Lagos is accurate, but it felt as if Duns knew what he was talking about.Finally, I can't help but remark on Duns' writing style and storytelling technique. This is a "serious" espionage novel, more in line with Le Carre than Fleming. But the best comparison that I can find, both for style and technique, is to Adam Hall's Quiller novels. And again, as anyone who knows me or reads my reviews can attest, that is high praise, indeed. Dark is not Quiller and Duns is not Hall, but if you enjoy Quiller than do yourself a favor and give Dark a try.