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A Foreign Country

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 657 ratings · 194 reviews

From the internationally acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of The Trinity Six, comes a compelling tale of deceit and betrayal, conspiracy and redemption

On the vacation of a lifetime in Egypt, an elderly French couple are brutally murdered. Days later, a meticulously-planned kidnapping takes place on the streets of Paris. Amelia Levene,the first female Chief of M...more

ebook, 368 pages

Published August 7th 2012 by St. Martin's Press (first published January 1st 2012)

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Jun 04, 2012 Robert rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

This review isn’t an easy one to write, since I wanted to really like this book, instead of just liking it. However, the author has a handle on the spy thriller, and he more than proves his capabilities as a writer. But in order for me to really like a story, I have to become fully invested in the novel in some form or fashion, either through one or more characters, a hair-raising plot, or dialogue that projects louder than an Italian opera singer. And I didn’t get any of those feelings from thi...more

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May 19, 2012 Sherri Huntley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

A French couple celebrating their retirement with a vacation at a resort in Egypt are found brutally murdered. Their murder leads to the reunion of Amelia Levene, soon to be the Chief the British Secret Service, and the son she hasn’t seen since giving him up for adoption. Amelia disappears and Thomas Kell, recently fired MI6 officer, is hired to find her before anyone finds out. What follows is a twisting, turning mystery that keeps you turning page after page. As the book evolves, secrets, con...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Danuta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Audio books are invaluable, not just to the visually impaired, to whom they open up a world of books that was previously restricted. They also offer a different way of experiencing a book to all readers. There are potential disadvantages though. When reading the print version of a book, the reader can interpret the text is ways they choose, visualise the characters in the way the text suggests to them, hear their voices in the way the reader thinks these voices should sound. An audio book interp...more Audio books are invaluable, not just to the visually impaired, to whom they open up a world of books that was previously restricted. They also offer a different way of experiencing a book to all readers. There are potential disadvantages though. When reading the print version of a book, the reader can interpret the text is ways they choose, visualise the characters in the way the text suggests to them, hear their voices in the way the reader thinks these voices should sound. An audio book interprets these for the reader, and in some cases, this interpretation can become too intrusive.
Jot Davies provides an excellent reading of A FOREIGN COUNTRY, the latest thriller by Charles Cummings. His characterisation is subtle, and his reading works with the pace of the book. There is no attempt to ratchet up the tension artificially. Davies lets the text speak for itself, and the result is effective and very enjoyable - apart from the rather odd practice which seems to be common to most English Language audio books of indicating someone is speaking another language by using English with a foreign pronunciation. TV gave up this practice some time ago, probably after it was satirised mercilessly in the BBC series ’Allo ’Allo.
A FOREIGN COUNTRY opens in Tunisia in 1978, with the apparent disappearance of a 20-year-old woman, Amelia Levene. The action then moves to a less precise ‘present day’ which will, presumably, keep the novel current for future readers for some time to come. Characters are introduced briefly, but deftly characterised: the aging Malots make love on a hot Cairo afternoon on a holiday paid for with an ‘over-60s discount.’ They are ‘awestruck’ by the treasures of Tutankhamun. The couple are dead by the end of the chapter, murdered, apparently, in a street robbery, but they are not simply useful victims to move a plot along – Cummings has made them real characters in the course of their brief appearance.
A FOREIGN COUNTRY contains all the expected ingredients of a classic spy thriller: a disgraced spy coming in from the cold (surely a deliberate nod to Le Carre), brand names, brutal Americans, devious French and Brits still yearning for a lost glory (as Ricky Gervais said: We used to rule the world before you did).
The central character, Thomas Kell, is close to another cliché of the genre: the disgraced spy, expelled from the service, bitter and lost. But Cummings paints his life post-SIS with economy and clarity. ‘What did the rest of the day hold? Aspirin and daytime TV.’ As an image of 21st century bleakness, this is hard to beat.
A FOREIGN COUNTRY, therefore, ticks all the boxes for fans of spy thrillers. The action moves through time, and across continents: Tunisia, Egypt, Paris, and captures very well the post 9-11 paranoia that has seized the western world. This is not, however, a spy thriller by numbers. Cummings uses the motifs of the genre to create a far more subtle book. For example, the brand names are not used to present a sophisticated James Bond: Kell returns home, hung-over, in ‘a near-derelict Fiat Punto driven by a moonlighting Sudanese cab driver who kept a packet of Lockets and a well-thumbed copy of the Koran on the dashboard’.
A FOREIGN COUNTRY is neither a polemic against the changed mores of western governments in response to previously unthought-of of threats, nor is it a Jack Bauer-style celebration of them. Cummings explores the ambiguities of response and the ways in which these can affect the people most closely involved.
In the end, the book centres around a moral question often posed but rarely if ever confronted outside fiction. With a question that must be answered, what will Kell do? Will he find redemption, or will he fail?
Jot Davies’ reading allows the tension in the book to develop without pushing it. He allows Cummings words to do most of the work, as they should. Where he interprets, it is done with subtlety. We hear Kell’s disillusion, but also his need to restore his name. We hear Amanda Levene’s authority, but also those moments of doubt and uncertainty.
It’s a pity about the French accents...
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Oct 19, 2012 J rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: jlb-book-club

