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A Chosen Path
Rebecca’s father, Edward, scoots Sam Mitchell from Bangkok to London.
Boris Voikevich, only days past, was vehement; demanding Sam hole up on a remote farm in Northern China. Now, overnight almost, he’s agreeable to Sam’s return.
Is that reckless? Naïve even?
To those on the outside, maybe. With secrets to trade and never wanting to trust the British: they’ve a track record for failing to keep secrets, secret. Have those that command the clandestine activities of the Voikevich family found a broker?
As with Ben Carlyle's debut novel, ‘The Roads Chosen’, we delve into the inner workings of the intelligence services. But this time, laid bare, we become versed in how to move pieces on the board.
Set in 2008, a second and equally enthralling ‘trade craft’ thriller from Ben Carlyle. A more thought-provoking and more complex a tale, you’ll struggle to find.
A plot that runs over twelve months; starts in St Petersburg, moves to London, flies to Baku, sails to Volgograd, returns to London, sneaks to the Ural Mountains, races to Moscow and ends with further conspiracy in St Petersburg.
Here, we witness heated discussions in top floor offices, where time-served officers throw knowledge of previous undertakings on the table. Where they voice gut feelings. Where they unwrap the motives that drove KGB traitors into the arms of Western agencies. A real life understanding of the past days of SIS.
Rebecca breaks out from her shell. An evil killed Sam’s parents. Why? To flush Sam out. They would regret that. She’d kept her relationship with Sam a secret. If she’d not, would they have come for her? “Well, try taking me now. You’ll see just how angry with you my father is.”
Meet Philip Chaundler. He accepts, he is, in part, responsible for the death of Sam’s parents. “Ask Mitchell to sketch out his plan. I’ll keep it on my desk, as an op-request and have contractors assigned; that’ll allow all the paperwork to remain with me. I want this, Edward. And I don’t want that boy’s parents dying for nothing,”
Sit with Geoff when he’s asked to ‘dig-up-the-bones’ and find evidence of this ‘Fifth Column’. Become acquainted with ALP; his family is in banking. “Neither Edward nor I will break any law. Financial institutions will invest in the start-up.”
“Off the books?”
“This will remain on Phil’s desk as an op-request. We are within our rights to keep op-requests locked in a drawer until the need for a green light. We’ll not be breaking the rules.”
And, Harry steps up to the plate. “You can think in spirals, Harry. Which we’ll need if Mitchell is going to pull this off.”
We’re introduced to Vicky Spencer; a former Head of Research. “She remains the street-fighting, tub-thumper we all feared,” Geoff said, and offered a brittle look. “When I made to leave, she said, ‘Next time you drag your sorry backside halfway across the country, bring your bloody wife, you idle whelp.’”
Then, along comes Martha Denton; she has mud on her boots and the expertise you’ll need when an op-request falls off a desk in London, becomes a business start-up and is used to insert a known into a foreign country. “I’ll ask Rob to drive you. That way you can nip down, get a measure, and skip back to the road. Not have to worry about where to park the Batmobile.”
The procedural authenticity will convince you; you will put this down in sure knowledge of having spent time inside Britain’s intelligence services.
The novel closes with the reader holding their breath: crime bosses are on the rack, their millions about to disappear.
Can the conspirators now turn ‘Londongrad’ on its head and shake it?
Ben Carlyle brings what must be professional knowledge of intelligence work to the story. His investment in credible reasoning to justify the action that takes place pays off, giving a solid frame, in which this, his second, hugely elaborate plot plays out.
Boris Voikevich, only days past, was vehement; demanding Sam hole up on a remote farm in Northern China. Now, overnight almost, he’s agreeable to Sam’s return.
Is that reckless? Naïve even?
To those on the outside, maybe. With secrets to trade and never wanting to trust the British: they’ve a track record for failing to keep secrets, secret. Have those that command the clandestine activities of the Voikevich family found a broker?
As with Ben Carlyle's debut novel, ‘The Roads Chosen’, we delve into the inner workings of the intelligence services. But this time, laid bare, we become versed in how to move pieces on the board.
Set in 2008, a second and equally enthralling ‘trade craft’ thriller from Ben Carlyle. A more thought-provoking and more complex a tale, you’ll struggle to find.
A plot that runs over twelve months; starts in St Petersburg, moves to London, flies to Baku, sails to Volgograd, returns to London, sneaks to the Ural Mountains, races to Moscow and ends with further conspiracy in St Petersburg.
Here, we witness heated discussions in top floor offices, where time-served officers throw knowledge of previous undertakings on the table. Where they voice gut feelings. Where they unwrap the motives that drove KGB traitors into the arms of Western agencies. A real life understanding of the past days of SIS.
Rebecca breaks out from her shell. An evil killed Sam’s parents. Why? To flush Sam out. They would regret that. She’d kept her relationship with Sam a secret. If she’d not, would they have come for her? “Well, try taking me now. You’ll see just how angry with you my father is.”
Meet Philip Chaundler. He accepts, he is, in part, responsible for the death of Sam’s parents. “Ask Mitchell to sketch out his plan. I’ll keep it on my desk, as an op-request and have contractors assigned; that’ll allow all the paperwork to remain with me. I want this, Edward. And I don’t want that boy’s parents dying for nothing,”
Sit with Geoff when he’s asked to ‘dig-up-the-bones’ and find evidence of this ‘Fifth Column’. Become acquainted with ALP; his family is in banking. “Neither Edward nor I will break any law. Financial institutions will invest in the start-up.”
“Off the books?”
“This will remain on Phil’s desk as an op-request. We are within our rights to keep op-requests locked in a drawer until the need for a green light. We’ll not be breaking the rules.”
And, Harry steps up to the plate. “You can think in spirals, Harry. Which we’ll need if Mitchell is going to pull this off.”
We’re introduced to Vicky Spencer; a former Head of Research. “She remains the street-fighting, tub-thumper we all feared,” Geoff said, and offered a brittle look. “When I made to leave, she said, ‘Next time you drag your sorry backside halfway across the country, bring your bloody wife, you idle whelp.’”
Then, along comes Martha Denton; she has mud on her boots and the expertise you’ll need when an op-request falls off a desk in London, becomes a business start-up and is used to insert a known into a foreign country. “I’ll ask Rob to drive you. That way you can nip down, get a measure, and skip back to the road. Not have to worry about where to park the Batmobile.”
The procedural authenticity will convince you; you will put this down in sure knowledge of having spent time inside Britain’s intelligence services.
The novel closes with the reader holding their breath: crime bosses are on the rack, their millions about to disappear.
Can the conspirators now turn ‘Londongrad’ on its head and shake it?
Ben Carlyle brings what must be professional knowledge of intelligence work to the story. His investment in credible reasoning to justify the action that takes place pays off, giving a solid frame, in which this, his second, hugely elaborate plot plays out.
Paperback
Published February 10, 2024
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About the author
Ben Carlyle
3 books127 followersBen was born in Britain to a mother commissioned into the Royal Navy and a father serving with the United States Armed Forces. Soon after, the family moved to San Diego; whence, as just a toddler, Ben became acquainted with the water.
Before his teens, the family moved back to Britain, where Ben received the offer of a place at boarding school. From university, Ben set his sights on the ancient trading routes of Asia. Nearly a decade later, Ben returned to the United States, settling down on a smallholding that prides itself on minimising its environmental impact and maintaining a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle.
Long winter nights gave pause for reflection and time to gather his thoughts. Ben’s experiences and the voices of the friends he made whilst vagabonding gave him the foundations upon which his books are based.
At the present time, Ben is working with a small team engaged in the transportation of household goods within the Black Sea basin and is rarely online; though messages left on his author page will, if not immediately, receive an answer.
Before his teens, the family moved back to Britain, where Ben received the offer of a place at boarding school. From university, Ben set his sights on the ancient trading routes of Asia. Nearly a decade later, Ben returned to the United States, settling down on a smallholding that prides itself on minimising its environmental impact and maintaining a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle.
Long winter nights gave pause for reflection and time to gather his thoughts. Ben’s experiences and the voices of the friends he made whilst vagabonding gave him the foundations upon which his books are based.
At the present time, Ben is working with a small team engaged in the transportation of household goods within the Black Sea basin and is rarely online; though messages left on his author page will, if not immediately, receive an answer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
November 18, 2024
The second thought provoking episode: in keeping, the chapters are headed: place/time/day/date. And even more ingenious in its construction and I repeat my previous comment: ‘I doubt too many readers will figure it all out before they get to the final few chapters, which again leaves me in a position where I don’t want to say too much and give the game away.’
The last page of the first episode gives the reader a belief that Sam, who remains totally lovable, will be XYZing it, in episode two. It’s a garden path. In fact, episode two contains no end of paths the reader is invited to wander down.
Rebecca comes out from her shell. Sam phoned. It’s so obvious he would. He is caring and considerate of the feelings of others.
I can only think to describe this trilogy as a chess match and to win a chess match, you need to work carefully and purposefully to move your pieces into the ideal positions without giving away what you are about. Part one of the trilogy is a great story on its own; now, I view it as the opening of the game. Pieces are moved into place and we, the reader, have no idea of why these pieces are where they are: Rebecca, Edward, Geoff, Harry, Georgina, ALP, Philip Chaundler. For episode two to progress, within the realms of reality, these pieces must be put where they’ve been put before page one of episode two.
When playing chess, as I do, I’ve wished and wished for another queen to find her way onto the board: all powerful and able to move freely. With the pieces set, a gale blows and just like Mary Poppins, Martha Denton arrives. My Queen. She arrives unannounced and, whilst keeping a terrific sense of humour and the managerial skills of a highly successful entrepreneur, she contains the risks and gets the job done. I dream of being a Martha: she deserves an episode all of her own.
This is a story steeped in deceit, smoke, mirrors, the old-boy network and some serious girl-power.
And, on the final page, we are no nearer to an idea of what is afoot, so… episode three has to be gotten.
The last page of the first episode gives the reader a belief that Sam, who remains totally lovable, will be XYZing it, in episode two. It’s a garden path. In fact, episode two contains no end of paths the reader is invited to wander down.
Rebecca comes out from her shell. Sam phoned. It’s so obvious he would. He is caring and considerate of the feelings of others.
I can only think to describe this trilogy as a chess match and to win a chess match, you need to work carefully and purposefully to move your pieces into the ideal positions without giving away what you are about. Part one of the trilogy is a great story on its own; now, I view it as the opening of the game. Pieces are moved into place and we, the reader, have no idea of why these pieces are where they are: Rebecca, Edward, Geoff, Harry, Georgina, ALP, Philip Chaundler. For episode two to progress, within the realms of reality, these pieces must be put where they’ve been put before page one of episode two.
When playing chess, as I do, I’ve wished and wished for another queen to find her way onto the board: all powerful and able to move freely. With the pieces set, a gale blows and just like Mary Poppins, Martha Denton arrives. My Queen. She arrives unannounced and, whilst keeping a terrific sense of humour and the managerial skills of a highly successful entrepreneur, she contains the risks and gets the job done. I dream of being a Martha: she deserves an episode all of her own.
This is a story steeped in deceit, smoke, mirrors, the old-boy network and some serious girl-power.
And, on the final page, we are no nearer to an idea of what is afoot, so… episode three has to be gotten.
November 26, 2024
I said, ‘A story such as this cannot in all reality end.’ I have, as you can see, been chatting with members of the ‘Girls Sleeping with Sam Club’, so I knew the story was not over. In continuing, it goes up through the gears, comes off the road and lands on ground inhabited by spies.
And why, it now becomes apparent, the author tangled ‘Bed-Hopping-Sam’ up with the intelligence agencies early on in book-one. There had to be a reason: he didn’t need to when furthering the plot in book-one.
Our Sam - I feel sure I can refer to him in such a way, he is being shared around just now - towards the end of book-one led us to believe he was planning to sneak back to Russia and ask a favour or two of Boris and family. But of course, ‘Our Sam’ never did have any idea of what was happening outside of the mire he’d become trapped in; and so there was every chance someone might just chuck a spanner in the works. ‘Our Sam’ does admit he’d fallen foul of the hubris of youth and the gentlemen wielding the spanner is far from youthful and further still from being guilty of pride and arrogance.
