The Trinity Six: A Novel

Written by Charles Cumming

Narrated by John Lee

A Washington Post Notable Fiction Book of the Year

The most closely-guarded secret of the Cold War is about to be exposed – the identity of a SIXTH member of the infamous Cambridge spy ring. And people are killing for it, in Charles Cumming's bestselling thriller The Trinity Six.

London, 1992. Late one night, Edward Crane, 76, is declared dead at a London hospital. An obituary describes him only as a 'resourceful career diplomat'. But Crane was much more than that – and the circumstances surrounding his death are far from what they seem.

Fifteen years later, academic Sam Gaddis needs money. When a journalist friend asks for his help researching a possible sixth member of the notorious Trinity spy ring, Gaddis knows that she's onto a story that could turn his fortunes around. But within hours the journalist is dead, apparently from a heart attack.

Taking over her investigation, Gaddis trails a man who claims to know the truth about Edward Crane. Europe still echoes with decades of deadly disinformation on both sides of the Iron Curtain. And as Gaddis follows a series of leads across the continent, he approaches a shocking revelation – one which will rock the foundations of politics from London to Moscow…

"Cumming's novel is characterized by a gripping sense of realism. He displays a vast knowledge of spycraft and Cold War history, and the dense, three-dimensional world he crafts comes complete with seedy hotels and smoky nightclubs. The result is absolutely gripping. Taut, atmospheric and immersive—an instant classic." – Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on The Trinity Six

Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Thrillers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Mar 15, 2011
• ISBN: 9781427211415

Charles Cumming

Charles Cumming was born in Scotland in 1971. In the summer of 1995, he was approached for recruitment by the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). A year later he moved to Montreal where he began working on a novel based on his experiences with MI6, and A Spy by Nature was published in the UK in 2001. In 2012, Charles won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller and the Bloody Scotland Crime Book of the Year for A Foreign Country. A Divided Spy is his eighth novel.

Reviews for The Trinity Six

[jsoos_7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Charles Cumming has written a great espionage novel in "The Trinity Six". The premise is that there was a sixth man associated with the Trinity Five (British spies working for Russia). The novel keeps moving at a pretty good pace, has enough historical detail to be believable, and keeps the reader engaged with little twists along the way. This one is a must for anyone who enjoys espionage novels!

[mdtocci · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is a thriller based on the infamous Cambridge Five spy ring in Cold War England. The main theme of the book is that there was a 6th unknown spy,who may have reached the highest levels of British intelligence. A down on his luck professor of Russian history, Sam Gaddis, happens to fall into some information that the 6th spy may be still alive. The book follows Gaddis as he travels across Europe trying to uncover the truth, with the help of an MI5 agent.I thought the plot was a little unbelievable at times, as I think often happens with these spy thrillers, but overall it did keep my interest.

[maureen61_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A novel of mystery regarding espionage in England and Russia during the 1930s with repercussions in the present day. Well crafted with twists and turns in the plot. Somewhat drawn out in parts but I would recommend it!

[shsb_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book follows an in debt academic Sam Gaddis who is struggling financially to keep himself afloat and to pay his spousal support and for his daughter’s education. He is contacted by Charlotte Berg, journalist and friend, about her research into rumors of a sixth person in the famous Cambridge five spy ring. She asks him to be a co-author and with his financial troubles mounting, he jumps at the opportunity. Little does he know that there is a group of people that wants to keep this knowledge a secret. The story follows Sam’s journey though numerous European cities interviewing the key players involved with knowledge of the sixth member. As Sam does not know that his life is in danger until he hears that everyone we has talked to ends up dead starting with Charlotte’s death. The book has a fantastic ending and many twists and turns to keep the reader looking forward to the next page.

[wings3496_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A spy novel of the mediocre variety, The Trinity Six is the story of Sam Gaddis, a British historian who through a series of coincidences finds himself investigating an espionage mystery of the Cold War. While the description may sound exciting, the author does his best to keep the tension to a bare minimum, constantly ruining each potential "Aha!" moment with half-hearted and mistimed reveals. It actually might be a stretch to say that the main character "investigates" much of anything, as the secondary characters of the novel lead him by the hand the entire way. In addition, the author seems to have difficulty writing realistic representations of adult relationships, and each interaction Sam Gaddis has with a member of the opposite sex is portrayed awkwardly at best. The novel culminates with a typically cliché espionage-novel conclusion, which is certain to disappoint nearly every reader.