Modern day English spy drama, much in the tone of John LeCarre but without LeCarre’s depressing side effects. Like LeCarre, much is said with few words. The plot was riveting. There was a surprising depth to the characters and the evolving scenarios they pass through. I found myself thinking about how certain situations must have felt to characters and effected them based on their personal makeup.

The book was also fresh in some ways. I was surprised to feel a subtle feminist tone, which is a fi...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Mal Warwick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Spies in Conflict in Contemporary Europe

Although its pace picks up sharply about two-thirds of the way through the book and builds to a crescendo at the end, A Foreign Country is the slowest-paced and most contemplative of Charles Cumming’s spy stories.

MI6 agent Thomas Kell has been sacked because of what he believes to be political expediency by the Old Guard now running the shop. Assigned to collaborate with American operatives in Iraq interrogating prisoners, he was forced to take the rap whe...more Spies in Conflict in Contemporary Europe

Although its pace picks up sharply about two-thirds of the way through the book and builds to a crescendo at the end, A Foreign Country is the slowest-paced and most contemplative of Charles Cumming’s spy stories.

MI6 agent Thomas Kell has been sacked because of what he believes to be political expediency by the Old Guard now running the shop. Assigned to collaborate with American operatives in Iraq interrogating prisoners, he was forced to take the rap when they turned to torture to extricate information from a British citizen. He has been out of work for months and feeling sorry for himself, “his loyalty to the newly minted high priests of SIS . . . close to nonexistent. ‘If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend,’ he thought, remembering the words of E. M. Forster, ‘I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.’ For the first time in his life, that notion made sense to him.”

When Kell is called up “out of the cold” by one of the Old Guard to investigate the shocking disappearance of an old friend, SIS Chief-designate Amelia Levene, he is confronted with Forster’s dilemma. He chooses friendship, pursuing Amelia’s trail and keeping his bosses in ignorance. As Kell digs more deeply into the mystery, he comes face to face with a crew of renegade agents of the French secret service (the folks who sank the Rainbow Warrior), with the future of the United Kingdom at stake.

A Foreign Country is a complex tale that interweaves threads of deadly inter-service rivalry and the secrets hidden in Kell’s and Levene’s past. Both characters are fully realized, warts and all, and their stories unfold against a thoroughly credible backdrop of intrigue in contemporary Europe and North Africa.

A Foreign Country is the sixth spy novel Charles Cumming has written since 2001. In this blog I have previously reviewed A Spy by Nature (the first of the six), The Spanish Game, The Trinity Six, and Typhoon.

(From www.malwarwickonbooks.com)(less)

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Aug 17, 2012 Andy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Spy thrillers work best if they leave the reader guessing for at least half of the book while trying to piece together strands that are clearly connected – it’s just not clear how.

In the first half of A Foreign Country, the author’s sixth novel, Cumming achieves this admirably. A brutal and seemingly motiveless killing of a middle-aged French couple on holiday in Egypt; an MI6 operative, sidelined after a botched interrogation in Afghanistan and unaware of how desperately he wants to get back i...more Spy thrillers work best if they leave the reader guessing for at least half of the book while trying to piece together strands that are clearly connected – it’s just not clear how.

In the first half of A Foreign Country, the author’s sixth novel, Cumming achieves this admirably. A brutal and seemingly motiveless killing of a middle-aged French couple on holiday in Egypt; an MI6 operative, sidelined after a botched interrogation in Afghanistan and unaware of how desperately he wants to get back into the game; the appointment of a new female chief at the head of Britain’s spy service, a quiet, professional kidnap on the streets of Paris. All these present day events are presented in the light of an affair, in 1978, between an obsessive middle-aged French ex-pat and a bright young girl, travelling though Tunisia, that we are told in the prologue resulted in a pregnancy. How are these events connected?