I think it safe to summarise the first part of book-two, by saying: “Right lad. Let’s talk about this mess you’ve got yourself into.”
It’s definitely a bit of a shock! Although ‘Our Sam’ is bright enough and not shy of putting his shoulder to the wheel, in reality, he’s a lad with no idea of the mess he got himself in and wiser owls, ‘those with mud on their boots’ are needed if this mess is ever going to be sorted.
That is so cool: ‘Those with mud on their boots.’
One of those with mud on their boots is a woman, ‘Martha’, who can only be described as ’sharp as a razor’.
This is sooo good. Loads and loads happens and just like book-one opened my eyes to sooo much; and at no time could I figure where the plot was taking me.
I said and I must repeat myself: ‘The story cannot end; a story such as this cannot in all reality end. And, the story is awfully real.’
And why, it now becomes apparent, the author tangled ‘Bed-Hopping-Sam’ up with the intelligence agencies early on in book-one. There had to be a reason: he didn’t need to when furthering the plot in book-one.
Our Sam - I feel sure I can refer to him in such a way, he is being shared around just now - towards the end of book-one led us to believe he was planning to sneak back to Russia and ask a favour or two of Boris and family. But of course, ‘Our Sam’ never did have any idea of what was happening outside of the mire he’d become trapped in; and so there was every chance someone might just chuck a spanner in the works. ‘Our Sam’ does admit he’d fallen foul of the hubris of youth and the gentlemen wielding the spanner is far from youthful and further still from being guilty of pride and arrogance.
I think it safe to summarise the first part of book-two, by saying: “Right lad. Let’s talk about this mess you’ve got yourself into.”
It’s definitely a bit of a shock! Although ‘Our Sam’ is bright enough and not shy of putting his shoulder to the wheel, in reality, he’s a lad with no idea of the mess he got himself in and wiser owls, ‘those with mud on their boots’ are needed if this mess is ever going to be sorted.
That is so cool: ‘Those with mud on their boots.’
One of those with mud on their boots is a woman, ‘Martha’, who can only be described as ’sharp as a razor’.
This is sooo good. Loads and loads happens and just like book-one opened my eyes to sooo much; and at no time could I figure where the plot was taking me.
I said and I must repeat myself: ‘The story cannot end; a story such as this cannot in all reality end. And, the story is awfully real.’
September 30, 2024
I'm re-writing my review. I was kept awake by this last night: I like my sleep. Having decided where it was that I'd come up short, I've, hopefully, put things right...
Sam, the interloper, Mitchell, makes a phone call: no, not the phone call from the upper reaches of the creek, without a paddle. From that phone call, he was given a paddle and found dry land, after which he phones Rebecca, suicidal, Liscombe. She was hell-bent on killing herself because, as far as she was concerned, her man had left her on account of how she had behaved. As I said, he has a heart, so explains why he left (it’s all his fault, she did nothing wrong). Too few of those sort around nowadays. Another tick in the box for the blue-eyed boy and he’s not that scrawny any longer. With the paddle came three squares a day.
Once Mitchell is home and shacked up with the girl, under her father’s roof by the way - I don’t diverge for any other reason than it needs saying now, “if I ever was to consider an older man, Mr Liscombe would be top of my list.” Getting back on track - once snuggled up with the girl, the story goes off in a direction I did not expect. Mitchell puts his feet up - he does deserve the rest, it is well earned - and a bunch of characters come to the fore. Having got my head around this unexpected turn, I did understand why. The author is intent on keeping it real. Some bad people have crossed a line. Some good people are intent on holding them to account. The reasoning for this stance is justified and, I would guess folk within the intelligence services are ex-military, related to members of the military or have close relations with members of the military, so I see why some members of the intelligence community might put themselves up. It would become a little far-fetched should the boy, when he has no experience of such matters, grasp the reins and head off into the sunset, wishing to bring those that have done him a wrong to justice.
I think this is a romance: although I’m certain many will disagree. The girl put heart on her sleeve and as a result of immaturity on both sides and, as the boy readily admits, more his diffidence, they part company. The girl, for many reasons, not just the boy, family dynamics play as much a part, runs for cover. I’ve no real idea of the pressures put on young females of the elite class (debutantes) today but her circumstances are juxtaposed with a young debutante that many believe was forced into a marriage with a prince, because, first, she was from the right stock and, second, she was still a virgin. The boy left for what he saw as good reason: justifying his decision as it was best for her future, family ties and well-being. Whilst under the stars, the boy accepts his failures and is determined to repair things once he’s back. He’s back.
The girl’s no dope and having got her soul-mate back, and a renewed belief in her father, she comes out from her shell. I’m not going to explain this that well but, there’s a coming of age, finding her inner self, dynamic here. She was never a scaredy-cat, misconceptions carried from her youth into adulthood shaped her outlook. Rising to the challenges the boy's action in Kazakhstan has put before her family, she does her bit to help with the immediate.
The immediate is a quite incredible ploy set in motion across international borders with the aim of snaring some very bad people. If you draw it out as one of those spider diagrams, you’ll see how devious and daring it is: I tried doing it inside my head but gave up. There’s a whole raft of interesting characters to meet: as a girl, I could not do anything other than admire Martha (see is a retired intelligence officer) and dishes some great one-liners. As this goes on, you get dragged more and more into the world of the spooks. It’s all good. It all makes sense. It had to happen for this to come off in the way it does.
I’m not for anyone-minute belittling the theme: the plot is woven around what is a human tragedy: human weakness. Yet, there is far more to this. Why go to the lengths he has (the author) if he simply wants to highlight what are terrible wrongdoings? The story, once more, is left hanging open, promising there is more to come. What, I’m not too sure of, at present.
Sam, the interloper, Mitchell, makes a phone call: no, not the phone call from the upper reaches of the creek, without a paddle. From that phone call, he was given a paddle and found dry land, after which he phones Rebecca, suicidal, Liscombe. She was hell-bent on killing herself because, as far as she was concerned, her man had left her on account of how she had behaved. As I said, he has a heart, so explains why he left (it’s all his fault, she did nothing wrong). Too few of those sort around nowadays. Another tick in the box for the blue-eyed boy and he’s not that scrawny any longer. With the paddle came three squares a day.
Once Mitchell is home and shacked up with the girl, under her father’s roof by the way - I don’t diverge for any other reason than it needs saying now, “if I ever was to consider an older man, Mr Liscombe would be top of my list.” Getting back on track - once snuggled up with the girl, the story goes off in a direction I did not expect. Mitchell puts his feet up - he does deserve the rest, it is well earned - and a bunch of characters come to the fore. Having got my head around this unexpected turn, I did understand why. The author is intent on keeping it real. Some bad people have crossed a line. Some good people are intent on holding them to account. The reasoning for this stance is justified and, I would guess folk within the intelligence services are ex-military, related to members of the military or have close relations with members of the military, so I see why some members of the intelligence community might put themselves up. It would become a little far-fetched should the boy, when he has no experience of such matters, grasp the reins and head off into the sunset, wishing to bring those that have done him a wrong to justice.
I think this is a romance: although I’m certain many will disagree. The girl put heart on her sleeve and as a result of immaturity on both sides and, as the boy readily admits, more his diffidence, they part company. The girl, for many reasons, not just the boy, family dynamics play as much a part, runs for cover. I’ve no real idea of the pressures put on young females of the elite class (debutantes) today but her circumstances are juxtaposed with a young debutante that many believe was forced into a marriage with a prince, because, first, she was from the right stock and, second, she was still a virgin. The boy left for what he saw as good reason: justifying his decision as it was best for her future, family ties and well-being. Whilst under the stars, the boy accepts his failures and is determined to repair things once he’s back. He’s back.
The girl’s no dope and having got her soul-mate back, and a renewed belief in her father, she comes out from her shell. I’m not going to explain this that well but, there’s a coming of age, finding her inner self, dynamic here. She was never a scaredy-cat, misconceptions carried from her youth into adulthood shaped her outlook. Rising to the challenges the boy's action in Kazakhstan has put before her family, she does her bit to help with the immediate.
The immediate is a quite incredible ploy set in motion across international borders with the aim of snaring some very bad people. If you draw it out as one of those spider diagrams, you’ll see how devious and daring it is: I tried doing it inside my head but gave up. There’s a whole raft of interesting characters to meet: as a girl, I could not do anything other than admire Martha (see is a retired intelligence officer) and dishes some great one-liners. As this goes on, you get dragged more and more into the world of the spooks. It’s all good. It all makes sense. It had to happen for this to come off in the way it does.
I’m not for anyone-minute belittling the theme: the plot is woven around what is a human tragedy: human weakness. Yet, there is far more to this. Why go to the lengths he has (the author) if he simply wants to highlight what are terrible wrongdoings? The story, once more, is left hanging open, promising there is more to come. What, I’m not too sure of, at present.
August 18, 2024
A Chosen Path (The Roads Chosen Trilogy):
A Gutsy Effort...
The second episode in the Sam Mitchell saga takes off at the point where episode one (The Roads Chosen) closed.
Again, a most complex and ingenious plot. A senior officer within Britain’s intelligence services decides a line has been crossed and a debt of honour is owed. As a result, senior intelligence officers go ‘off-the-books’, use private finance, friends and former colleagues to ‘run a show’.
The procedural side is most credible: every strand of the operation [the show] is discussed: credible reasoning and planning is part and parcel of this story.
The overused convention of creating a protagonist and keeping that character at the forefront of each and every plot of each and every book in a series of books does not work when trying to portray real-life fiction; and this is real-life fiction.
The protagonist in episode one does play a part in episode two of the saga; he is a crucial and irreplaceable member of a vast international team of players, but by no means the central figure with control of what transpires.
A gutsy move by the author and for me, it works; no one person could pull this off. Without the participation of senior intelligence officers, with their experience, connections and their personal finance, which the protagonist from episode one does not have, the idea of planning such an operation would be absurd.
A Gutsy Effort...
The second episode in the Sam Mitchell saga takes off at the point where episode one (The Roads Chosen) closed.
Again, a most complex and ingenious plot. A senior officer within Britain’s intelligence services decides a line has been crossed and a debt of honour is owed. As a result, senior intelligence officers go ‘off-the-books’, use private finance, friends and former colleagues to ‘run a show’.
The procedural side is most credible: every strand of the operation [the show] is discussed: credible reasoning and planning is part and parcel of this story.
The overused convention of creating a protagonist and keeping that character at the forefront of each and every plot of each and every book in a series of books does not work when trying to portray real-life fiction; and this is real-life fiction.
The protagonist in episode one does play a part in episode two of the saga; he is a crucial and irreplaceable member of a vast international team of players, but by no means the central figure with control of what transpires.
A gutsy move by the author and for me, it works; no one person could pull this off. Without the participation of senior intelligence officers, with their experience, connections and their personal finance, which the protagonist from episode one does not have, the idea of planning such an operation would be absurd.
November 25, 2024
I thought it brilliant when so many people play their part in such an immense and intriguing international scheme.
Rebecca said, "Eight months this plan had been in the making. The players were ready. The stage set. They were about to raise the curtain. Yes, Sam would be the star of the show. But not as some lone ranger, maverick, revenge seeker. Their goals would be impossible to achieve, ludicrous to even contemplate, without the help of a cast of players."
I'm a girl wanting to see girls play important roles and here they do. Like other readers, I'm in awe of Martha.
Full of suspense and thrills. I loved this.
Rebecca said, "Eight months this plan had been in the making. The players were ready. The stage set. They were about to raise the curtain. Yes, Sam would be the star of the show. But not as some lone ranger, maverick, revenge seeker. Their goals would be impossible to achieve, ludicrous to even contemplate, without the help of a cast of players."
I'm a girl wanting to see girls play important roles and here they do. Like other readers, I'm in awe of Martha.
Full of suspense and thrills. I loved this.
