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Robert Harland #1
A Spy's Life
Robert Cope Harland ended his career as a British spy in an Austrian hospital, after being tortured and beaten by Czech security agents in the last days of the communist regime. He was young enough then to find a new life with the Red Cross and then with the UN. Twelve years later his UN plane crashes in mysterious circumstances at La Guardia airport, New York and Harland is the only survivor. Was it sabotage, and if so, was Harland the target?
It is soon clear to Harland that the answers are to be found in his past, a past which, along with its secrets and tradecraft, he has desperately tried to forget. And now the crash has thrown him back into a world of relentless intrigue and mistrust, to his youth, and a life-changing love affair . . .
It is soon clear to Harland that the answers are to be found in his past, a past which, along with its secrets and tradecraft, he has desperately tried to forget. And now the crash has thrown him back into a world of relentless intrigue and mistrust, to his youth, and a life-changing love affair . . .
470 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
90 people are currently reading
931 people want to read
About the author
Henry Porter
51 books245 followersHenry Porter has written for most national broadsheet newspapers. He contributes commentary and reportage to the Guardian, Observer, Evening Standard and Sunday Telegraph. He is the British editor of Vanity Fair, and lives in London with his wife and two daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
May 6, 2017
Henry Porter is a new author to me but I shall definitely read his other books. This story was nail-bitingly gripping interspersed with touches of humour to relieve the tension. In one of the dangerous missions a foreign agent says to Robert Harland (a former MI5 agent); “Tell me why you English think espionage is like gardening.....in intelligence work you cultivate contacts, you plant listening devices or bugs, you have moles and you weed documents”!
Right from the beginning it moved at a fast pace and from country to country in which a tangled web of events kept me on edge until the very end. This is highly recommended for those who love intrigue, mystery and crime.
Right from the beginning it moved at a fast pace and from country to country in which a tangled web of events kept me on edge until the very end. This is highly recommended for those who love intrigue, mystery and crime.
June 13, 2018
Another great spy novel by Mr. Porter. Post cold war thriller. MI6, CIA, STb.
July 22, 2019
'A Spy's Life', by Henry Porter is a wonderfully well-paced spy story, that gradually reveals its many intreguing secrets. Both for story's participants and for us, the readers.
I hope it doesn't sound strange, but I thought it read like you were constantly wiping a steamed-up window, so you can what was happening more clearly.
Being a spy story set in Europe, there are of course plenty of hang-overs from the classic East vs West, Capitalism vs Communism, old-school spy games. But the whole is brought into the 20th (and 21st Century with the current war-crimes trials taking place in The Hague), by stretching out into the break-up of the old Yugoslavia, the wars in Bosnia and investigations into the Serbian, 'ethnic cleansing' massacres of Muslims.
We follow Robert Harland, an English ex-spy - luckily, not an ex-Cambridge University octogenarian ex-spy this time, but still one with plenty of 'baggage'. Harland has seemingly successfully negotiated his way through the tricky final phases of Communism and the break up of the Eastern Bloc, but, after he was rescued from a particularly un-pleasant experience at the hands of his ex-Communist adversaries, he left 'The Service' and now works in a fairly mundane job for the UN.
However, the book opens with it becoming clear that he has - almost - accidentally found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong people. It becomes clear, that nothing is clear.
It isn't really possible to give away too many more of the plot details, without spoiling any of the many twists and turns and revelations that come throughout the story. Suffice it to say that you are going to have to pay attention as many people are not who they say they are, or were, or are who they say they are now. Also, more often than not, it seems like what they did and for whom, wasn't always done for the reasons or people Harland thought they were. As I said at the start, the story reveals itself and un-coils gradually and we only understand what is happening at the same time as Harland.
I thoroughly enjoyed this 'A Spy's Life' and read it at break-neck pace. I have ear-marked the others it seems Porter has written about Robert Harland for future download.
I hope it doesn't sound strange, but I thought it read like you were constantly wiping a steamed-up window, so you can what was happening more clearly.
Being a spy story set in Europe, there are of course plenty of hang-overs from the classic East vs West, Capitalism vs Communism, old-school spy games. But the whole is brought into the 20th (and 21st Century with the current war-crimes trials taking place in The Hague), by stretching out into the break-up of the old Yugoslavia, the wars in Bosnia and investigations into the Serbian, 'ethnic cleansing' massacres of Muslims.