The book reads like a film. The action – jagging back and forth between North Africa, southern France and London – moves at a pace that left me begging for more at the end of each chapter. The events, which seem tantalizingly disparate, remain unconnected, driving the narrative on. The characters are well enough drawn – and attractive enough – to hold the readers attention.

A big question for spy novelists, however, is when to reveal the truth to the reader. Leave it too long and you lose them; reveal too early and you risk a long and tedious denouement.

In A Foreign Country the truth is revealed relatively early, putting the reader in the intimate position of watching the concluding events with the knowledge that it is extremely unlikely that the hero will be outwitted. Too early perhaps – once this point of intimacy with the story (not just the hero) has been reached, there is a tendency on the part of the reader to push on through to the conclusion. The details (which Cumming is very good at painting) become less relevant and can be lost in the desire to reach the end. The exact circumstances of the denouement have still to be revealed of course, but there is less of a sense of mystery. We have all the pieces of the jigsaw, and they’re all in the right places – just the edges are fuzzy.

Cumming is an excellent writer, and has a superb sense of dramatic tension, but in A Foreign Country – unlike some of his other novels – this reviewer was left with the feeling that he has not quite got the balance right, that the novel was a little rushed in its production, perhaps under pressure of a publishing deal.

Nevertheless, the book is thoroughly enjoyable, and has been long-listed for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger.

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May 19, 2012 Orphic {Ally} rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Spy thriller enthusiasts

*Goodreads FirstReads Giveaway Winner*

As my first book received through the Goodreads FirstReads Giveaway program, I was simply amused and enthused to have been among the few to read and review this book before it was to be released publicly. So, I dutifully read the entire contents of the book, noting on a 4X6 index card, certain points of the novel I thought had been interesting.

This book, I had thought, had floated around the concept and idea of redemption when the main character, Thomas Kell...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Jeffrey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: espionage, read-in-2012

Charles Cumming has gained a reputation as a successor to the inestimable John Le Carre. His sophisticated plots and knowledge of spycraft are second to none in the current crop of spy novelists. His last novel, “Trinity Six”, a re-imagined and taut look at the British spy scandal of the last century was brilliant.

However, “A Foreign Country” falls a little flat because the plot is a little short of the twists and turns that one wants from a spy novel.

Amelia Levane, the soon to be appointed hea...more Charles Cumming has gained a reputation as a successor to the inestimable John Le Carre. His sophisticated plots and knowledge of spycraft are second to none in the current crop of spy novelists. His last novel, “Trinity Six”, a re-imagined and taut look at the British spy scandal of the last century was brilliant.

However, “A Foreign Country” falls a little flat because the plot is a little short of the twists and turns that one wants from a spy novel.

Amelia Levane, the soon to be appointed head of MI6, the British Secret Intelligence Service, disappears while on vacation in the South of France. Concerned about her disappearance and leery of her new appointment, the current leaders of MI6, send disgraced spy Thomas Kell to France to find Levane. Kell initially suspects foul play, but through spycraft soon discovers that Levane is in Tunisia, and appears to be involved with a young Frenchman named Francois Malot. His masters believe she is in an affair, but Kell soon learns that Malot is Levane’s previously unknown child, who she placed up for adoption years previously.

Kell soon suspects that something is not right about Mr. Malot. A mysterious woman talks to Kell too much in a bar and when he returns to his hotel room it has been searched. Plus Malot acts oddly on a ferry from Tunisia to Marseille, and the Kell is suspicious of that mode of transportation. Then Kell is attacked. The fact that Malot may not be what he seems is predictable in a spy novel, where red herrings and mysterious characters are the hallmarks of the genre.

Unfortunately, the pacing of the novel is very slow. Kell’s back story, the whys of his expulsion from the service takes a while to unfold. More importantly, although the novel moves slowly at times, Kell uncovers the plot against Levane very quickly, and it does not make much sense. Is the operation supposed to harm Levane’s chances of being the head of MI6? Or is the operation to get Malot close to the center of English power. Finally, once the Malot operation is uncovered, the book becomes little more than a cop and robber novel – a good cop and robber novel, but not much of a spy novel.