March 22, 2022
I read this twice so that I might, hopefully, add to the reviews already out there.
With regard to the fate of military conscripts, in Mary Hadden’s review of ‘The Roads Chosen’ she said, “We will never know the true figures, but: somewhere between 2,000 and 6,000 military conscripts desert each year. Most are illiterate. The authorities search for them, year-in-year-out. I’ll agree: it’s a big country! If they’re dead – where are the bodies? If they’re not dead – where can they be? They’ve not gone home, because according to my research that is the first place the authorities go and they go year-in-year-out.” I did wonder how it would be possible to rescue so many of these young people. I think this book gives a real insight as to how that might be. From the Internet; as of August 5, 2014, 6,000 former KGB officers are holding key positions in Russia’s government (that titbit was hinted at in Mr Carlyle’s previous instalment). So, in other oppressed societies resistance movements have emerged (underground networks). So, with the Soviet oppression lasting as long as it did, there must have been people working for the resistance and holding down key positions within the state apparatus.
This is great story - as is the previous instalment - and I’ve sat here rubbing my hands with glee: I might be able to put my 5 cents in the pot before it’s too late.
So, here goes …. (without giving anything away) …. being faced with the need to keep the scheme as far distant from the eyes and ears of Londongrad (I just loved that term) as possible, but also needing to keep the sticky-mitts of Production off the project, how does one proceed? After all, their ‘new friends’ in Russia hold all the cards and British Intelligence has a track record for failing to keep secrets secret (I loved that too). Tricky. I marvelled at the attention paid to justifying all the whys and therefores.
The wrangling and haggling back in London and the machinations in Azerbaijan and Russia kept me riveted.
I’m taken by all of the characters and it’s fabulous that a woman runs the show in Baku and a woman is Head of Ops for the heist in Moscow.
I did some research; and, Dynamo Moscow did play against Saturn Moscow on that day and they were sharing CSKA’s stadium at that time. The author must have worked the dates back from then to make the plot fit into a real-time event. UNLESS ALL THIS IS TRUE! I doubt it would make the news channels if it were.
Also, and I’m not going to give the game away, but…. in any other thriller/spy fiction, be it a book or a film, who would be a lead player in the heist? Yet in this we have some reality in the mix and good reasoning for why. Even the absence of Boris and his family is clearly justified; their presence in this plot would have been forced and lack credibility. This is why it is a such a great read - you can believe it.
And, the baddies had to be gotten rid of in the way they were - how else would the good-guys get the griff?
This is such a clever and intricate plot, where, with the right people in the right places, all can be seen as doable. Even those enticed into the ring (Martha) are given the backstory that provides for why they would come onboard.
And, you don’t know what is going to happen next; you are kept in suspense and teased into believing that a course of action might follow, when all along that was never going to be the play.
With regard to the fate of military conscripts, in Mary Hadden’s review of ‘The Roads Chosen’ she said, “We will never know the true figures, but: somewhere between 2,000 and 6,000 military conscripts desert each year. Most are illiterate. The authorities search for them, year-in-year-out. I’ll agree: it’s a big country! If they’re dead – where are the bodies? If they’re not dead – where can they be? They’ve not gone home, because according to my research that is the first place the authorities go and they go year-in-year-out.” I did wonder how it would be possible to rescue so many of these young people. I think this book gives a real insight as to how that might be. From the Internet; as of August 5, 2014, 6,000 former KGB officers are holding key positions in Russia’s government (that titbit was hinted at in Mr Carlyle’s previous instalment). So, in other oppressed societies resistance movements have emerged (underground networks). So, with the Soviet oppression lasting as long as it did, there must have been people working for the resistance and holding down key positions within the state apparatus.
This is great story - as is the previous instalment - and I’ve sat here rubbing my hands with glee: I might be able to put my 5 cents in the pot before it’s too late.
So, here goes …. (without giving anything away) …. being faced with the need to keep the scheme as far distant from the eyes and ears of Londongrad (I just loved that term) as possible, but also needing to keep the sticky-mitts of Production off the project, how does one proceed? After all, their ‘new friends’ in Russia hold all the cards and British Intelligence has a track record for failing to keep secrets secret (I loved that too). Tricky. I marvelled at the attention paid to justifying all the whys and therefores.
The wrangling and haggling back in London and the machinations in Azerbaijan and Russia kept me riveted.
I’m taken by all of the characters and it’s fabulous that a woman runs the show in Baku and a woman is Head of Ops for the heist in Moscow.
I did some research; and, Dynamo Moscow did play against Saturn Moscow on that day and they were sharing CSKA’s stadium at that time. The author must have worked the dates back from then to make the plot fit into a real-time event. UNLESS ALL THIS IS TRUE! I doubt it would make the news channels if it were.
Also, and I’m not going to give the game away, but…. in any other thriller/spy fiction, be it a book or a film, who would be a lead player in the heist? Yet in this we have some reality in the mix and good reasoning for why. Even the absence of Boris and his family is clearly justified; their presence in this plot would have been forced and lack credibility. This is why it is a such a great read - you can believe it.
And, the baddies had to be gotten rid of in the way they were - how else would the good-guys get the griff?
This is such a clever and intricate plot, where, with the right people in the right places, all can be seen as doable. Even those enticed into the ring (Martha) are given the backstory that provides for why they would come onboard.
And, you don’t know what is going to happen next; you are kept in suspense and teased into believing that a course of action might follow, when all along that was never going to be the play.
August 17, 2022
I finished this days ago and as with part-one (The Roads Chosen); and it just that, the first part of this saga. I turned immediately to page-one and re-read part-two. Since, I have made notes with the idea, I should write something profound in my review. This deserves someone more able than me.
Part-one starts at a slow-ebb, the tension and suspense increasing as you go. With this I was caught in a rip-tide from the get-go: gripped by what was happening to the young boy. I then found myself, still gasping for breath, taking stock, while treading water in a rock pool. Whilst there, the cook says:
“Ma'am? We can’t have the radio in the kitchen.”
Rebecca, the once timid, replies: “We can’t have a lot of things, Mary. But we can have a radio in the kitchen.”
I've never before been so captivated by a 'spy-thriller'. This is about people from all walks coming together to work a solution. I've not a foggy of how real-life is in the spy world, but I do want to believe this is how it is.
There is, and it is well overdue, full recognition of the important roles women play in the intelligence world. With it you can forget the cartoon characters: the hot-seductress, flashing her stocking tops and sticking a knife under the chin of her next victim. Try a case-hardened, field operative with her back against the wall and a deadline to meet, juggling countless issues and building a team from a bunch of guys with differing skill-sets. If you do want to witness life-in-the-shadows, whilst in a room full of smoke-and-mirrors, I reckon, this comes pretty close.
The debates (heated at times), the second-guessing, the analysis, happening in London, is constantly referenced against real-life 'spies' (double agents, defectors) and their motivations, their history (real-life history). Which bodes the question, how much research went into this?
I'm determined not to spoil this for others so:
The modern day writer strives to develop a few characters that you might just grow to like and then wring every once of believability from them in the sequels that will, undoubtedly, follow. Part-one of this, what I see as a saga, offers you more than a few rounded, wholesome characters, to love or hate. But unlike other novelists, following that well-worn format, part-two does not ask those in part-one to cook a seven-course gourmet meal for fifty, having never seen a stove in their entire lives. Part-two is as believable as part-one: a raft of characters are brought on stage, again they become rounded and wholesome. But, yes, you guessed it, they are asked to do what they've being doing for years and years. A chance for the reader to learn about many more, not just a few, and love them or hate them.
You may wish to leave your local garage with your recently serviced automobile, thinking the mechanic is such a likeable guy and how nice to would be to see him again; then drive to the ferry-port and find the mechanic has a second-job as a steward on your boat. Life ain't like that. I chose the ferry analogy whilst considering the points I would raise in this review: there's a ferry in part-two.
You can read, elsewhere, true-life accounts of intelligence officers able to think in spirals (think of what might lie in wait around the corner) - I point you to Operation Mincemeat. In part-one I met Harry (I quite liked him). In part-two I got to see his real colours: doing the same-old-same-old. I now like him a whole lot more.
It's difficult to take this any further without hinting at how the plot unfolds: so I won't. In closing, this knocks the socks of any other 'spy-thriller' I've read.
Part-one starts at a slow-ebb, the tension and suspense increasing as you go. With this I was caught in a rip-tide from the get-go: gripped by what was happening to the young boy. I then found myself, still gasping for breath, taking stock, while treading water in a rock pool. Whilst there, the cook says:
“Ma'am? We can’t have the radio in the kitchen.”
Rebecca, the once timid, replies: “We can’t have a lot of things, Mary. But we can have a radio in the kitchen.”
I've never before been so captivated by a 'spy-thriller'. This is about people from all walks coming together to work a solution. I've not a foggy of how real-life is in the spy world, but I do want to believe this is how it is.
There is, and it is well overdue, full recognition of the important roles women play in the intelligence world. With it you can forget the cartoon characters: the hot-seductress, flashing her stocking tops and sticking a knife under the chin of her next victim. Try a case-hardened, field operative with her back against the wall and a deadline to meet, juggling countless issues and building a team from a bunch of guys with differing skill-sets. If you do want to witness life-in-the-shadows, whilst in a room full of smoke-and-mirrors, I reckon, this comes pretty close.
The debates (heated at times), the second-guessing, the analysis, happening in London, is constantly referenced against real-life 'spies' (double agents, defectors) and their motivations, their history (real-life history). Which bodes the question, how much research went into this?
I'm determined not to spoil this for others so:
The modern day writer strives to develop a few characters that you might just grow to like and then wring every once of believability from them in the sequels that will, undoubtedly, follow. Part-one of this, what I see as a saga, offers you more than a few rounded, wholesome characters, to love or hate. But unlike other novelists, following that well-worn format, part-two does not ask those in part-one to cook a seven-course gourmet meal for fifty, having never seen a stove in their entire lives. Part-two is as believable as part-one: a raft of characters are brought on stage, again they become rounded and wholesome. But, yes, you guessed it, they are asked to do what they've being doing for years and years. A chance for the reader to learn about many more, not just a few, and love them or hate them.
You may wish to leave your local garage with your recently serviced automobile, thinking the mechanic is such a likeable guy and how nice to would be to see him again; then drive to the ferry-port and find the mechanic has a second-job as a steward on your boat. Life ain't like that. I chose the ferry analogy whilst considering the points I would raise in this review: there's a ferry in part-two.
You can read, elsewhere, true-life accounts of intelligence officers able to think in spirals (think of what might lie in wait around the corner) - I point you to Operation Mincemeat. In part-one I met Harry (I quite liked him). In part-two I got to see his real colours: doing the same-old-same-old. I now like him a whole lot more.
It's difficult to take this any further without hinting at how the plot unfolds: so I won't. In closing, this knocks the socks of any other 'spy-thriller' I've read.
October 26, 2022
It's really exciting: I can't (I was told not to by Beth) say what happens and talk about the exciting bits; but ...
- Sam is hiding in the woods and he gets spotted by the people hunting him ... that is exciting
- Sam sneaks into Russia ... that is exciting
- Sam hides in a hut in the mountains ... that is exciting
There's lots of other exciting, but I'm not going to mention that. It's a fabulous story and there are grisly bits - people get killed.
There are several girls in this that play really important parts: then there's Martha - she is amazing. She worked for MI-6 and left under a cloud. This senior officer convinces her to come back and run this really important operation. She does. Reading about her and how she sets up and runs the operation is just, well, amazing. I read a few pages and then sat thinking, "Wow. Can there really be a woman who can think and act like her." I read on for a bit then stopped to think about her again. Beth says, "There was a woman in MI-6 who was a class-act and she thinks Martha is based on this woman."
This is from the book:
Will Burn said, more to himself than the room, “He’s a known.”
“What was that, Will?” Martha asked.
