Charlies Chance

Charlie Muffin #11

by Brian Freemantle

Russia is falling apart. The economy is in shambles, and the police hold very little power. On the brink of chaos, only organized crime gets results; the Russian mafia controls the streets, the militia, maybe even the government. And as the families battle for supremacy, the embattled boss of bosses plans a job to keep himself in power forever: the ultimate nuclear robbery. Uranium and plutonium have vanished from nuclear plants for years, a few grams here, a few grams there; sufficient cause for concern, but not for panic. You need five kilograms to make a Hiroshima-sized bomb, after all. But this time, the heist is of 250 kilograms of weapons-grade material. The Russians are frantic, the West terrified; the risk of Armageddon looms close on the horizon. To prevent it, Charlie is sent to Moscow, home of the most dangerous trade in the world. To prevent the weapons from being smuggled out of the country, Charlie must go undercover as an arms trader and infiltrate the leading Russian mafia families.

Genres: Espionage, Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Audiobook, Ebooks, Adventure

470 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Aka John Maxwell, Jonathan Evans, Jack Winchester, Harry Asher and Richard Gant.

Brian Freemantle [b. 1936] is one of Britain's most acclaimed authors of spy fiction. His novels have sold over ten million copies worldwide. Born in Southampton, Freemantle entered his career as a journalist, and began writing espionage thrillers in the late 1960s. Charlie M (1977) introduced the world to Charlie Muffin and won Freemantle international recognition—he would go on to publish fourteen titles in the series.

Freemantle has written dozens of other novels, including two featuring Sebastian Holmes, an illegitimate son of Sherlock Holmes, and the Cowley and Danilov series, about an American FBI agent and a Russian militia detective who work together to comabt organized crime in the post-Cold War world. Freemantle lives and works in London, Englad.

Reviews

[Diogenes · Rating 4 out of 5]

As this series progresses, the intrigue becomes more and more complex and the story develops like a championship chess match, plotting so many moves ahead that it dazzles the mind. Charlie Muffin is a reverse snob, he antagonizes (and gets even with) those who think they're better than him, but he gets the job done, if not always in the approved way. Yet this foot-sore, disheveled, expense account padding hero is a charming spy.

[Kayleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It was long, but I enjoyed the story.

I will say, though, that I could see the ending from pretty early on. I knew who the traitors were going to be, who was going to die, who’d come out on top, etc. Did that stop me cheering along, or holding my breath in places? Nope.

It’s so annoying that Amazon, Kindle, or Audible doesn’t have the rest of the series! Now what do I do?!? I need to see Charlie and Natalia live happily ever after!!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better Charlie Muffin books.

[Adolfo Ramon · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the beginning, I thought it was going to be as the title says: "a bomb". But afterall, it's pretty good, and mixing russian mafia gives a touch into it.

[Geoffrey Ashlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read most of the Charlie Muffin series by Freemantle and generally I would rate them as 5 stars. Therefore I find it difficult to believe that this convoluted piece of prose was even written by Freemantle - maybe he used a ghost-writer?

I found the story ridiculously complex and poorly explained. Sadly, I think that it will be my last "Muffin" as I don't want to risk wading through hundreds of pages of confusing twaddle ever again.

[Tim Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

To date the best of a very good series

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+

[Shawn MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book in this series.

[Krishnan Nair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't like this entry in the series as much as the previous book. I liked the theme of nuclear theft but the plot was quite complicated and it was difficult for me to follow everything that was happening.

At the end, I wasn't sure what Charlie knew when though there were some good twists and reveals along the way.

I think I'll take at least a small break from this series for the time being and check out some other books.