And when you expect an excellent spy novel, a good cop and robber novel is just not good enough.
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Nov 25, 2012 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Washington Post indicated this was a 2012 highlight, which led me to try it. A solid recommendation. I was not previously familiar with the author, Cumming, who, apparently, has some early life experience with British intelligence. The book was sufficiently gratifying that I expect I'll give him another try. On the one hand, this is a pretty straightforward spy-versus-spy international thriller. But it scored bonus point with me as a European and North African travelogue (in addition to the...more

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Nov 09, 2012 DR rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In a week when the new James Bond movie, SKYFALL, hits theaters with a cacophonous marketing campaign, it’s a pleasure to read a story about the Secret Intelligence Service that is modest, straightforward and realistic. Former operative Tom Kells is recalled from an involuntary retirement to track down the chief-elect and first female head of MI6, who has gone missing in France. Kells can’t give up civilian life too soon: “He had nothing but his past to live on, nothing but his skills as a spy.”...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Philip rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: espionage

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Temporary rating: I'm only halfway through, but have been telling myself for 50 pages already "if this doesn't get better soon, I'm outta here." Was somehow lead to believe Cumming is a 21st Century le Carre, but so far this book reads more like Barbara Cartland -- all romance and secret affairs with absolutely no action and just the slightest veneer of espionage, and that pretty lame. Protagonist Thomas Kell lies to a hotel receptionist and then can't calm down due to his "adrenaline rush;" lat...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Cheryl rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Between 3 and 3½ stars - Tom Kell has been having a bad year; he and his wife are separated and he was forced to leave his job as an SIS agent due to a scandal in Afghanistan where he was made the fall guy. Now, the soon-to-be Chief of the SIS, and first female chief, has gone missing in France and the SIS wants her found before she’s to be sworn in in two weeks. This makes them turn to Kell, who can keep things quiet, knows how to operate and is friends with Amelia Levene, the missing woman.

His...more Between 3 and 3½ stars - Tom Kell has been having a bad year; he and his wife are separated and he was forced to leave his job as an SIS agent due to a scandal in Afghanistan where he was made the fall guy. Now, the soon-to-be Chief of the SIS, and first female chief, has gone missing in France and the SIS wants her found before she’s to be sworn in in two weeks. This makes them turn to Kell, who can keep things quiet, knows how to operate and is friends with Amelia Levene, the missing woman.

His search for her takes him to a couple of different countries and I was surprised that he found Amelia relatively quickly; I thought that might take up most of the book. However, it turns out that there was more to the story than about why Amelia went to France in the first place, more than even she knew. Kell, though he’s technically finished his job since he located Amelia, feels there’s more than meets the eye and uncovers something going on that no one could’ve suspected.

I won this book on Goodreads and wasn’t sure what to expect of A Foreign Country, but I’ve been into spy books and really like books set in England. Most spy/international mystery books I’ve read have quite a bit more action than this one. If you’re looking for a lot of it, this isn’t the book for you, but I imagine that this is actually more the pace of the spy business; a lot of hurry up and wait. While I did like the characters, and I’d definitely read a sequel, if there is one, I wish at least some of the characters were at least a little bit happy. Everyone seemed so miserable and unhappy with their lives and relationships, and it was a little depressing at times. Also, a touch of sarcasm or humor, especially that snarky British wit I love, would’ve been a great addition and offset some of the mopiness nicely. While I questioned the actual possibility of what was behind the plot, as well as what happened, actually ever taking place, I did like this book. If you’re looking for a well paced spy novel, which picks up just a little bit, action-wise, in the end, I’d definitely recommend A Foreign Country.
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Sep 09, 2012 Alecia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I like the way Charles Cumming writes. Although spy novels are not my "go-to" genre for reading, he does a really good job, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. He combines intelligent writing, good characterizations and plotting, and inserts enough suspense to make it a really good read. I even liked the ending, which is not a given, even in a book I enjoyed.

The book starts out with seemingly random murders of an elderly French couple vacationing in Egypt, a kidnapping of a young French accountan...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Ron Chicaferro rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a straight forward spy thriller - the hero being an MI6 agent. No gadets or fast cars or unlimited funds in this story. It's the way the spy service really is in most countries. Gathering and slogging through the facts - following suspects, sleepness nights and not enough in your pay packet. It is a very fast moving and thrilling story, however, and you'll want to keep reading to see how everything turns out. The author, Charles Cumming, was actually recurited by MI6 so he knows how thin...more

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May 15, 2013 Sam Reaves rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The woman tabbed to head MI6 is the target of an operation designed to discredit her and scotch her appointment; a disgraced officer unfairly tarred by association with dirty business in Afghanistan is brought in from the cold to save the day. The attack is mounted by-- wait for it-- rogue French agents! They are still peeved about some inter-agency sparring during the run-up to the Iraq war. Lots of tradecraft in this one, more tradecraft than drama in fact. Cummings has the mix of high-tech co...more

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Nov 02, 2012 Manuel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, favorites

One of the pleasures of Cumming's fiction is that his characters often show a certain literary flair. The subtle characterization is also a hallmark of Cumming's work. You get to know the characters intimately.