“He’s a known face, our package. We’ll recognise him when we see him.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I’ve taken human packages in before. Drop 'em off on the coastline. The usual stuff. We’re introduced to them in Blighty. Yeah, we’re not given their actual name, but we shake a hand, have a brew, share a few minutes. We’re told they want the package to meet the donkeys; build a bit of trust, familiarity. Told to be on our best behaviour.”
“Don’t want you sharing dirty jokes and twisting nipples, do we?” Martha said.
And there's a line Martha comes out with about the batmobile, which I thought was just brilliant.
At no point did I have any idea of what the end-goal was and what was going to happen next in the plan of things: it really is exciting.
I'll read it again when I get some time off work. I'm pretty tired come the end of my day and so I'm usually in bed when I read, which tends to shorten my reading time.
- Sam is hiding in the woods and he gets spotted by the people hunting him ... that is exciting
- Sam sneaks into Russia ... that is exciting
- Sam hides in a hut in the mountains ... that is exciting
There's lots of other exciting, but I'm not going to mention that. It's a fabulous story and there are grisly bits - people get killed.
There are several girls in this that play really important parts: then there's Martha - she is amazing. She worked for MI-6 and left under a cloud. This senior officer convinces her to come back and run this really important operation. She does. Reading about her and how she sets up and runs the operation is just, well, amazing. I read a few pages and then sat thinking, "Wow. Can there really be a woman who can think and act like her." I read on for a bit then stopped to think about her again. Beth says, "There was a woman in MI-6 who was a class-act and she thinks Martha is based on this woman."
This is from the book:
Will Burn said, more to himself than the room, “He’s a known.”
“What was that, Will?” Martha asked.
“He’s a known face, our package. We’ll recognise him when we see him.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I’ve taken human packages in before. Drop 'em off on the coastline. The usual stuff. We’re introduced to them in Blighty. Yeah, we’re not given their actual name, but we shake a hand, have a brew, share a few minutes. We’re told they want the package to meet the donkeys; build a bit of trust, familiarity. Told to be on our best behaviour.”
“Don’t want you sharing dirty jokes and twisting nipples, do we?” Martha said.
And there's a line Martha comes out with about the batmobile, which I thought was just brilliant.
At no point did I have any idea of what the end-goal was and what was going to happen next in the plan of things: it really is exciting.
I'll read it again when I get some time off work. I'm pretty tired come the end of my day and so I'm usually in bed when I read, which tends to shorten my reading time.
November 28, 2024
We're still together. In the sack almost all of the time. It's what I imagine being on honeymoon is like: when you're not in bed together, you spend most of the day thinking about being back in bed.
He survives (you already know that - there's three books. I hope there's more) an incredibly complex scheme that involves people across half the world. He survives because a number of women are looking out for him and they make sure he gets home safely. Naidya is just one.... That's completely understandable. I know a coven of gals who'd be more than happy to keep him safe and sound:
Frozen mist hovered above the ice-cold water.
Sam squinted at the dark shape of the ten-metre trawler moored at the seaward end of the dilapidated wooden pier. It would offer Spartan conditions. And a trusted crew. His route home. Chosen by Naidya. They could not afford someone picking him out from the crowd. He reached to shake her hand.
“Kiss me,” she said, with a spark of challenge in her eye.
He kissed her cheek. “It seems we pulled it off.”
She kicked his shin.
“Ow,” he said, stepping back.
“This is not over. There is still a risk for you.”
“I know.”
“We will struggle. We are short of people, as you will be. That alone bodes blunder.”
He shifted the weight of the pack, hanging off his shoulder.
“Be off,” she snapped, and turned away. After two paces and without looking back, she added, “You are reckless. If you die, I will be mad with you for as long as I live.”
There are issues here, which need to be recognised: Naidya is not in a happy place, she had her life turned upside down before her teenage and by the wicked people that Sam is pitted against. Also, it's quite obvious from how she behaves in Sam's presence, she, like me, has a sweet-eye for the boy. She calls him reckless, but what she is saying is you've not learnt the lessons you should have learnt when you came close to dying before Boris rescued you. He's as bright as a new penny, but seems to disregard his own well-being when he feels there's need to help others: I refer you to the vodka bottle in the street when he first arrived in Atyrau. I know, I know, nothing came of him making the glass shards safe but something could have. This is something he needs to get a grip of and Naidya knows this. There are plans underway back in Britain and he has to grow up, basically. He was essential to the international operation that he's seen become a success but not a main player; and the folk he's working alongside, both in Russia and Britain are wily old foxes: they know he's reckless and ain't gonna let him off the short leash he's on. We'll have to see...
He survives (you already know that - there's three books. I hope there's more) an incredibly complex scheme that involves people across half the world. He survives because a number of women are looking out for him and they make sure he gets home safely. Naidya is just one.... That's completely understandable. I know a coven of gals who'd be more than happy to keep him safe and sound:
Frozen mist hovered above the ice-cold water.
Sam squinted at the dark shape of the ten-metre trawler moored at the seaward end of the dilapidated wooden pier. It would offer Spartan conditions. And a trusted crew. His route home. Chosen by Naidya. They could not afford someone picking him out from the crowd. He reached to shake her hand.
“Kiss me,” she said, with a spark of challenge in her eye.
He kissed her cheek. “It seems we pulled it off.”
She kicked his shin.
“Ow,” he said, stepping back.
“This is not over. There is still a risk for you.”
“I know.”
“We will struggle. We are short of people, as you will be. That alone bodes blunder.”
He shifted the weight of the pack, hanging off his shoulder.
“Be off,” she snapped, and turned away. After two paces and without looking back, she added, “You are reckless. If you die, I will be mad with you for as long as I live.”
There are issues here, which need to be recognised: Naidya is not in a happy place, she had her life turned upside down before her teenage and by the wicked people that Sam is pitted against. Also, it's quite obvious from how she behaves in Sam's presence, she, like me, has a sweet-eye for the boy. She calls him reckless, but what she is saying is you've not learnt the lessons you should have learnt when you came close to dying before Boris rescued you. He's as bright as a new penny, but seems to disregard his own well-being when he feels there's need to help others: I refer you to the vodka bottle in the street when he first arrived in Atyrau. I know, I know, nothing came of him making the glass shards safe but something could have. This is something he needs to get a grip of and Naidya knows this. There are plans underway back in Britain and he has to grow up, basically. He was essential to the international operation that he's seen become a success but not a main player; and the folk he's working alongside, both in Russia and Britain are wily old foxes: they know he's reckless and ain't gonna let him off the short leash he's on. We'll have to see...
May 24, 2025
It was impossible to not pick this up after reading part-one. It ends with the 'promise' of Sam going back to Russia. He goes back, but not as I was thinking he would. This is a wickedly complex ride. Mr Orbutton might well be kind, and a 'super boss' but he is definitely guilty of flinging red-herrings when any opportunity presents. Martha is just superb and Georgina... well! She takes a canvas shopping bag to work with a plan to ambush 'her man' and the bag has the words, 'USE ME' stencilled on it. I want one!
I'm now reading part-three. It's impossible not to: part-two ends in exactly the same manner as part-one.
I'm now reading part-three. It's impossible not to: part-two ends in exactly the same manner as part-one.
September 20, 2022
This is the sequel of 'The Roads Chosen'. And, I'll not try to summarise the plot. At no point in this did I know where the story would take me: at times, I thought I could see 'a path', but this is penned in such a fashion that doors were there for me to push open: I did not find what I expected to find. In this, I felt as if I was living in the world of 'smoke and mirrors'.
For me, this is the closest I've come to viewing what must be the inner-workings of British Intelligence. Non-fiction does, of course, allow estimation: Spy Catcher, Peter Wright: On Intelligence, John Hughes-Wilson: Inside Intelligence, Anthony Cavendish: but such works must remain within boundaries. I have read my fair-share of espionage fiction, all of which tramps on rule, regulation, law and turf, penned by later-day and modern-day so-called masters of the espionage thriller, to provide the action, thrill and suspense they cannot find from the bounds within which our intelligence agencies must work; but none of what I have read comes anywhere near the sense of reality I took from this.
What sets this apart is, the plot is woven around real-life and not some far-flung fantasy of plots to blow the world to smithereens: there is no better way to pull a reader to the edge of their seat than show them what is actually happening in today's world, to real people.
The cast of characters that occupy the desks in London is remarkable: the discussion, the debates, the arguments give as much tension as that which occurs in the field.
Where the author's knowledge of ‘trade craft’ hails from, one can only guess: if it does come from work within the intelligence services and he is not willing to shout that out, so-be-it, however I do wonder, as there are other organisations that work from the same song-sheet.
I have the notion, the author has 'mud on his boots' (page 29): those boots, however, may well have been issued by any number of organisations, or, purchased by the author, as 'The Roads Chosen' hints.
I do enjoy the espionage genre, and the greatest thriller I have read is, 'Operation Mincemeat.' Non-fiction: deception, argued over, planned and plotted, with no time to waste, by a team of dedicated people; where courage by all involved was demanded; and not just from those in the field. Huge responsibility lay on the shoulders of those behind a desk in London: the people able to see around corners: spiral thinkers. A real story: real events involving real people. It is now a film.
'A Chosen Path' is fiction: deception, argued over, planned and plotted, with no time to waste, by a team of dedicated people; where courage by all involved is demanded; and not just from those in the field. Huge responsibility weighs on the shoulders of those behind a desk in London: the people able to see around corners: spiral thinkers. A fictional story: involving what I believe to be real events and involving real people. It should be a film.
For me, this is the closest I've come to viewing what must be the inner-workings of British Intelligence. Non-fiction does, of course, allow estimation: Spy Catcher, Peter Wright: On Intelligence, John Hughes-Wilson: Inside Intelligence, Anthony Cavendish: but such works must remain within boundaries. I have read my fair-share of espionage fiction, all of which tramps on rule, regulation, law and turf, penned by later-day and modern-day so-called masters of the espionage thriller, to provide the action, thrill and suspense they cannot find from the bounds within which our intelligence agencies must work; but none of what I have read comes anywhere near the sense of reality I took from this.
What sets this apart is, the plot is woven around real-life and not some far-flung fantasy of plots to blow the world to smithereens: there is no better way to pull a reader to the edge of their seat than show them what is actually happening in today's world, to real people.
The cast of characters that occupy the desks in London is remarkable: the discussion, the debates, the arguments give as much tension as that which occurs in the field.
Where the author's knowledge of ‘trade craft’ hails from, one can only guess: if it does come from work within the intelligence services and he is not willing to shout that out, so-be-it, however I do wonder, as there are other organisations that work from the same song-sheet.
I have the notion, the author has 'mud on his boots' (page 29): those boots, however, may well have been issued by any number of organisations, or, purchased by the author, as 'The Roads Chosen' hints.
I do enjoy the espionage genre, and the greatest thriller I have read is, 'Operation Mincemeat.' Non-fiction: deception, argued over, planned and plotted, with no time to waste, by a team of dedicated people; where courage by all involved was demanded; and not just from those in the field. Huge responsibility lay on the shoulders of those behind a desk in London: the people able to see around corners: spiral thinkers. A real story: real events involving real people. It is now a film.
'A Chosen Path' is fiction: deception, argued over, planned and plotted, with no time to waste, by a team of dedicated people; where courage by all involved is demanded; and not just from those in the field. Huge responsibility weighs on the shoulders of those behind a desk in London: the people able to see around corners: spiral thinkers. A fictional story: involving what I believe to be real events and involving real people. It should be a film.
September 20, 2025
At the end of The Roads Chosen, my belief about where the story was going in part-two was turned upside down. Dear sweet, lovable Sam was never able, qualified, experienced, enough to fight the octopus. Silly me! Dizzy Blonde!
A bit in part-one that I couldn’t put a finger on was the inclusion of the House of Spies (a term that is tossed around in book-three) now makes complete sense. I was happy with the inclusion of the Home Guard (a term used in book-two).
I asked in my review of book-one, ‘Why else would the family willingly expose their activities?’ I thought that the events that led to dear, sweet, lovable Sam becoming aware of the family’s more undisclosed activities was the only credible reasoning.
That said.... the author has been jolly clever...