We follow Robert Harland, an English ex-spy - luckily, not an ex-Cambridge University octogenarian ex-spy this time, but still one with plenty of 'baggage'. Harland has seemingly successfully negotiated his way through the tricky final phases of Communism and the break up of the Eastern Bloc, but, after he was rescued from a particularly un-pleasant experience at the hands of his ex-Communist adversaries, he left 'The Service' and now works in a fairly mundane job for the UN.
However, the book opens with it becoming clear that he has - almost - accidentally found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong people. It becomes clear, that nothing is clear.
It isn't really possible to give away too many more of the plot details, without spoiling any of the many twists and turns and revelations that come throughout the story. Suffice it to say that you are going to have to pay attention as many people are not who they say they are, or were, or are who they say they are now. Also, more often than not, it seems like what they did and for whom, wasn't always done for the reasons or people Harland thought they were. As I said at the start, the story reveals itself and un-coils gradually and we only understand what is happening at the same time as Harland.
I thoroughly enjoyed this 'A Spy's Life' and read it at break-neck pace. I have ear-marked the others it seems Porter has written about Robert Harland for future download.
June 5, 2022
3,75 sterren - Nederlandse paperback
Dit boek vertelt het verhaal van Robert Cope Harland, in de wandelgang Bobby. Bobby is een nog jonge ex-spion die zich bezig houdt met advieswerk voor de Verenigde Naties. Op een dag lift hij mee in een klein vliegtuig. Hij is net terug van een opdracht en ontmoet zijn oude vriend Alan Griswald die ook op weg is naar huis. Het vliegtuig vol diplomaten stijgt op maar verongelukt vlak voor de bestemming. Bobby is de enige overlevende. Nog maar net bijgekomen van dit ongeluk wordt hij overvallen, gearresteerd, weer losgelaten en krijgt hij een bijzondere opdracht van de Secretaris Generaal van de VN. Deze opdracht grijpt diep in op het leven van Bobby, want veel elementen hebben te maken met dingen die gebeurd zijn in de tijd dat hij nog als spion in Bosnië werkte.
Eens waren spionage-verhalen eenvoudig: West versus Oost. West won altijd, in de westerse boeken dan. Tegenwoordig moet je echter meer in je mars hebben om een geloofwaardig spionageverhaal neer te zetten. Wie dit boek ten volle wil waarderen zal zal kennis moeten hebben van de gebeurtenissen in het vroegere Joegoslavië. Mijn papa werkte bij de Nato ten tijde van, dus ik kreeg er wel wat van mee, un- classified info natuurlijk.
De auteur heeft zijn huiswerk in elk geval gedaan en een beeld geschetst dat niet zo makkelijk te doorgronden is. De gebeurtenissen volgen elkaar in hoog tempo op, en er is een hoop politieke gekonkel waar onze wereld helaas mee zit opgescheept zit. Dit verhaal geeft een goed beeld van de invloed van dat gekonkel op het leven van 'gewone' mensen.
Geen gemakkelijk weg te lezen spionage-thriller dus maar wel eentje met inhoud. Als je wat moeite wilt doen.
Dit boek vertelt het verhaal van Robert Cope Harland, in de wandelgang Bobby. Bobby is een nog jonge ex-spion die zich bezig houdt met advieswerk voor de Verenigde Naties. Op een dag lift hij mee in een klein vliegtuig. Hij is net terug van een opdracht en ontmoet zijn oude vriend Alan Griswald die ook op weg is naar huis. Het vliegtuig vol diplomaten stijgt op maar verongelukt vlak voor de bestemming. Bobby is de enige overlevende. Nog maar net bijgekomen van dit ongeluk wordt hij overvallen, gearresteerd, weer losgelaten en krijgt hij een bijzondere opdracht van de Secretaris Generaal van de VN. Deze opdracht grijpt diep in op het leven van Bobby, want veel elementen hebben te maken met dingen die gebeurd zijn in de tijd dat hij nog als spion in Bosnië werkte.