"A Foreign Country" is one of those very rare books that from its first page demonstrates that it’s something out of the ordinary, one of those tales that the reader hopes will never end.

At the same time it's always an added bonus when the main character, Thomas Kell, reads the poetry of S...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Laura Whitmer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: march-2013, spy-novels

A solid effort with a fallible leading man as a disgraced spy, brought in from the cold, as they say, to help the new chief-elect,( a woman breaking the intelligence world's glass ceiling ), before all her secrets come to light. Lots of Le Carre-esque moments and interesting sub-plots which all tie up neatly by the novel's end.
I like to read a few good spy novels every year as a sort of palate cleanser for some heavier literary forays. This was a pleasant read with "human" characters, no gratui...more A solid effort with a fallible leading man as a disgraced spy, brought in from the cold, as they say, to help the new chief-elect,( a woman breaking the intelligence world's glass ceiling ), before all her secrets come to light. Lots of Le Carre-esque moments and interesting sub-plots which all tie up neatly by the novel's end.
I like to read a few good spy novels every year as a sort of palate cleanser for some heavier literary forays. This was a pleasant read with "human" characters, no gratuitous violence and a very British "happy ending", which is to say, it doesn't leave you cheering but rather smugly content with the lives of its characters sweetly tucked back into their respective cupboards and the possibility of a sequel somewhere down the road. I like a book that presents the British as the tolerant good guys, America as a bad influence and the French as wickedly corrupt and evil - written by a Scottish guy, its satisfying somehow, to know their stereotypes are similar to ours.
Cumming obviously knows his landscapes, his spy-speak and high-tech tricks but doesn't once venture over the line into the unbelievable. Thomas Kell, our disgraced spy, deals with real obstacles and doesn't always get out of tricky situations with the grace of say, James Bond, which makes his character more believable. His greatest weapon is his experience; some of the story's best scenes involve him talking his way into or out of difficult situations and in another scene, where he is mugged, he actually gets beat up, because he is outnumbered and doesn't use any of the usual spy novel vices: violence via guns or the obligatory black belt all spies are supposedly versed in: he is cornered, gets beat up, gets his stuff stolen and is screwed, just like any of us would be in the same situation. His friend and colleague whose skin he is saving, Amelia, is also very "real". She is thick-skinned as one would need to be in her line of work but vulnerable at the same time in a way that makes us question her judgement but empathize at the same time.
Overall, an enjoyable read that warrants a hearty thumbs up and a rating of three and a half stars.
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Apr 29, 2012 Stacie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, 2012, mystery-thriller

I received this book through the Goodreads First-Reads giveaway.

This was a really enjoyable book. I think I was quite surprised. So who exactly would I recommend this book to: if you like British intelligence thrillers and love the British TV show Spooks (MI-5 for us Americans) then this is the book for you.

The book starts with an ex-MI6 agent Thomas Kell being hired to search for the new head of MI6's (Amelia Levene) son. The book takes place mostly in France, but returns to England briefly in...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Amanda Bailey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wasn't quite sure about this book at first. It started out a little slow for my tastes, and I was lost by the first few chapters. But when this book picks up and starts making sense, look out! I couldn't put it down! There was always so much action going on that even when I told myself I was stopping at a specific chapter for the night, I read on anyway.

The characters (especially Kell and Amelia) were very easy to get attached to, and I found myself engrossed in their story from about 1/4 of...more

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May 26, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a Goodreads give away advance copy of a book to be released later this summer. It was a nice, easy summer read with a decent, albeit, rather simple plot. Cumming is a good storyteller and keeps the book moving. In the end, there were a few loose ends that he neglected to tie up but there were no gaping holes. As an American, I had some difficulty with some of the British jargon and wonder if the US release of the novel will be edited to remove some of those references. I know that has b...more

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May 14, 2013 Steven Pilling rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Cumming is a lovely writer. This book resembles one of those beach thriller novels that you consume sat on a chair in the heat but Cumming is a better writer than that.