[memasmb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was received from LibraryThing through their Early Reviewers program.By mixing the history of “The Cambridge Five” spy ring in the 1930’s and adding another dimension of an additional spy, we begin the thriller of tracking down that “sixth” member.When Sam Gaddis, a British professor of Russian studies agrees to co-author a book with his ex-girlfriend and now good friend, Charlotte he never dreams that she would die so suddenly.Because of his financial obligations, Sam pushes on with her husband’s approval and starts to investigate this intriguing speculation. Events keep stirring the pot and unanswered questions just keep Sam on the trail of the missing member.So many exciting details of the espionage between England and Russian keep us twisting in our seats and never knowing where to turn. Who can you trust? Who is who? The deals made between countries remind me of the “political world” that exists everywhere and that we are unable to escape from. Every situation has a price and what are we willing to pay?The final message is you cannot keep a good spy down.Any reader who likes spy novels or thrillers should give The Trinity Six a chance to stimulate their senses. Charles Cummings is on his way to becoming an author to follow in the future. I know I will look forward to his next book.

[wkelly42 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I really had a difficult time caring about any of the characters in this book enough to keep reading it. I've picked it up a few times and read a little bit, and then put it down in favor of something else.

[fmgolden · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sam Gaddis is an academic who needs money for his daughter’s private school. He believes that working on a book with a friend will take care of his money woes until that friend dies. However, Gaddis becomes involved in looking at the notes, working on the book and finding a sixth spy for the Cambridge Five. The Cambridge Five were young, collegiate men who were recruited to spy for Russia and successfully passed classified information from the British government for years. Then Gaddis realizes that the people he is talking to, the people involved with the sixth spy story are being killed and his own life may also be in danger. This book was a great read. Cummings has just the right amount of dialogue, action, romance, description, and plot twists. Gaddis is a bumbler, yet so earnest that you can’t help but cheer him on in his quest. Even the people who are assigned to keep him from investigating the sixth spy can’t help but like him and help him with his search. While some might say that it isn’t as involved as leCarre or Ludlum, that is exactly why I liked it so much, I could read it without taking notes to remember each character and where they fit into the story. It was just a good book for reading over a long weekend.

[deaconbernie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Nothing special. Is an attempt to elaborate on the British spy scandal of Burgess & McClean. The principle character is schizophrenic in that he vacillates between utter calm and fright instantly. The author attempts to introduce indignation for carrying on the story but rings hollow.

[joliekerenick · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a book that I won as part of an early reviewers giveaway. I loved it. It was very well written, and the characters were well developed. It was exciting and it kept me captivated throughout the entire book (to the point that my children were late to school one day because I couldn't put it down). I have not read many books from this genre, nor do I know much about the intricacies of the cold war or espionage so I can not claim to be an authority, but at no time did the story seem far fetched to me. I would reccomend this one to anyone who likes to be drawn in and held captive by a book that is full of adventure and suspense.

[koboldninja85 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In The Trinity Six, Charles Cummings picks up on the tradition of authors such as John le Carre in the genre of Cold War British spy novel. The prime innovation is that rather than using a spy as the main character, Cummings uses a professor of Russian history named Sam Gaddis. Gaddis is an academic trope of sorts in that he is an excellent historian, but down on his luck and in his attempt to extricate himself stumbles upon a quarter century old story that could collapse a government.But I am getting ahead of myself. One of the most famous spy rings in history was the Magnificent Five. Maclean, Burgess, Blunt, Philby and Cairncross were students at Cambridge in the 1930's when they were recruited by a professor as spies for Russia. At the time of recruitment they were soldiers in the war against fascism in Europe. Each excelled and took posts in the British government, working against fascism, but also passing information to their Russian masters. In the 1950's when the Americans began to break encryption patterns from World War II, they caught on to Maclean and Burgess and the ring began to collapse. The last of the Magnificent Five, Blunt was not exposed until 1979. But perhaps these five were not alone; perhaps there was a sixth, and that is the discovery from which all of Gaddis' adventures stem. One revelation leads to another and Gaddis finds himself unravelling one Cold War myster after another.Despite the traditional qualifier that all characters are used fictitiously and the story is a product of the author's imagination, the situation presented of an immensely popular Russian President who was a mid-ranking officer in the last years of the Cold War, but through brutal suppression of opponents of his reign had transformed into a dictator in all but name, smacks of reality. Perhaps incidental, but Cummings reveals a commentary on the Russian state. All the while The Trinity Six is compelling and an easy read. My only critique is that at one or two points the supposedly coincidental events seem to be a stretch. As such they make the story seem somewhat railroaded, rather than a narrative that actually could happen. But it is not the characters or anything that they do, or even the scenario that is unconvincing. Simply put, there was just one too many coincidences.Anyone who likes thrillers or spy novels ought to give The Trinity Six a read. Cummings is not yet to the level of le Carre, however the best is yet to come and this is a good place to start.