“Why else would the House of Spies pick up the baton?” Answers on a postcard, please. This is the reason we were introduced to Geoff, Harry, Georgina (I want her job) and others in book-one. I’ve read book-three: it becomes obvious in book-three why Rebecca was employed as she was; and why in book-one we had to be introduced to the way in which the Home Guard operates.
It’s all jolly clever!
That said.... the author has been jolly clever...
"Why else would the House of Spies pick up the baton?" Answers on a postcard, please. This is the reason we were introduced to Geoff, Harry, Georgina (I want her job) and others in book-one. I've read book-three: it becomes obvious in book-three why Rebecca was employed as she was.
It's all jolly clever!
A bit in part-one that I couldn’t put a finger on was the inclusion of the House of Spies (a term that is tossed around in book-three) now makes complete sense. I was happy with the inclusion of the Home Guard (a term used in book-two).
I asked in my review of book-one, ‘Why else would the family willingly expose their activities?’ I thought that the events that led to dear, sweet, lovable Sam becoming aware of the family’s more undisclosed activities was the only credible reasoning.
That said.... the author has been jolly clever...
“Why else would the House of Spies pick up the baton?” Answers on a postcard, please. This is the reason we were introduced to Geoff, Harry, Georgina (I want her job) and others in book-one. I’ve read book-three: it becomes obvious in book-three why Rebecca was employed as she was; and why in book-one we had to be introduced to the way in which the Home Guard operates.
It’s all jolly clever!
That said.... the author has been jolly clever...
"Why else would the House of Spies pick up the baton?" Answers on a postcard, please. This is the reason we were introduced to Geoff, Harry, Georgina (I want her job) and others in book-one. I've read book-three: it becomes obvious in book-three why Rebecca was employed as she was.
It's all jolly clever!
March 15, 2022
Mitchell escapes Russia, but during that a tragedy befalls his parents. This plot plays on the emotions of those who believe they are somewhat responsible for those deaths: revenge is just one part of this story.
Here, in the sequel, we find the answer to why Carlyle involves British Intelligence (MI-5 and MI-6) in the 'The Roads Chosen'.
Without the intelligence community having a stake in the death of Mitchell's parents their demise would have been little more than a news item. Canny: Carlyle must have laid the plot for this book when developing the plot for 'The Roads Chosen'.
I know a little bit (a tiny bit) about how things work within Britain's intelligence community. Many, many, many years ago, I was a pay-clerk in the British Army and was for a time stationed with Military Intelligence. I was always given the time-of-day, drinks bought for me in the mess, along with casual chatter amongst us all: I signed the travel warrants and the expenses forms without taking too close a look at the details: best to stay friends with the 'man-with-the-pen'. Which leads me to suggest that Carlyle, as with le Carré, has more than an idea of how the game is played. A chap once said, "MI-6 are snooty, they sit behind a desk for most of their time trying to figure things out. MI-5 spend their days following Russian agents around the streets of London. MI-6 call them the 'Home Guard'". Apparently there has always been a little rancour between the two.
As others have said: 'You have to read 'The Roads Chosen'(book 1) before you read this, otherwise you'll be lost as to why the plot unravels as it does. Some might see that as a negative. As with a TV mini-series, if you miss episode one, you'll not get as much enjoyment from episode two.
In book 1, the tension is slowly increased, tightened, the increase speeding up as you go.
Here, book 2, things are ratcheted up by more than a notch or two from the outset. Along with the pace and tension you find with the 'goings-on in the field', there is as much drama and excitement within the copper ziggurat at Vauxhall Bridge: Legoland, Babylon-on-Thames, The MI6 Building, HQ SIS. And, although I cannot remember the names and the details, SIS has a long history of very wealthy benefactors (some actual employees of SIS) who have shelled-out millions of pounds (in today's money) to 'get-things-done!
This is a convincing tale and it would not surprise me if this is very close to the truth of things.
Here, in the sequel, we find the answer to why Carlyle involves British Intelligence (MI-5 and MI-6) in the 'The Roads Chosen'.
Without the intelligence community having a stake in the death of Mitchell's parents their demise would have been little more than a news item. Canny: Carlyle must have laid the plot for this book when developing the plot for 'The Roads Chosen'.
I know a little bit (a tiny bit) about how things work within Britain's intelligence community. Many, many, many years ago, I was a pay-clerk in the British Army and was for a time stationed with Military Intelligence. I was always given the time-of-day, drinks bought for me in the mess, along with casual chatter amongst us all: I signed the travel warrants and the expenses forms without taking too close a look at the details: best to stay friends with the 'man-with-the-pen'. Which leads me to suggest that Carlyle, as with le Carré, has more than an idea of how the game is played. A chap once said, "MI-6 are snooty, they sit behind a desk for most of their time trying to figure things out. MI-5 spend their days following Russian agents around the streets of London. MI-6 call them the 'Home Guard'". Apparently there has always been a little rancour between the two.
As others have said: 'You have to read 'The Roads Chosen'(book 1) before you read this, otherwise you'll be lost as to why the plot unravels as it does. Some might see that as a negative. As with a TV mini-series, if you miss episode one, you'll not get as much enjoyment from episode two.
In book 1, the tension is slowly increased, tightened, the increase speeding up as you go.
Here, book 2, things are ratcheted up by more than a notch or two from the outset. Along with the pace and tension you find with the 'goings-on in the field', there is as much drama and excitement within the copper ziggurat at Vauxhall Bridge: Legoland, Babylon-on-Thames, The MI6 Building, HQ SIS. And, although I cannot remember the names and the details, SIS has a long history of very wealthy benefactors (some actual employees of SIS) who have shelled-out millions of pounds (in today's money) to 'get-things-done!
This is a convincing tale and it would not surprise me if this is very close to the truth of things.
February 27, 2021
Title – A Chosen Path
Author – Ben Carlyle
Genre – Thriller
Word Count - 111,527
Rating – Five stars out of five
No.9 - 2021
Posted 2/27/2021
My Impressions: An intriguing story of conflict between British intelligence, the Russian Mafia, and a fifth column organization deep within Russia since the Bolshevik revolution.
A Chosen Path is a continuation of The Roads Chosen and is the second book in a series.
Main Characters:
Sam Mitchell – world traveler, spy
Rebecca Liscombe – Sam’s girlfriend and member of an extremely wealthy family.
Edward Liscombe – Rebecca’s wealthy father with deep ties to the British Government.
Andrew Levenson-Phillips - Director-Support Services in the intelligence wing of the British government.
In The Roads Chosen, Sam Mitchel spent six years walking the Silk Roads of Asia. He uncovered Russian Mafia corruption and set out to expose the deeply rooted ex-members of the Russian KGB secret service who retained powerful positions in the criminal world. To punish Sam, the criminals assassinated his parents.
Book two, A Chosen Path covers Sam’s quest to avenge his parents’ deaths and bring the people who ordered it to justice. Not to arrest and conviction, but to justice.
The fifth column purveyors of justice he contacts prove their power by safely escorting Sam and his entourage into Russia and then back out.
The primary driving purpose of the underground group is to salvage broken and damaged citizens, often military conscripts, and escort them to safety.
Along the way the story reveals a wonderful and intriguing host of characters working together to the detriment of the ex-KGB criminal leaders.
The editing and sentence structure are professional grade.
Character Development is detailed for the main characters and many support characters.
Details and research carry the story and create a vivid image.
The plot is complex and involves many support characters.
The writing style involves the reader in deeply emotional dialog and actions.
I highly recommend this exciting tale of conflict but pay close attention or you’ll miss the subtle clues hidden along the way.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Ben Carlyle
Genre – Thriller
Word Count - 111,527
Rating – Five stars out of five
No.9 - 2021
Posted 2/27/2021
My Impressions: An intriguing story of conflict between British intelligence, the Russian Mafia, and a fifth column organization deep within Russia since the Bolshevik revolution.
A Chosen Path is a continuation of The Roads Chosen and is the second book in a series.
Main Characters:
Sam Mitchell – world traveler, spy
Rebecca Liscombe – Sam’s girlfriend and member of an extremely wealthy family.
Edward Liscombe – Rebecca’s wealthy father with deep ties to the British Government.
Andrew Levenson-Phillips - Director-Support Services in the intelligence wing of the British government.
In The Roads Chosen, Sam Mitchel spent six years walking the Silk Roads of Asia. He uncovered Russian Mafia corruption and set out to expose the deeply rooted ex-members of the Russian KGB secret service who retained powerful positions in the criminal world. To punish Sam, the criminals assassinated his parents.
Book two, A Chosen Path covers Sam’s quest to avenge his parents’ deaths and bring the people who ordered it to justice. Not to arrest and conviction, but to justice.
The fifth column purveyors of justice he contacts prove their power by safely escorting Sam and his entourage into Russia and then back out.
The primary driving purpose of the underground group is to salvage broken and damaged citizens, often military conscripts, and escort them to safety.
Along the way the story reveals a wonderful and intriguing host of characters working together to the detriment of the ex-KGB criminal leaders.
The editing and sentence structure are professional grade.
Character Development is detailed for the main characters and many support characters.
Details and research carry the story and create a vivid image.
The plot is complex and involves many support characters.
The writing style involves the reader in deeply emotional dialog and actions.
I highly recommend this exciting tale of conflict but pay close attention or you’ll miss the subtle clues hidden along the way.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
September 16, 2022
I quote from, 'Red Dusk and the Morrow', Sir Paul Henry Dukes, (Secret Intelligence Service - 1918-1920): "Melnikoff had but one sole object left in life - to avenge his parents' blood."
I quote from, 'The Roads Chosen', Ben Carlyle: "Do you ever wonder what became of their fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters? Their children? Their grandchildren? Their great-grandchildren?"
Previous reviewers of this book advise that you read, 'The Roads Chosen', before you read this. I endorse that view.
I shan't venture to describe the story: enough is out there.
A Chosen Path is an apt title, if you consider the one sole object left in the life of Melnikoff, and weaves more tightly and elaborately the historical and the personal, registering the far darker scale of consequence the Soviet system had on human life.
This is part-two of the story; as with part-one, this provokes the reader to look past the 'mainstream take' on the glitz and glamour of the modern day, 'much-talked-of', criminal state that the ordinary 'citizen' of Russia continues to endure.
I quote from, 'A Chosen Path', “I’m not too happy with my hometown being labelled ‘Londongrad’. So, I’ll ask you to go through the bones and tell me this fifth column is alive and kicking. If these ‘White Knights’ exist and agree to provide the information we need to root this scum out, I’ll play my part.”
Should you be interested in the foundations, Mr Carlyle, I feel sure, used to build the plot of both of the books he has published on Goodreads, then, I would suggest, 'Red Dusk and the Morrow' might be of value to you.
War and Peace fills more than 900 pages. Again, I would not dare to compare this with Tolstoy's literary work, however, I will dare to suggest, the reader is being led from the Former Soviet Union back to Britain: those who have read part-one and part-two are now close to 900 pages into an unfinished story.
This not being the end of the story, I look forward to reading the next instalment, should it be made available to us.
I quote from, 'The Roads Chosen', Ben Carlyle: "Do you ever wonder what became of their fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters? Their children? Their grandchildren? Their great-grandchildren?"
Previous reviewers of this book advise that you read, 'The Roads Chosen', before you read this. I endorse that view.
I shan't venture to describe the story: enough is out there.
A Chosen Path is an apt title, if you consider the one sole object left in the life of Melnikoff, and weaves more tightly and elaborately the historical and the personal, registering the far darker scale of consequence the Soviet system had on human life.
This is part-two of the story; as with part-one, this provokes the reader to look past the 'mainstream take' on the glitz and glamour of the modern day, 'much-talked-of', criminal state that the ordinary 'citizen' of Russia continues to endure.
I quote from, 'A Chosen Path', “I’m not too happy with my hometown being labelled ‘Londongrad’. So, I’ll ask you to go through the bones and tell me this fifth column is alive and kicking. If these ‘White Knights’ exist and agree to provide the information we need to root this scum out, I’ll play my part.”