This book is tightly plotted, the characters are almost 3d although sometimes you think they have come from central casting, Cumming is spare and sparse when he needs to be but also can expand when he wants, the tech detail which can be irritating in most of this type of book is kept to a minimum (the over descriptive list of stu...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Charlene Intriago rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-2013, library-book

I debated between 3 or 4 stars (sure wish we had those half-stars) but had to bump it up to a 4. Any time I can't put a book down, it must mean it's a 4. The author does a brilliant job of setting up the story in the first four chapters, and then slowly lets us get to know the main characters before truly drawing us into the story by the last quarter of the book. A disgraced former agent Thomas Kell is brought in to see what's going on with Amelia Levene, the soon to be first female chief of the...more

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Nov 28, 2012 E.R. Yatscoff rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mi-6-french-intelligence-kidnappi

A book of spies and probably as close to reality as it gets. That is, no James Bond stuff. Tracking and investigating and using contracted sources and putting together an operation. The potential head of MI6, Amelia Levene, goes AWOL for a few days and her competition, the man who really wants the job ahead of her needs to find out where she's gone. Bring in Thomas Kell, a former MI6 agent who was drummed out due to a past episode. While attempting to track down Amelia his suspicions are aroused...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Tom Tischler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

On a vacation in Egypt an elderly couple are murdered.
Days later there is a kidnapping in Paris. Amelia Levene
the first female Chief of M16 has disappeared. Desperate
to find her Britain's top intelligence agents turn to one
of their own. Disgraced M16 agent Thomas Kell. Tossed out
of the service only months before he is given one chance to
find Amelia at any cost. The trail leads Kell to France and
Tunasia where he uncovers a shocking secret and a conspiracy
that could have unimaginable repercussion...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Agrice rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an excellent book - a gripping spy-stuffed thriller. Most reviews refer to Le Carre, and I suppose this is inevitable, but I found Cumming's writing to be original and personal. He definitely steps out from under the great man's shadow. I was completely absorbed in the 2 primary characters, and did not find them to be derivative or reworked from Le Carre's work. I enjoyed the updated spycraft and the constant references to 21st century woes - budget cuts, the Arab Spring, the evils of pa...more

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May 31, 2012 Annie Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: galleys-free, mystery-thriller, first-reads

A Most Excellent Read!

The book starts out with many intriguing story lines…
Tunisia; a young nanny suddenly vanishes...
Egypt; an elderly couple are brutally murdered...
Paris; an accountant is kidnapped...
South of France; the first soon to be female chief of M16 vanishes…
From there it is edge of your seat subtle spy tingling tension!

Thomas Kell is a disgraced agent who was put out to pasture and reluctantly called back in from “the cold” for his particular set of skills along with his past relat...more

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Feb 17, 2012 Jo at Jaffareadstoo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This sharp and sophisticated spy thriller is cleverly constructed, with a skill that comes from an author who knows and loves his craft. I was intrigued by the story of disgraced intelligence officer, Thomas Kell, from the beginning and soon became immersed in his thrilling quest to find the missing female chief of MI6. From the opening sequence in Tunisia, through to the final conclusion, the story evolves at a cracking pace, with enough twists and turns in the plot to satisfy the most demandin...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have read all of Charles Cumming's books except for "The Hidden Man" which has not been published in the states yet. His books do not have a lot of page after page action like Steve Berry or Robert Ludlum, so if that is what you like then this book is not for you unless you are up to trying something different which I would recommend. "A Foreign Country" is a page turner as you want to follow the main character, Thomas Kell, in his search for Amelia Levene, designee for next head of MI6, who h...more

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Jun 09, 2012 Kelsie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

I started out this book slightly confused. There was so much going on in the first couple of chapters that I had to stop a couple of times to figure out who was who and what was happening. Once that was all settled, the book started getting more interesting. In all honesty, this was a really good read. The only thing holding me back from giving it 4 stars is the fact that too many times I just got bored with it. It wasn't until after the halfway mark that I could actually keep reading instead of...more

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May 18, 2012 Georgiann Hennelly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a sophisticated spy thriller which is cleverly constructed. I n the beginning an Elderly French couple are brutally murdered in Egypt. Days later a young French Accountant is kidnapped on the streets of Paris. When Amelie , Levene who is to be the first female Chief of M16 in six weeks time.disappears while on vacation in the south of France. It is the greatest crisis M16 has faced in along time. Desperate to keep it all a secret from the press, they turn to Thomas Kell a disgraced M16 a...more

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About Charles Cumming

Charles Cumming is British writer of spy fiction. His international bestselling thrillers including A Spy By Nature, The Spanish Game, Typhoon and The Trinity Six. A former British Secret Service recruit, he is a contributing editor of The Week magazine and lives in London.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/charle...

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