[neddludd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cumming draws on real British spy history in linking his tale to Burgess, Maclean, Blunt, Philby et. al. His hero is a Russian history scholar, Dr. Sam Gaddis, who has just published a book comparing Putin to Peter the Great. A journalist friend gives him a hint a a blockbuster story she is working on...and then dies. He figures out the basics of the story, but as he begins researching the tale other people die. Slowly, it dawns on him that he is going down a forbidden road, and that is the main problem with the book. Sam is a bit of a dolt. He is constantly being surprised as thugs in both the British and Russian secret services play a dirty game of keeping him, or trying to keep him, in the dark. He is saved by his persistence and a 20-something female operative who is as competent and street-smart as he is not. Stieg Larsson has, with Lisbeth Salander, provided a template for many writers these days to create young, tough, and jaded female heroines who save their men. Cumming gets the atmospherics down perfectly, and the history is interesting. But it would have been a better book if Dr. Sam Gaddis was a stronger, more capable, more aware individual.

[mary6508 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm not usually a reader of political espionage type novels, so in the beginning I found the book a little boring. It goes into the back ground of a British spy ring. I really thought the whole book was going to bore me to death, but I was very surprised to find it picking up speed and interest once the foundation for the tale was laid.Sam Gaddis, a professor, writer and intellectual, comes upon the story of a lifetime at a time when he sorely needs money. So he embarks upon his research, while people get killed all around him. He travels and becomes personally involved in this whole web of espionage, and is forced to do things he never thought he would ever do.On the whole, I found this book quite entertaining, and I'm glad I read it.

[sherman1951 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The death in 1992 of an elderly but retired career diplomat seems like an odd basis for a spy thriller. But add to this a current Russian president who is a former KGB operative with a secret and a duplicitous MI-6 who is willing to allow the president’s past to remain a secret. Finally, throw in the deaths of several apparently innocent people and you have a pretty good yarn.Sam Gaddis, a British academic who writes comparative studies of Peter the Great in his spare time, is at the center of this novel of intrigue, the protection of old spies, and an effort to determine if there was a six member of the infamous Cambridge Five. It is a plausible story told with believable characters. While Dr. Gaddis is too well protected from some of the violence going on around him, it is still a recommended read for those who enjoy the spy genre.

[peleluna · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The book had potential, but the clunky prose made it difficult to engage in the premise of the story. The characters were pretty cliche (particularly the females) and the reader could get quickly surmise the direction the different "twists" were taking. Hopefully, Cumming's future works will be progressively get polished, but I'll stick to Tom Rob Smith for quality suspense and prose!

[adpaton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The excellent BBC mini-series Cambridge Spies left me with an enduring fascination with the Blunt/Burgess/Philby/MacLean quartet and I was eager to read any book that might shed further light on the thoughts and activities of these unlikely traitors who went from a life of enviable privilege to one of dreary austerity behind the Iron Curtain. Apparently there was a Fifth Man, John Cairncross, who spent the war decoding German ciphers at Bletchly Park, but whose identity was never revealed. The Trinity Six postulates, obviously, that there was even a sixth man [candidates include Prime Minister Harold Wilson and MI5 head Sir Roger Hollis] and the ring of Soviet agents extended to Oxford as well.Protagenist Sam Geddis teaches Russian history at London University College: his latst book The Tsars, which compares Peter the Great with current Russian dictator Sergei Platov [he dosn't even try to hide the fact he's writing on Vladimir Putin; only the name is changed] may be well regarded but has not made him any money and he is in urgent need of a popular best-seller to pay the IRS and his daughter's school fees. When a journalist friend drunkenly reveals she has the identity of the Sixth Man in the Cambridge Spy ring and suggests they collaborate on a book, it seems too good to be true: she dies shortly thereafter and Gaddis tries to find leads in her notes andf computer, which eventually lead him to Edward Anthony Crane, whose death was faked by the secret service many years previous. As he delves deeper into the long-buried secrets of Cold War espionage, he coms to the attention of both the English and the Russian secret services: his trips to various European cities such as Vienna, Budapest and Moscow put him in danger and it is only the intervention of beautiful British spy Tanya Acocella that saves him on more than one occassion as his contacts keep getting murdered. Agents, double agents, triple agents, and embarrassing secrets governments will kill to protect even 20 years later, The Trinity Six is an interesting and excellent thriller. It has less about the original Cambridge Four than I would have liked but it is still an informative and exciting read.