Should you be interested in the foundations, Mr Carlyle, I feel sure, used to build the plot of both of the books he has published on Goodreads, then, I would suggest, 'Red Dusk and the Morrow' might be of value to you.
War and Peace fills more than 900 pages. Again, I would not dare to compare this with Tolstoy's literary work, however, I will dare to suggest, the reader is being led from the Former Soviet Union back to Britain: those who have read part-one and part-two are now close to 900 pages into an unfinished story.
This not being the end of the story, I look forward to reading the next instalment, should it be made available to us.
July 10, 2025
I read book-one for a second time. Then got into this: book-two. A part of me thinks book-one is based on actual events; book-two is plainly fiction. It’s good, and the characters drawn in book-one gain lots more colour in this.
Some characters from book-one are not present; characters I took a liking to. I ask, ‘If book-one was just fiction, why not keep some of the very meaningful and strong characters from book-one alive in book-two?’
I enjoyed the idea of looking more closely at the folk from the intelligence services and the shenanigans within the Russian military; those characters, I’m guessing, are fictional, although I really took them to heart.
The scent of a relationship between a time-served spy and non-operational female admin assistant (she is far more than that, but I don’t know how to fully describe her) in book-one blossoms and the girl in question grabs a hold on the boy; it’s terrific.
Andrew Levinson-Phillips (ALP), the non-operational female’s uncle, is an absolute dream: nepotism, I believe, is not unheard of in the spy game. He’s wealthy, I know, I know, I’ll be talked of, but heck, there would be far worse ways to spend an evening.
This is a thrilling read, and it’s going somewhere; where, just yet, I don’t know.
Some characters from book-one are not present; characters I took a liking to. I ask, ‘If book-one was just fiction, why not keep some of the very meaningful and strong characters from book-one alive in book-two?’
I enjoyed the idea of looking more closely at the folk from the intelligence services and the shenanigans within the Russian military; those characters, I’m guessing, are fictional, although I really took them to heart.
The scent of a relationship between a time-served spy and non-operational female admin assistant (she is far more than that, but I don’t know how to fully describe her) in book-one blossoms and the girl in question grabs a hold on the boy; it’s terrific.
Andrew Levinson-Phillips (ALP), the non-operational female’s uncle, is an absolute dream: nepotism, I believe, is not unheard of in the spy game. He’s wealthy, I know, I know, I’ll be talked of, but heck, there would be far worse ways to spend an evening.
This is a thrilling read, and it’s going somewhere; where, just yet, I don’t know.
October 18, 2022
In my review of 'The Roads Chosen', I stated: "A groundbreaking, debut novel, ..." Also, I mused over the author's past life-experience. He, in 'The Roads Chosen', asked us to examine social injustices that remain within some of the former Soviet states; whilst at the same time giving us frequent glimpses of what might happen within the intelligence agencies, should such criminal ventures gain exposure: a cunning juxtaposition, especially as it left the reader wondering why.
Of course, regardless of the number of 'new-found' friends he might have, the young traveller is never, in all seriousness, (and 'the Roads Chosen' can not be labelled as 'fantasy-fiction') going to put right the wrongs he has uncovered. Neither are the wise, war-torn, intelligence operatives in London: but then as we read in here, which I am convinced is the truth of things, 'those in London have no wish to put these wrongs to right, they play a game that they hope never to loose, while at no time wishing to win'.
The murder of the young traveller's parents, innocent parents: the father having served commendably with the British military, is a strong and believable lever that the author pulls on. We can, all of us, look at the family background of those that sit the high-table within the government machine.
... off-the-shelf companies, funded by chosen investors,
... support functions which build credible companies, showing a trading history,
... tradecraft, and not just the 'chalk-mark on the post-box, the real tradecraft, the reality of life in the shadows: the smoke and the mirrors.
Three questions must then be asked:
"How would London seek to punish the transgressors?"
"What is the author's background?"
"Is there a 'crime-suspence-spy' novel that comes close to the reality we find here?"
This is a thrilling, and 'possibly', real-life encounter with, how 'the-people-in-grey' do 'play-the-game'.
Of course, regardless of the number of 'new-found' friends he might have, the young traveller is never, in all seriousness, (and 'the Roads Chosen' can not be labelled as 'fantasy-fiction') going to put right the wrongs he has uncovered. Neither are the wise, war-torn, intelligence operatives in London: but then as we read in here, which I am convinced is the truth of things, 'those in London have no wish to put these wrongs to right, they play a game that they hope never to loose, while at no time wishing to win'.
The murder of the young traveller's parents, innocent parents: the father having served commendably with the British military, is a strong and believable lever that the author pulls on. We can, all of us, look at the family background of those that sit the high-table within the government machine.
... off-the-shelf companies, funded by chosen investors,
... support functions which build credible companies, showing a trading history,
... tradecraft, and not just the 'chalk-mark on the post-box, the real tradecraft, the reality of life in the shadows: the smoke and the mirrors.
Three questions must then be asked:
"How would London seek to punish the transgressors?"
"What is the author's background?"
"Is there a 'crime-suspence-spy' novel that comes close to the reality we find here?"
This is a thrilling, and 'possibly', real-life encounter with, how 'the-people-in-grey' do 'play-the-game'.
April 25, 2025
I'm still searching the 'web' and will keep my powder dry. I have tried to find the information about the mullah that the author used. Without plugging the mullah's name, the place names, the dates, into the search term, I found it impossible. I wasn't surprised.
I've judged this instalment as more fictional than the entrée, but I will award it five stars because the international operation the story is centred upon is so complex and so well detailed and justified that I feel it breaks new ground in the genre. Everything about the operation is detailed and the justifications for the methods employed are given.
I tried to find information on the 'web' on methods used by underworld organisations to move huge sums of money across international borders... nothing that I could find comes close to that which is detailed here. Once more, I wasn't surprised.
Over a period of several months, how many folk travel from country A to country B for their summer holiday? For the Olympic Games? For the World Cup?
Another great story. How close to real is it?
I've judged this instalment as more fictional than the entrée, but I will award it five stars because the international operation the story is centred upon is so complex and so well detailed and justified that I feel it breaks new ground in the genre. Everything about the operation is detailed and the justifications for the methods employed are given.
I tried to find information on the 'web' on methods used by underworld organisations to move huge sums of money across international borders... nothing that I could find comes close to that which is detailed here. Once more, I wasn't surprised.
Over a period of several months, how many folk travel from country A to country B for their summer holiday? For the Olympic Games? For the World Cup?
Another great story. How close to real is it?
November 6, 2022
I did wonder how the author would manage to maintain the tempo during the second installment, yet, he did and this is as taught and suspenseful thriller as the debut novel.
The change in tack, involving the intelligence services: all of which sounds most credible, is an nifty move. The procedural elements - how things can be done - I found marvellous and, again, most credible.
How to move huge sums of money across borders without any red flags being hoisted, has to be a real-life conundrum. The use of contractors is another eye-opener: impractical to employ those skill-sets full-time and it would not be possible to call upon those serving. You do have to wonder where all this comes from.
Once more, it's a tremendous thriller and again I became caught up in it; the cover gives a hint, but I doubt many will see the end-play before it is revealed.
Another thoroughly enjoyable read.
The change in tack, involving the intelligence services: all of which sounds most credible, is an nifty move. The procedural elements - how things can be done - I found marvellous and, again, most credible.
How to move huge sums of money across borders without any red flags being hoisted, has to be a real-life conundrum. The use of contractors is another eye-opener: impractical to employ those skill-sets full-time and it would not be possible to call upon those serving. You do have to wonder where all this comes from.
Once more, it's a tremendous thriller and again I became caught up in it; the cover gives a hint, but I doubt many will see the end-play before it is revealed.
Another thoroughly enjoyable read.
August 22, 2023
I’m copying the first part of this from Beth’s review - I asked first (“We asked first.” is a line in this book).
Why is it that we never get to see a woman running the show; too often they are window dressing and play no real part in these plots or are written in as gun-toting assassins (with a man as their handler)? There is a woman written into this by the name of Martha Denton (an ex-senior intelligence officer); she becomes the CEO of an operation that needs a shrewd, time served, brain. She is awesome. Well done Mr Carlyle.
I loved every bit of this: it is complex, it involves a multitude of well painted characters, there are red herrings everywhere you look and you will slip up on any number, you’ll not guess where this is going until you get there.
I’d suggest every bit of this is credible.
It ends by basically telling the reader more is yet to come. I do hope Martha plays a part in the next book.
Why is it that we never get to see a woman running the show; too often they are window dressing and play no real part in these plots or are written in as gun-toting assassins (with a man as their handler)? There is a woman written into this by the name of Martha Denton (an ex-senior intelligence officer); she becomes the CEO of an operation that needs a shrewd, time served, brain. She is awesome. Well done Mr Carlyle.
I loved every bit of this: it is complex, it involves a multitude of well painted characters, there are red herrings everywhere you look and you will slip up on any number, you’ll not guess where this is going until you get there.
I’d suggest every bit of this is credible.
It ends by basically telling the reader more is yet to come. I do hope Martha plays a part in the next book.
November 16, 2023
I took my time with this.
Within the prequel (The Roads Chosen) to this venture, 'A Chosen Path', (the hors d'oeuvre) which I'm sure was served when this 'the main meal' was already on the hob, allows for the reader to settle with the idea that the father of the depressed, bordering on suicidal, or least with little care for living, insecure, timid, verging on spineless, young lady left behind by the hero of the hour, is a site more than just a bit wealthy: an acorn - from which we all know what grows.
A previous reviewer has mentioned; 'In the past there were people within Britain's secret agencies with bags of cash and some were willing to use it in order to get things done.'
Towards the end of the 'starter' Miss 'Scared of her own Shadow' (with whom I was starting to become a mite peeved), steps up to the plate. Of course, I accepted that the next serving would see her off to more dangerous parts in order to save 'her man'. But no, the very last thing you can do with this sitting is assume the very obvious line to follow will in fact be line the plot takes.
As the story went on, I became more and more surprised that the hero of the hour and the family from Samara (so much enjoyed during the hors d'oeuvre) played such a small part. It does all become apparent why and it all makes sense; I didn't expect that and so at first it was a wee bit unsettling.
Characters not met before join up with those from the prequel and some of them are a joy to meet: Martha is a diamond. ALP is pure gold, whilst Geoff, Harry and Edward show us what they are truly made of.
Within this story we are allowed to grasp how things get done by those that look after the day-to-day running of spy agencies; that might sound a little dull, but it's not - it's actually fascinating and convincing. This is a global escapade and no such undertaking would ever come off if it was being tackled by any one individual. The writing allows for the idea that this might just be something that you could pull off in reality. And, of course, for this to play out as it does, you'd need bags of cash.
It would not be fair to anyone to say what happens; all along what you expect to happen does not. Even at the very end, when I was convinced of what the hero of the hour was destined to do ...
Vin said, "This is a spy-thriller." It is, but it's so remarkably different from anything I've previously read.
Earlier reviews ask if the author has any 'inside knowledge of how things are done'. If so, I would sure wish to meet up with the folk from London. If that is what makes a real-life spy, they beat the pants of any and all I've read of beforehand.
Within the prequel (The Roads Chosen) to this venture, 'A Chosen Path', (the hors d'oeuvre) which I'm sure was served when this 'the main meal' was already on the hob, allows for the reader to settle with the idea that the father of the depressed, bordering on suicidal, or least with little care for living, insecure, timid, verging on spineless, young lady left behind by the hero of the hour, is a site more than just a bit wealthy: an acorn - from which we all know what grows.
A previous reviewer has mentioned; 'In the past there were people within Britain's secret agencies with bags of cash and some were willing to use it in order to get things done.'
Towards the end of the 'starter' Miss 'Scared of her own Shadow' (with whom I was starting to become a mite peeved), steps up to the plate. Of course, I accepted that the next serving would see her off to more dangerous parts in order to save 'her man'. But no, the very last thing you can do with this sitting is assume the very obvious line to follow will in fact be line the plot takes.