Eens waren spionage-verhalen eenvoudig: West versus Oost. West won altijd, in de westerse boeken dan. Tegenwoordig moet je echter meer in je mars hebben om een geloofwaardig spionageverhaal neer te zetten. Wie dit boek ten volle wil waarderen zal zal kennis moeten hebben van de gebeurtenissen in het vroegere Joegoslavië. Mijn papa werkte bij de Nato ten tijde van, dus ik kreeg er wel wat van mee, un- classified info natuurlijk.
De auteur heeft zijn huiswerk in elk geval gedaan en een beeld geschetst dat niet zo makkelijk te doorgronden is. De gebeurtenissen volgen elkaar in hoog tempo op, en er is een hoop politieke gekonkel waar onze wereld helaas mee zit opgescheept zit. Dit verhaal geeft een goed beeld van de invloed van dat gekonkel op het leven van 'gewone' mensen.
Geen gemakkelijk weg te lezen spionage-thriller dus maar wel eentje met inhoud. Als je wat moeite wilt doen.
January 9, 2025
I don't remember a single thing about this book.
July 20, 2018
Great book
February 2, 2023
Ok. I struggle to reconcile this Robert Harland with the character depicted in the 3rd Paul Samson book who is lauded as ‘the greatest spy of his generation’. Nah.
October 22, 2022
Looks like I read book 2 on a Madeira holiday in 2019 but didn’t say too much in review apart from I enjoyed it.
This one was a gripping read. God knows why I thought it reminded me a bit of Le Carre’s Constant Gardener as it bore little relation in writing style and only tenuous link on storyline. But as I get older that is explainable.😉
Porter writes a good story. Ties up loose ends well and brings out the inhumanity of the Bosnia conflict and the involvement of other so called humane countries including ours. It certainly was a compulsive read.
This one was a gripping read. God knows why I thought it reminded me a bit of Le Carre’s Constant Gardener as it bore little relation in writing style and only tenuous link on storyline. But as I get older that is explainable.😉
Porter writes a good story. Ties up loose ends well and brings out the inhumanity of the Bosnia conflict and the involvement of other so called humane countries including ours. It certainly was a compulsive read.
May 18, 2021
43 stars
I am returning after 6 years to reread this and say to the world that I made a mistake! HP has written a first rate espionage thriller with lots of circuitous complications, tradecraft and reveals just the way we like them! What was I thinking back then? I haven't read many books in the interim that have been better.
Plus I couldn't find a single mistake in this 2019 edition so somebody cleaned it up too!
Robert Harland works for the UN and operates independently. His old MI6 days come back to haunt him and someone wants him off the case. A new family member introduces himself in this book and Tomas is a memorable character.
I am leaving my old review below.
3.5 stars
Very surprising that the main spy, Harland, shares his clandestine life with so many people, including his sister! Milo Weaver would never do that!
Both plot lines coincidentally connect which stretches some credulity. But it’s a good read, marred only by the abysmal editing job. Every page or so there is an error—not misspelled words but double words or missing words or wrong words entirely. Porter thanks his editor in the acknowledgements but he shouldn’t have.
I am returning after 6 years to reread this and say to the world that I made a mistake! HP has written a first rate espionage thriller with lots of circuitous complications, tradecraft and reveals just the way we like them! What was I thinking back then? I haven't read many books in the interim that have been better.
Plus I couldn't find a single mistake in this 2019 edition so somebody cleaned it up too!
Robert Harland works for the UN and operates independently. His old MI6 days come back to haunt him and someone wants him off the case. A new family member introduces himself in this book and Tomas is a memorable character.
I am leaving my old review below.
3.5 stars
Very surprising that the main spy, Harland, shares his clandestine life with so many people, including his sister! Milo Weaver would never do that!
Both plot lines coincidentally connect which stretches some credulity. But it’s a good read, marred only by the abysmal editing job. Every page or so there is an error—not misspelled words but double words or missing words or wrong words entirely. Porter thanks his editor in the acknowledgements but he shouldn’t have.
April 3, 2013
Remember how you think, "I should be an author, I can write better than this guy?" Yup.
December 10, 2015
for a thriller, this wasn't very thrilling...