[beckyjg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Cambridge Five, as you probably know, was a ring of spies all recruited by the Soviets after having become communists during their years at university in the thirties. Four of the five--Kim Philby, Donald Duart Maclean, Guy Burgess, and Anthony Blunt--have been definitively known since the fifties and early sixties. The presence of a fifth member of the group was long suspected, and many consider John Cairncross to be the likeliest candidate.Charles Cumming, in his spy thriller The Trinity Six takes the premise a step further by positing a sixth spy, one who was never caught (or defected), and who may still be alive. His novel slants the action differently than most spy novels by making the protagonist not a spy or an intelligence officer, but rather a professor of Russian studies. Sam Gaddis is the fortyish academic, divorced, behind in his mortgage and tax payments and being pressed by his ex-wife for additional child support. When asked by a journalist friend to co-write a book based on interviews she's currently conducting about the possible sixth man, Gaddis jumps at the chance. Days later his friend is dead. As he pursues the leads she had begun to uncover, Gaddis discovers most people unwilling to discuss the subject with him...and those who do seem to end up dead as well. Cummings has written a tidy (though perhaps a bit coincidence-ridden) thriller which flies along at a satsifyingly brisk clip. Sam Gaddis is mopey and self-centered, but smart and capable as well. The Trinity Six, while not one for the ages, is still a worthy contribution to the spy thriller genre, and well worth a read.

[lwhitmill_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very good read that slowly gives you information that will lead you to the conclusion but not until the very end do you get the final piece. If you enjoy a trying to determine the end before you get there then you will enjoy this book but you will not guess the ending. Well worth the time invested.

[eggsnhm · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Although slow to start, once I was about 50 pages in, I found myself reading this book quite voraciously. Both vivid and engaging, it was a great read. I was only sorry to have it come to an end, especially since I wasn't ready for my journey with the characters to be over.

[macabr_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There is nothing like a spy story and no one does spies better than the British. THE TRINITY SIX is to some degree a descendant of John Lecarre but, as fiction, it is history far more thinly veiled than the exploits of George Smiley.There are few countries that have suffered as much damage from their spies as Great Britain. From the 1930′s into the 1960′s Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, Kim Philby, and John Cairncross sold some of Britain’s most important security information to the Russians. The five men met as students at Trinity College, one of the colleges which comprise Cambridge University. They were ablie to infiltrate some of Britain’s highest level government agencies; one even worked at Bletchley Park where young people, referred to as the clever children, created the Enigma machine that allowed the British to read Germany’s code during World War II. Anthony Blunt’s cover was so deep that he was knighted for his work in protecting and preserving the art works owned by the royal family.James Jesus Angleton was one of the first people chosen by Franklin Delano Roosevelt when the president decided to establish an espionage unit during World War II. At the end of the war, when the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) became the Central Intelligence Agency, Angleton was asked to continue as one of the top directors. Angleton and Kim Philby had met during the war and became good friends during the time Philby was assigned to Washington, DC. Angleton didn’t follow his own rules about spy craft and gave Philby information that was to detrimental to the United States interests at the beginning of the Cold War.In THE TRINITY SIX, Sam Gaddis, a professor at University College London, and the author of a very successful biography of Russian leader Sergei Platov (a thinly disguised Vladimir Putin), discovers he is woefully short of money. He has a very significant tax bill that needs to be paid immediately and he has received a series of phone calls from his ex-wife, living in Spain, reminding him that the mortgage on her house is coming due and their daughter’s school fees are past due. Sam needs money and needs it fast so his solution is to write a series of popular histories that can be written quickly and sold immediately. Before he has his plans in place, he receives a phone call from an old friend, Charlotte Berg. Charlotte is an award winning journalist and she has a story she wants to release under her byline and, then, she wants to work with Sam to develop it into a book. If Sam writes this book, there won’t be any need to worry about money. Charlotte says she has seen proof that Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, and John Cairncross were not the Trinity Five but were part of the Trinity Six. The sixth man is alive and there is proof of his involvement in the spy ring. Although he would be in his ninetie’s, finding him and pushing him out into the light of day would be a major coup financially and professionally.When Charlotte dies after a heart attack, Sam decides to complete the book to honor her memory. As he digs, Sam gets information about an odd event that had occurred at a hospital in 1992. “The dead man was not a dead man. He was alive but he was not alive. That was the situation.” Sam gets this information from a nurse, Calvin Somers, who describes the very strange events that were known to only a few people who were paid a lot of money to forget that night. Calvin is giving Sam the details including the most important detail of all. The man in charge, who called himself Douglas Henderson, is really Sir John Brennan, the current head of MI6.The past is the present and the sixth man is big news. As Sam has secret meetings with old spies and young spies, he finds himself pulled into the puzzle palace, a term used to describe the CIA that applies equally to MI6.. The beginning of THE TRINITY SIX seems to be a puzzle in itself. There are many names, alternate names, acronyms, and code words, so many that in the beginning of the book it is a bit slow going. Yet, once the reader gets into the author’s rhythm, the book flows smoothly and it is a reminder that the Cold War must be taken seriously, even after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.The author gives away the identity of the sixth man early in the story. It doesn’t make the book any less worth reading. But the fictional story about Sam Gaddis and the sixth man isn’t as interesting as the story of the old Trinity spies and the espionage in the United States that led to the executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and the horrors of the McCarthy hearings.THE TRINITY SIX will be published on March 15. I received an advanced reader’s copy from the Library Thing.