As the story went on, I became more and more surprised that the hero of the hour and the family from Samara (so much enjoyed during the hors d'oeuvre) played such a small part. It does all become apparent why and it all makes sense; I didn't expect that and so at first it was a wee bit unsettling.
Characters not met before join up with those from the prequel and some of them are a joy to meet: Martha is a diamond. ALP is pure gold, whilst Geoff, Harry and Edward show us what they are truly made of.
Within this story we are allowed to grasp how things get done by those that look after the day-to-day running of spy agencies; that might sound a little dull, but it's not - it's actually fascinating and convincing. This is a global escapade and no such undertaking would ever come off if it was being tackled by any one individual. The writing allows for the idea that this might just be something that you could pull off in reality. And, of course, for this to play out as it does, you'd need bags of cash.
It would not be fair to anyone to say what happens; all along what you expect to happen does not. Even at the very end, when I was convinced of what the hero of the hour was destined to do ...
Vin said, "This is a spy-thriller." It is, but it's so remarkably different from anything I've previously read.
Earlier reviews ask if the author has any 'inside knowledge of how things are done'. If so, I would sure wish to meet up with the folk from London. If that is what makes a real-life spy, they beat the pants of any and all I've read of beforehand.
August 24, 2022
This is book-two of the the Sam Mitchell story. As with book-one (synopsis: Russian underworld draw first-blood) book-two finishes, declaring, in no uncertain terms, that the story is not yet over. Book-three is, from what I can see, not yet published.
With book-one, I was on an adventure, covering ground previously unknown to me: at times not knowing where the tale would take me: a few cliff-edge gasps, a couple of times the chill ran down my spine and on occasion I thought a tragedy is about to strike. It starts slowly and the adventure, the suspense and the tension builds as you find your way into the book.
With book-two, it just ain't so.
Put book-one down, grab a cup of tea and open page-one of book-two (synopsis: someone, and not Sam Mitchell, decides, 'that's just not cricket'). With book-two, there's no warning of the need to wear a full-harness seatbelt, have a tight-fitting lid on the cup and the need for a hand-grab within arm's reach.
As with book-one, the story is complex and involves a multitude of characters. The story takes you from London to Baku, and thence many parts of Russia and back. There are red-herrings, as with book-one, along the way. They don't drop through a hole in the ceiling or fall off the top of a building and land at your feet; they are written in, with credible, reasoning behind them. It's up to the reader to ignore them or pick them up. Be warned: what seems an obvious escalation of the plot, might not be.
The plot and the characters smack of authenticity: the characters are a mix of skill-sets, backgrounds and motivations. I found them to be convincing and essential to what is a marathon of a bumper-car ride. The debates, arguments, clashes between the suited intelligence officers in London, I found compelling: many of the office entanglements hinge off the real-life history of the Cold-War and do spell, 'thorough research' that is way beyond that which one might find in mainstream media.
The chapter headings as are: place, date, time. The unfolding story gives more and more credence to how this plot might just be based on true-events. I did look; the weather described at the place, on the date, at the time, is the actual weather recorded on that day. I doubt any other fiction writer does that. The locations (which do exists) are used as real-life would allow.
At the outset, the story spells revenge, it is way more than that. It's gripping. It's real. It left me thinking: 'this could happen.'
Where does the story go from here? I've no idea, but I do thirst for knowing.
With book-one, I was on an adventure, covering ground previously unknown to me: at times not knowing where the tale would take me: a few cliff-edge gasps, a couple of times the chill ran down my spine and on occasion I thought a tragedy is about to strike. It starts slowly and the adventure, the suspense and the tension builds as you find your way into the book.
With book-two, it just ain't so.
Put book-one down, grab a cup of tea and open page-one of book-two (synopsis: someone, and not Sam Mitchell, decides, 'that's just not cricket'). With book-two, there's no warning of the need to wear a full-harness seatbelt, have a tight-fitting lid on the cup and the need for a hand-grab within arm's reach.
As with book-one, the story is complex and involves a multitude of characters. The story takes you from London to Baku, and thence many parts of Russia and back. There are red-herrings, as with book-one, along the way. They don't drop through a hole in the ceiling or fall off the top of a building and land at your feet; they are written in, with credible, reasoning behind them. It's up to the reader to ignore them or pick them up. Be warned: what seems an obvious escalation of the plot, might not be.
The plot and the characters smack of authenticity: the characters are a mix of skill-sets, backgrounds and motivations. I found them to be convincing and essential to what is a marathon of a bumper-car ride. The debates, arguments, clashes between the suited intelligence officers in London, I found compelling: many of the office entanglements hinge off the real-life history of the Cold-War and do spell, 'thorough research' that is way beyond that which one might find in mainstream media.
The chapter headings as are: place, date, time. The unfolding story gives more and more credence to how this plot might just be based on true-events. I did look; the weather described at the place, on the date, at the time, is the actual weather recorded on that day. I doubt any other fiction writer does that. The locations (which do exists) are used as real-life would allow.
At the outset, the story spells revenge, it is way more than that. It's gripping. It's real. It left me thinking: 'this could happen.'
Where does the story go from here? I've no idea, but I do thirst for knowing.
October 15, 2023
This IS a spy-thriller. It's an adventure that's woven deeply in the world of spying and the world of organised crime.
Members of MI6 [London] decide a line has been crossed and the account must be settled. Members of a clandestine organisation in Russia see an opportunity to further their mission goal.
I found this to be thoroughly absorbing, the procedural side of how things get done by both the government agency bods and the Russian cloak-and dagger outfit is way beyond anything I had expected. I've no idea how true to the 'real-world' these goings on might be, but they certainly read as credible.
There is development of characters that played a part in 'The Roads Chosen', the female lead for one and the bods in MI6. The main character in 'The Roads Chosen' does take a lesser role, not by much, he is the hare, the bait, that allows the plot to remain within the realm of possible. It, like the first book, is a clever and intricate plot, with a even greater cast of characters. Any operation spread so far around the globe and devised to cause mayhem on such a scale would need to involve many, with many different skill sets.
There are times when debate (mostly in London) takes place, but in my mind, this started with a bang and kept going; I'd class this as a well-plotted spy-thriller with plenty of background that keeps the plot within the 'real-world'.
It's difficult to say much more without giving too much away: 'a leopard cannot change its spots'.
Members of MI6 [London] decide a line has been crossed and the account must be settled. Members of a clandestine organisation in Russia see an opportunity to further their mission goal.
I found this to be thoroughly absorbing, the procedural side of how things get done by both the government agency bods and the Russian cloak-and dagger outfit is way beyond anything I had expected. I've no idea how true to the 'real-world' these goings on might be, but they certainly read as credible.
There is development of characters that played a part in 'The Roads Chosen', the female lead for one and the bods in MI6. The main character in 'The Roads Chosen' does take a lesser role, not by much, he is the hare, the bait, that allows the plot to remain within the realm of possible. It, like the first book, is a clever and intricate plot, with a even greater cast of characters. Any operation spread so far around the globe and devised to cause mayhem on such a scale would need to involve many, with many different skill sets.
There are times when debate (mostly in London) takes place, but in my mind, this started with a bang and kept going; I'd class this as a well-plotted spy-thriller with plenty of background that keeps the plot within the 'real-world'.
It's difficult to say much more without giving too much away: 'a leopard cannot change its spots'.
August 6, 2023
The Roads Chosen (TRC) is cunningly filled with red-herrings to lead you astray and potholes for you to fall into whilst wondering if that funny smell is another smoked fish: this is a whole new world of bluff, deceit, second-guessing and garden paths.
If you can figure where this story is taking you before you get there, you deserve a round of applause.
I've no idea how intelligence officers operate and how the intelligence community think. We all know that the world of James Bond and other equally deadly 'one-man-armies' is pure fantasy. This is about team-work.
'Team Work Sam'. I do wonder if the author picked the name Sam for the protagonist in TRC with an eye to this.
Sam Mitchell becomes just one player in the game. Thus, this plot breaks with the modern convention of 'Spy Books'. But in reality, and I'm of the mind this is pretty close to reality, he would. He's not an intelligence operative: trained, experienced and with 'mud on his boots'.
The 'spook stuff' that happens in Baku, is so, 'neck-on-the-block', yet, it is given great credibility by the way the operation and it's planning is detailed.
For this plot to have any chance of actually happening, in the real world, the players have to come from the background given them by the author.
A previous reviewer has said, 'the football match - football stadium' event actually happened in exactly the way described on the day described: the 80% of the book that gets you to the football match is laid out in time, date, place: remarkable that an event ten-months prior to the footy-game kicks this story off.
I've no idea if this, or something close to it, ever happened but, if it did, it happened as described herein: this is real.
I'm not going to mention one word about how this unfolds. I've read too many book blurbs and media reviews that mention, 'Edge of the Seat."
This kept me awake. I'd put the book down at the close of a chapter and not stop thinking about what might happen next.
I've not read anything that comes close to this.
If you can figure where this story is taking you before you get there, you deserve a round of applause.
I've no idea how intelligence officers operate and how the intelligence community think. We all know that the world of James Bond and other equally deadly 'one-man-armies' is pure fantasy. This is about team-work.
'Team Work Sam'. I do wonder if the author picked the name Sam for the protagonist in TRC with an eye to this.
Sam Mitchell becomes just one player in the game. Thus, this plot breaks with the modern convention of 'Spy Books'. But in reality, and I'm of the mind this is pretty close to reality, he would. He's not an intelligence operative: trained, experienced and with 'mud on his boots'.
The 'spook stuff' that happens in Baku, is so, 'neck-on-the-block', yet, it is given great credibility by the way the operation and it's planning is detailed.
For this plot to have any chance of actually happening, in the real world, the players have to come from the background given them by the author.
A previous reviewer has said, 'the football match - football stadium' event actually happened in exactly the way described on the day described: the 80% of the book that gets you to the football match is laid out in time, date, place: remarkable that an event ten-months prior to the footy-game kicks this story off.
I've no idea if this, or something close to it, ever happened but, if it did, it happened as described herein: this is real.
I'm not going to mention one word about how this unfolds. I've read too many book blurbs and media reviews that mention, 'Edge of the Seat."
This kept me awake. I'd put the book down at the close of a chapter and not stop thinking about what might happen next.
I've not read anything that comes close to this.
August 10, 2023
This is as good a ‘Spy-Thriller’ as any out there. If not better. Other works in this genre, hailed from the rooftops, don’t compete with this.
The procedural side of MI-6 is most entertaining; I can accept, and believe there must be, petty jealousies, turf encroachments, rules bent (if not broken) in a desire to climb the greasy pole: much of which is alluded to by Anthony Cavendish [Inside Intelligence].
An interesting point here (and I am not for one-minute suggesting Mr Cavendish is not an ex-intelligence officer) is that Mr Cavendish explains: “the production side produced the intelligence the customers required and the requirement side processed the information and safeguarded the sources when passing the information on to the customers. The customers being Whitehall/Westminster.”
None of that ever made too much sense with me.
With this - a fictional account, that reads as anything but - the procedures are not as much described as they are alluded to during discussions, that at times come close to rows over how best to handle their ‘new friends’ in Russia.
From these ‘discussions’ my understanding is: ‘a request is made by a customer or realised in their own work - analysis look at the available intelligence, if they believe more information is needed they ask requirements - requirements call upon records and research to fulfil that request - if the request cannot be fulfilled, requirements call upon production, asking them to seek information from their sources.’ Maybe I’m reading a little more into it, but that makes more sense to me.
None of what we read is outside of the reality of intelligence gathering: blackmail (again I refer you to Mr Cavendish’s work).
Turf battles.
The old-school tie.
The derogatory view held toward MI-5.
The young ladies from ‘the right’ and well-to-do families.
Without doubt, there was at some point a most sharp-minded and conscientious lady close to the top of the ‘research tree’. John le Carré calls her “Connie”. In this tale she is called, “Vicky”; and there is a little more of a back story to the woman and how she came to be. And woe betide anyone, should they address her as, “Victoria.”