March 15, 2019
There is likely nobody around the world who has not heard of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut in 2014, in which 20 six and seven-year-olds were cut to ribbons, along with six of thteir teachers. The shooter was able to kill them in 240 seconds with his assault weapon. Today their parents won the right from the Connecticut Supreme Court to sue the manufacturers of lethal weapons. Up to now, any such action was stymied by the National Rifle Association, NRA, one of the most powerful lobbying operations in Washington, D.C.
What, readers may well ask, has this to do with Henry Porter's 'A Spy's Life.' What gradually emerges from this disturbing and thrilling book, is that western governments which we know are the primary suppliers of military equipment and planes to the most repressive, undemocratic countries in the world also spy on each other in order to know what country B proposes to sell to country X, and if such a sale undermines country A's desires to carry out similar transactions. Porter's protagonist is Robert Harland, formerly of MI6, but now working for an organization dealing with the availability of water. He is travelling on a small plane from Washington to New York when the aircraft crashes as it approaches the airport. Harland is the sole survivor. He is subequently attacked in his office at U N headquarters. The Secretary General furnishes him with a letter authorizing him to look into all matters regarding the crash. Harland is approached by a young man outside his apartment in Brooklyn. He had seen Harland's photograph in London papers and recognized him as his mother's former lover from when both were spying for their respective governments in the 1980s. Harland is also visited by the deputy head of M16, who is on a fishing expedition to determine what Harland may know or suspect.
Back in London for Christmas, the young man, Tomas, phones Harland. They agree to meet at Cleopatra's Needle, an obelisk Thameside. Tomas is seriously injured by gun-fire. This also wounds Harland in the shoulder. Tomas is rendered a paraplegic, reduced to a "locked-in" state. His mind however,remains razor sharp. With the aid of eye-blinks and specialized equipment that Tomas can manipulate through sheer brain power, he is able to identify the man in a couple of photos, one at the scene of a massacre near Sarajevo, the other proving that he was still alive despite reports that he had been killed. Harland travels to the Czech Republic to bring Tomas's mother to see her son, who is, incidentally, his son as well. While at the mother's apartment, Harland hears the voice of the man who had brutally tortured him in Praque during the Vevet Rev olution. It turns out that the man in the photos and on the phone are one and the same, a Bosnian war criminal on whom a secret file has been opened at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. It is probably giving away the plot, but neither the British nor U S governments want him arrested, to do so would threaten multi-billion dollar arms and equipment sales. Neither government is troubledd by any moral qualms that such sales mean that black and brown people can be killed at the whim of their Princes, Emirs, Presidents and Prime Ministers.
There is a nail-biting conclusion in which Harland and Tomas's mother meet the war criminal in a dangerous and tense confrontation at that the scene of the earlier massacre. If I had naming rights to this book I would have called it 'A Boy's Life.' Tomas's brilliance and ingenuity are what provided Harland with the material to thwart the British and Americans in their attempts to bury the truth about the criminal they work with in the pursuit of profits. Unregulated, non-transparent arms sales are a threat to all of us.
What, readers may well ask, has this to do with Henry Porter's 'A Spy's Life.' What gradually emerges from this disturbing and thrilling book, is that western governments which we know are the primary suppliers of military equipment and planes to the most repressive, undemocratic countries in the world also spy on each other in order to know what country B proposes to sell to country X, and if such a sale undermines country A's desires to carry out similar transactions. Porter's protagonist is Robert Harland, formerly of MI6, but now working for an organization dealing with the availability of water. He is travelling on a small plane from Washington to New York when the aircraft crashes as it approaches the airport. Harland is the sole survivor. He is subequently attacked in his office at U N headquarters. The Secretary General furnishes him with a letter authorizing him to look into all matters regarding the crash. Harland is approached by a young man outside his apartment in Brooklyn. He had seen Harland's photograph in London papers and recognized him as his mother's former lover from when both were spying for their respective governments in the 1980s. Harland is also visited by the deputy head of M16, who is on a fishing expedition to determine what Harland may know or suspect.