[norinrad10 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Let me state first and foremost , this is an exceptionally well written book. In the beginning it was a little slow and I found myself distracted by trying to figure out how much was actually true and how much was literary invention. Eventually I just got caught up in the story and thoroughly enjoyed the tale of a Russian history academic who stumbles on the 6th spy of the notorious Cambridge 5. The writing and pacing remind me a lot of john LeCarre and Graham Greene. A definite recommendation.

[goose114_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sam Gaddis has stumbled upon a story of a lifetime; a story that could damage two national governments and put lives in jeopardy. Gaddis is faced with writing a book that exposes a sixth member of the Cambridge Five. As he begins exploring and contacting people who might know information on the elusive Edward Crane he becomes sucked into a secret and dangerous world between two intelligence organizations. As the story of the sixth member unfolds, Gaddis uncovers an even more dangerous and threatening fact, that two governments are willing to kill over in order to keep it a secret.This book moved quickly and the story continued to twist and turn. There were times when I wished a tiny bit of information wasn’t revealed and was just discovered by the reader, but things unfolded nicely in the story. The historical aspect of the book was woven perfectly into the fictional story. There were times when my heart was pounding while reading this and I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good espionage thriller.

[drlord_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is a slow starter but once it gets going it gets really good. Having never been to Europe, I found that the author did an outstanding job bringing me there and immersing me into the culture of places I've dreamed of being. And in the end, Charles Cumming held the best parts for the end. It's a James Bond movie in 300+ pages...and you're right there watching it while it happens.

[kraaivrouw · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I think my expectations were too high for this book. It sounded great from the blurb and I was excited when I got it via LibraryThing Early Reviewers so I read it right away, finished it, and thought, "meh."I've never really been into espionage thrillers. When I was growing up it was mostly James Bond and I've always thought he was kind of a wanker. He's a misogynist psychopath paid to kill with a bunch of silly gadgets and fancy cars and the requisite bimbo. Even though Sean Connery is the best Bond ever, I still don't really like the character. Most other espionage thrillers are in a similar vein or they've got heroes like Jason Bourne who isn't really a hero, but rather a superhero. This is also a series where the movies are better than the books (which I can't get through).So why was I excited about this book?Well, it was compared to John le Carre's George Smiley books and it's about the possibly sixth member of the Trinity Five - a particularly fascinating group of men. I thought there'd be a bit more history in it since its main character is a professor of Russian history. Not so much.Don't get me wrong - this book is well-written and probably an entertaining thriller if you like the victim of espionage side of things which I don't really. It's not a bad book - just not the book for me.

[alyson_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Slow to get going for me, but then I enjoyed it.

