Secret Service

Written by Tom Bradby

Narrated by Juliet Aubrey

From bestselling author Tom Bradby, Secret Service is a fresh-from-the-headlines thriller for fans of Homeland, Crisis and Bodyguard. ______________________ The world is on the brink of crisis. The Cold War is playing out once more on the global stage. And governments will do whatever it takes to stay at the top . . . ______________________ To those who don't really know her, Kate Henderson's life must seem perfectly ordinary. But she is in fact a senior MI6 officer, who right now is nursing the political equivalent of a nuclear bomb. Kate's most recent mission has yielded the startling intelligence that the British Prime Minister has cancer - and that one of the leading candidates to replace him may be a Russian agent of influence. Up against the clock to uncover the Russian mole, Kate risks everything to get to the truth. But with her reputation to uphold, her family hanging by a thread and a leadership election looming, she is quickly running out of options, and out of time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781980055686

Reviews for Secret Service

[Scott Heekin-Canedy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Secret Service and Double Agent are first class, in the same league as LeCarre, a comparison used too cheaply by publicists and blurbists. The hall of mirrors is rich in possibilities overlooked by so many authors, but Bradby finds them.

[breic-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Liked the storytelling and the main character. Unfortunately, I guess the ending; it was the only conclusion that fit with the story, and also with the number of pages remaining. :)

[eyejaybee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kate Henderson is a senior officer in MI6, and has even been tipped by C, the current Head of Service, as a possible successor to him. As the book opens, she is engaged in ‘recruiting’ Lena, a young Serbian woman, to act as an agent on a high-level operation being mounted against the family of a Russian oligarch with extensive and powerful contacts. At first everything seems to go well, and the operation garners what seems to be some devastating intelligence, suggesting that a mole has penetrated the higher levels of the British establishment – not merely within the intelligence community but right to the top levels of government.However, the operation suddenly goes wrong in the most dramatic manner, and Kate and her colleagues are left wondering whether any of the information they have garnered can be relied upon. They are in a fraught dilemma, not knowing whether to proceed on the basis of what they have learned, and risk everything backfiring in the most damaging way, or to leave things as they are, not knowing whether all the country’s gravest secrets are completely compromised.Tom Bradby focuses on keeping the plot moving, rather than laborious development of his characters. That is not, however, to say that his characters are two-dimensional. Kate is a well drawn figure, constantly striving for some semblance of work-life balance, managing the demands of two teenage children and a fractured relationship with her ageing mother. Her husband is also a high flyer, working in the Private Office of the Secretary of State for Education. I worked briefly in that office myself, and I was impressed by how closely Tom Bradby caught the internal politics that bedevil such a role, and the constantly fluctuating relationship between ministers and officials.Bradby is not a viable challenger for John le Carré’s throne – he does not attempt the same exploration of the vagaries of the human condition – but he is quite definitely a writer of engaging and gripping spy stories.

[brianewilliams · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a brilliant spy thriller set in present day Britain (without any mention of Brexit!). Kate Henderson, head of the Russia Desk at the British Secret Intelligence Service (aka MI6) must find a Russian mole within MI6 as well as the identity of a British politician who is a Russian spy. All the while she needs to balance home life as a mother and wife to a political assistant to a senior cabinet minister, plus manage her own mother afflicted with dementia. A tall order! The internecine intrigue within MI6 plays out in the story too: rivalry for the top job is ever present.The conclusion is a slight let down: the identity of the mole is a surprise but not a total shock. There's plenty of suspense in getting to the big reveal and throughout there's some thrilling action in such exotic locales as Istanbul and Mykonos.Highly recommended for fans of "classic" spy stories.I requested and received an advance reader's copy of this book from the Atlantic Monthly Press via Netgalley. The comments about it are my own.

[pierthinker · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kate Henderson is an MI6 officer who stumbles upon information showing that the next UK Prime Minister is a Russian plant aided by a spy embedded deep in Government, perhaps even in the Security Service itself. In addition to resolving this problem and maintaining her own reputation, she is beset by office politics and a fraught home life.The thriller element works well and we are guessing and off-balance regarding the identity of the spy. Kate’s home situation rings true: a truculent teenage daughter, a dementia-stricken mother and a husband who resents her work-life balancing acts.A satisfying thriller with clear plotting, action an a rewarding climax. The only criticism is that there is, perhaps, not enough jeopardy surrounding the spy catchers.

[ronploude · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like so many British novels, this book ends in ambiguity. You’re never sure who Russia’s top-placed spy is despite the complete thrust of the main character’s, Kate Henderson’s, actions throughout the book to determine just that. It’s a truism that the spy business is a dirty business and spying at MI6 is every bit as dirty as the CIA. Most spy novels have spymasters backstabbing each other in pursuit of personal goals. Their hope is to get ahead in the organization by undermining the accomplishments of rivals and they go so far as to place each other under suspicion of making grievous judgment errors; not too unlike many Washington and London politicians. Like real-life spycraft practices, the book is full of misdirection which keeps the reader guessing. The author’s decision to not answer the underlying question in the reader’s mind with certainty by the end of the book was a mistake in my opinion.Like most spies, Kate Henderson is a spymaster whose daily struggles with the demands and sacrifices called for by her profession conflict with the need to be a mother to her two children and to be a good wife. Work seems to get in the way of domestic duties and, having a distrustful nature, she can never get comfortable trusting people in her life. As it turned out in the story, that uncertainty was justified. Although I was a little disappointed with the ending, the book kept my interest. This is a great book for a book club as the ending will lead to a long intellectual discussion among the club members.

[pgchuis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.This is an espionage novel featuring a female protagonist, Kate, who is head of the Russia desk. It is quite a cerebral read, by which I mean that you have to concentrate. The characters are well portrayed and the plot centres on unmasking which candidate for PM is working for the Russians and also who is their mole, codenamed Viper. There is thankfully little in the way of violent detail (although bad things do happen) and no boring chase scenes. I did work out who Viper was, although I wasn't sure, and possibly I only worked it out at the point the author intended me to. The portrayal of the way Kate and her husband Stuart juggled their jobs with caring for two teenagers and an appalling mother was interesting - I'm not sure it would have worked with younger children - what did they do then?Recommended.