This is stacked with the traits and quirks of those hoping to get one step ahead of their ‘friends and their foes’. This smacks of the reality within the ranks of intelligence officers: just human, like everyone else and part of the corporate pot. And we see that, the arrogance, the frailties, the loyalties.
With all of what goes on in London, a most ingenious operation (a stage play) is set in motion overseas: it smacks of vengeance, but there is so much more to it.
We get closer to the key players managing the underground railroad introduced to us in ‘The Roads Chosen’.
At the close we are introduced to the chief operations officer of this clandestine organisation and are shown what motivates her.
It is said: “When you take everything from someone, their past, their future, their control of their own life, you dehumanise them.”
I believe that to be true and that this was an aim within the Soviet Union.
I found this to be a believable and incredible tale; and an examination of how some worked to keep some control of their life; sought to remain human.
The procedural side of MI-6 is most entertaining; I can accept, and believe there must be, petty jealousies, turf encroachments, rules bent (if not broken) in a desire to climb the greasy pole: much of which is alluded to by Anthony Cavendish [Inside Intelligence].
An interesting point here (and I am not for one-minute suggesting Mr Cavendish is not an ex-intelligence officer) is that Mr Cavendish explains: “the production side produced the intelligence the customers required and the requirement side processed the information and safeguarded the sources when passing the information on to the customers. The customers being Whitehall/Westminster.”
None of that ever made too much sense with me.
With this - a fictional account, that reads as anything but - the procedures are not as much described as they are alluded to during discussions, that at times come close to rows over how best to handle their ‘new friends’ in Russia.
From these ‘discussions’ my understanding is: ‘a request is made by a customer or realised in their own work - analysis look at the available intelligence, if they believe more information is needed they ask requirements - requirements call upon records and research to fulfil that request - if the request cannot be fulfilled, requirements call upon production, asking them to seek information from their sources.’ Maybe I’m reading a little more into it, but that makes more sense to me.
None of what we read is outside of the reality of intelligence gathering: blackmail (again I refer you to Mr Cavendish’s work).
Turf battles.
The old-school tie.
The derogatory view held toward MI-5.
The young ladies from ‘the right’ and well-to-do families.
Without doubt, there was at some point a most sharp-minded and conscientious lady close to the top of the ‘research tree’. John le Carré calls her “Connie”. In this tale she is called, “Vicky”; and there is a little more of a back story to the woman and how she came to be. And woe betide anyone, should they address her as, “Victoria.”
This is stacked with the traits and quirks of those hoping to get one step ahead of their ‘friends and their foes’. This smacks of the reality within the ranks of intelligence officers: just human, like everyone else and part of the corporate pot. And we see that, the arrogance, the frailties, the loyalties.
With all of what goes on in London, a most ingenious operation (a stage play) is set in motion overseas: it smacks of vengeance, but there is so much more to it.
We get closer to the key players managing the underground railroad introduced to us in ‘The Roads Chosen’.
At the close we are introduced to the chief operations officer of this clandestine organisation and are shown what motivates her.
It is said: “When you take everything from someone, their past, their future, their control of their own life, you dehumanise them.”
I believe that to be true and that this was an aim within the Soviet Union.
I found this to be a believable and incredible tale; and an examination of how some worked to keep some control of their life; sought to remain human.
August 12, 2025
I didn't turn my back on the boy. I just wanted a bit of time to read around the edges of what the boy got himself tangled up in: there is much more I want to read. It was the ongoing discussions that dragged me back and I am a little shocked. Like many others (I'm supposing, but some of the reviews do allude to the notion) I supposed he was going to get off the plane and fly back. He even told us (a cunning tease, if I may say so) 'with a return ticket he would be offered a thirty-day tourist visa on entry'. Let me repeat that: WITH A RETURN TICKET. What else was I expected to think?
Christmas card !!!
Father sits at a desk on the top floor !!!
Devilishly clever, I'd say. Who would have thought it?
I'm all a flush: I have a crush on ALP.
Christmas card !!!
Father sits at a desk on the top floor !!!
Devilishly clever, I'd say. Who would have thought it?
I'm all a flush: I have a crush on ALP.
December 27, 2025
A Chosen Path is not what I was expecting. If you read the first chapter (The Roads Chosen: a must before you decide to read this), I'd be tempted to wager you'll expect what I expected: we're not given to believe, we're handed the possibility and I grabbed at it.
In my review of The Roads Chosen, I questioned the author's background: I now double down on that question. From the transfer of money both over and under the table, to off-the-shelf companies, to business start-ups, to visas, to operating under the radar, to misdirection and illusion, all of this will bear scrutiny.
The most believable modern-day, spy fiction I have read.
In my review of The Roads Chosen, I questioned the author's background: I now double down on that question. From the transfer of money both over and under the table, to off-the-shelf companies, to business start-ups, to visas, to operating under the radar, to misdirection and illusion, all of this will bear scrutiny.
The most believable modern-day, spy fiction I have read.
December 29, 2024
I’m surprised the author has left the main thread of the first book (The Roads Chosen) to simmer: I can only suppose he feels the tree is planted and should be kept watered to allow the roots to take. Boris, who for me, claimed centre stage in #1, failed to appear and was barely spoken of.
Everything included in #1 is there for a reason and so I can only assume there is good reasoning behind why #2 heads in a different direction.
We learn more, which is an enjoyment, of the clandestine network and how they operate: for me that was not essential as I have accepted having bought into the concept put forth in #1 that this organisation exists:
Mary said, ‘Where are the bodies?’
I said, ‘Do the maths.’ I also repeated what others have said, ‘Write about what you know.’ I’m convinced the author wrote about what he knew in #1. I have no idea of how the intelligence services work: in #2, we are allowed to see how the author suggests they operate. It all reads as believable. At present, I wonder why we are given such detail and also why it was so necessary to ‘put to death’ the characters he has.
Book #1 being fiction, but for me, it’s real life fictionalised because the author was not able to identify the real faces and locations, I do feel a little deflated by the level of fiction with this, #2.
It’s still a cracking read, and I enjoyed it immensely: the ending tells me, the characters that take the stage in book #2 will be present in book #3. They are great characters: Martha is wonderful. I miss Boris and hope he returns in book #3.
Everything included in #1 is there for a reason and so I can only assume there is good reasoning behind why #2 heads in a different direction.
We learn more, which is an enjoyment, of the clandestine network and how they operate: for me that was not essential as I have accepted having bought into the concept put forth in #1 that this organisation exists:
Mary said, ‘Where are the bodies?’
I said, ‘Do the maths.’ I also repeated what others have said, ‘Write about what you know.’ I’m convinced the author wrote about what he knew in #1. I have no idea of how the intelligence services work: in #2, we are allowed to see how the author suggests they operate. It all reads as believable. At present, I wonder why we are given such detail and also why it was so necessary to ‘put to death’ the characters he has.
Book #1 being fiction, but for me, it’s real life fictionalised because the author was not able to identify the real faces and locations, I do feel a little deflated by the level of fiction with this, #2.
It’s still a cracking read, and I enjoyed it immensely: the ending tells me, the characters that take the stage in book #2 will be present in book #3. They are great characters: Martha is wonderful. I miss Boris and hope he returns in book #3.
January 27, 2025
Aha! A story about spies and how they go about their business; and why the spies popped their heads up now and then in the first book. The debates and dealing of the spies kept me once more enthralled. It all makes sense to me. What I liked more than anything is the characters introduced. They are so solid and all with colourful backstories. It's so much more than a spy story. It's about real people in the real world.
April 6, 2022
This is by far the best spy novel I’ve read - and I did read more than my fair share back in my oil & gas days; the camps were littered with airport-bought-novels: buy it, read it, chuck it in the box.
There’s trickery afoot from the opening pages and it ramps up and up as the story unfolds. Chapter 1, is steeped in trickery: I find by the end of the chapter; and gives a glimpse at the life of young Russian army conscripts; I found it difficult to turn those pages, thinking of what was about to happen to the poor, young lad: we are fortunately spared an unhappy ending for the boy. Part of me wants to find out more on that subject, I imagine there will be academic reference texts available, but I don’t know that my stomach wants to cope with it. The news from Ukraine hints at these conscripts being not-so-well-looked-after and I do wonder at how much life has improved for them in recent years. It is striking that a novel can urge you to think about the life of others in the world around you.
Carlyle, the master of cunning or should I say, “Master Carlyle of the Cunning”, poses questions for his reader in ‘The Roads Chosen’:
Can there be such an underground network?
Can a group of clandestine operators have survived for that many years?
In this, ‘Trickery-Part 2’, we are given a few clues as to how.
Who is the spy?
Is it the intelligence officer in MI-6? (Operation Mincemeat is a great example of how the intelligence services used ‘a boat [submarine] load’ of trickery to deceive the enemy).
Is it the source, the traitor, who steals the information (intelligence) that finds its way to the officer in MI-6. (The Billion Dollar Spy highlights how Adolf Tolkachev used shed loads of trickery to aid in his theft of a treasure trove of secrets).
I accept that trickery and deceit is part and parcel of the intelligence world, and in this you cannot avoid being exposed to a deluge of trickery and deceit.
Want to know how you walk 300K (in cash) into a foreign country under the noses of the state security services? Read this. I’m convinced that this is how things get done. If you are going to do stuff, big stuff, you need lots of cash and filling your suitcase with it raises suspicions. You can of course fill the boot of your car with it and drive it in, but if you get stopped and searched …… well, what happens to your cunning plan then?
I am not going to spoil this for others, but …. you are tempted to believe, given no reason not to believe, want to believe, a course of events are about to unfold and yet …….
I can best describe this story as a breathtaking and scary theme park ride, where you are taken up to a point then twisted around, turned upside down and spun about until you do not know what will happen next.
My advice: get yourself an armchair, drag it close to a fire, find a bottle of wine and put a do-not-disturb sign on the door.
There’s trickery afoot from the opening pages and it ramps up and up as the story unfolds. Chapter 1, is steeped in trickery: I find by the end of the chapter; and gives a glimpse at the life of young Russian army conscripts; I found it difficult to turn those pages, thinking of what was about to happen to the poor, young lad: we are fortunately spared an unhappy ending for the boy. Part of me wants to find out more on that subject, I imagine there will be academic reference texts available, but I don’t know that my stomach wants to cope with it. The news from Ukraine hints at these conscripts being not-so-well-looked-after and I do wonder at how much life has improved for them in recent years. It is striking that a novel can urge you to think about the life of others in the world around you.
Carlyle, the master of cunning or should I say, “Master Carlyle of the Cunning”, poses questions for his reader in ‘The Roads Chosen’:
Can there be such an underground network?
Can a group of clandestine operators have survived for that many years?
In this, ‘Trickery-Part 2’, we are given a few clues as to how.
Who is the spy?
Is it the intelligence officer in MI-6? (Operation Mincemeat is a great example of how the intelligence services used ‘a boat [submarine] load’ of trickery to deceive the enemy).
Is it the source, the traitor, who steals the information (intelligence) that finds its way to the officer in MI-6. (The Billion Dollar Spy highlights how Adolf Tolkachev used shed loads of trickery to aid in his theft of a treasure trove of secrets).
I accept that trickery and deceit is part and parcel of the intelligence world, and in this you cannot avoid being exposed to a deluge of trickery and deceit.
Want to know how you walk 300K (in cash) into a foreign country under the noses of the state security services? Read this. I’m convinced that this is how things get done. If you are going to do stuff, big stuff, you need lots of cash and filling your suitcase with it raises suspicions. You can of course fill the boot of your car with it and drive it in, but if you get stopped and searched …… well, what happens to your cunning plan then?
I am not going to spoil this for others, but …. you are tempted to believe, given no reason not to believe, want to believe, a course of events are about to unfold and yet …….
I can best describe this story as a breathtaking and scary theme park ride, where you are taken up to a point then twisted around, turned upside down and spun about until you do not know what will happen next.
My advice: get yourself an armchair, drag it close to a fire, find a bottle of wine and put a do-not-disturb sign on the door.
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