[laura400 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a fun, readable suspense novel. It is well-written and fast-paced. Not particularly memorable, indeed, but enjoyable. A good example of the genre.

[ricksbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It sounds trite, but I must say I had a very difficult time putting this book down. Cumming maintains a brisk tempo, with crisp chapters and limited distractions. As an espionage novel, it has an appropriate number of enjoyable plot twists, with an orientation toward deception and intrigue to move the action, rather than blunt violence. While the book takes place in the present-day, Cumming does a solid job of making the story almost a sort of historical fiction by having his characters relate what we perceive as history in a manner that is, to them, personal experience. I'd suspect that (in the right hands) this would make a solid movie. This was the first book I've read by Cumming; I'll be looking to pick up others.Obligatory disclaimer: read a free ARC via LT ER.

[tommyelf_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm not always that into spy/thriller books. I make a few exceptions - usually for Tom Clancy and that lot -- especially when I know the storyline is compelling, fun and has a lot of character development. Cumming does not disappoint this triad of requirement for me.I requested the book from the Early Reviewers program at Library Thing solely because I was familiar with the saga of the Cambridge Five and the purported myth of a sixth individual. The story started out somewhat slowly, with a lot of additional background added for the main character, as well as the mystery "sixth" man. From there, Gaddis (the main character) undertakes steps that any academic would follow, in trying to track down the story he is trying to write. What he finds out is that the story he is writing is really the sheet covering a nation-state secret that could change the world's political landscape in a very drastic manner.The action in the book takes a while to get going - but when it does, it becomes the roller-coaster it promises to be and even more. The twists and turns in the under-world of espionage played out in the shadows of everyday life are compellingly written. Once I hit the two-thirds point in the book, it was extremely difficult to set this down each night.Equally interesting is the character development that Gaddis undertakes from the beginning of the book to the end. His naivety is slowly stripped away, as he learns the ever-changing world of the nation-state spies. Furthermore, he establishes levels of doubt to the veracity of any individual that he comes across after being burned far too many times by individuals he felt he could trust. A typical character trait that would normally develop in such circumstances. This one particular setting made this novel into a storyline that I felt I was "riding" along as an observer.I would enthusiastically recommend "The Trinity Six" to anyone looking for a rolling spy novel set against the events of the not-so-recent past of the Cold War era in Europe. The characters are believable, act as I would have expected "normal" human beings to react with similar experience and understandings in the situation. My only letdown was a somewhat stilted nature of conversation between Gaddis and the mystery sixth man in the first third of the book. However, it turned out to be an extremely minor thing for me and did very little to dent the excellence of this novel.

[thebeast68_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This my first exposure to the details of the Cambridge Five spies. Cumming makes learning the history of this group interesting. This is a entertaining work of fiction. "The Trinity Six" is a great tale of deception, greed, and betrayal.

[unkletom_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I love spy thrillers. I love reading late into the night to find out if the double agent is really a good guy or if he can get over the Berlin Wall without getting shot. I love how the fate of the world rests on them revealing this or that secret (or McGuffin, to borrow a term from Alfred Hitchcock). So why does Charles Cummings' Trinity Six leave me out in the cold? For starters, it advertises itself as a thriller based on the question of whether or not there was a sixth member of the actual Cambridge spy ring that consisted of several 1930s Cambridge classmates who were recruited by the Soviets and then, over the course of the next few decades, worked their way into trusted positions within the government and leaked an enormous amount of sensitive information. This would be an interesting question if the book were set back when these men were young enough and powerful enough to do some damage but it's not. It is set in modern times, where the Soviet Union no longer exists and Russia is run by former president and KGB officer Vladimir Putin, (sorry, Sergei Platov). I spent much of the book wondering how this plotline could segue into something that could possibly be a threat to anyone still living. True, people around protagonist Sam Gaddis are dying at an alarming rate, but why? What possible reason could there be for it? Perhaps the author felt the same way because about halfway through the book the story takes a 90-degree turn and Gaddis spends the rest of the book running for his life and chasing the McGuffin. The change takes place so dramatically that I almost felt that I'd been the victim of the old bait-and-switch game. Much of what I have just said is a description of the frustration I felt while reading the book. In the end Cummings does answer my questions but I'll leave it up to you to decide if the McGuffin was worth the chase. John Lee is an excellent choice as narrator for the audio version of Trinity Six. His classic upper-class English accent is as at home in a British spy thriller as an Austin Martin or a vodka martini (shaken, not stirred).