Back in London for Christmas, the young man, Tomas, phones Harland. They agree to meet at Cleopatra's Needle, an obelisk Thameside. Tomas is seriously injured by gun-fire. This also wounds Harland in the shoulder. Tomas is rendered a paraplegic, reduced to a "locked-in" state. His mind however,remains razor sharp. With the aid of eye-blinks and specialized equipment that Tomas can manipulate through sheer brain power, he is able to identify the man in a couple of photos, one at the scene of a massacre near Sarajevo, the other proving that he was still alive despite reports that he had been killed. Harland travels to the Czech Republic to bring Tomas's mother to see her son, who is, incidentally, his son as well. While at the mother's apartment, Harland hears the voice of the man who had brutally tortured him in Praque during the Vevet Rev olution. It turns out that the man in the photos and on the phone are one and the same, a Bosnian war criminal on whom a secret file has been opened at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. It is probably giving away the plot, but neither the British nor U S governments want him arrested, to do so would threaten multi-billion dollar arms and equipment sales. Neither government is troubledd by any moral qualms that such sales mean that black and brown people can be killed at the whim of their Princes, Emirs, Presidents and Prime Ministers.
There is a nail-biting conclusion in which Harland and Tomas's mother meet the war criminal in a dangerous and tense confrontation at that the scene of the earlier massacre. If I had naming rights to this book I would have called it 'A Boy's Life.' Tomas's brilliance and ingenuity are what provided Harland with the material to thwart the British and Americans in their attempts to bury the truth about the criminal they work with in the pursuit of profits. Unregulated, non-transparent arms sales are a threat to all of us.
March 2, 2018
Dit in een sfeervol omslag gehulde boek vertelt het verhaal van Robert Cope Harland, in de wandelgang Bobby. Bobby is een nog jonge ex-spion die zich bezig houdt met advieswerk voor de Verenigde Naties. Op een dag lift hij mee in een klein vliegtuig. Hij is net terug van een opdracht en ontmoet zijn oude vriend Alan Griswald die ook op weg is naar huis. Het vliegtuig vol diplomaten stijgt op maar verongelukt vlak voor de bestemming. Bobby is de enige overlevende. Nog maar net bijgekomen van dit ongeluk wordt hij overvallen, gearresteerd, weer losgelaten en krijgt hij een bijzondere opdracht van de Secretaris Generaal van de VN. Deze opdracht grijpt diep in op het leven van Bobby, want veel elementen schijnen te maken te hebben met dingen die gebeurd zijn in de tijd dat hij nog als spion in Bosnië werkte.
'Vroeger' waren spionage-verhalen eenvoudig: West versus Oost. West won altijd. Tegenwoordig moet je echter meer in je mars hebben om een geloofwaardig spionageverhaal neer te zetten. Wie dit boek van Henry Porter ten volle wil waarderen, zal dus grondige kennis moeten hebben van de gebeurtenissen in het vroegere Joegoslavië. De auteur heeft zijn huiswerk in elk geval gedaan en een beeld geschetst dat niet zo makkelijk te doorgronden is. De gebeurtenissen volgen elkaar in hoog tempo op, maar er is ook tijd in het verhaal om aandacht te geven achter het ongelooflijke politieke gekonkel waar onze wereld helaas mee zit opgescheept. Dit verhaal geeft een goed beeld van de invloed van dat gekonkel op het leven van 'gewone' mensen, van zowel daders als slachtoffers. De hoofdpersoon wordt soms als het ene, soms als het andere beschouwd en waarom dat dan zo is, wordt vaardig uit de doeken gedaan.
Geen eenvoudige thriller, dit boek. De compacte schrijfstijl en het hoge tempo, alsmede het onderwerp, maken dat je er even voor moet gaan zitten. Wie dit geduld echter kan opbrengen, wordt beloond.
'Vroeger' waren spionage-verhalen eenvoudig: West versus Oost. West won altijd. Tegenwoordig moet je echter meer in je mars hebben om een geloofwaardig spionageverhaal neer te zetten. Wie dit boek van Henry Porter ten volle wil waarderen, zal dus grondige kennis moeten hebben van de gebeurtenissen in het vroegere Joegoslavië. De auteur heeft zijn huiswerk in elk geval gedaan en een beeld geschetst dat niet zo makkelijk te doorgronden is. De gebeurtenissen volgen elkaar in hoog tempo op, maar er is ook tijd in het verhaal om aandacht te geven achter het ongelooflijke politieke gekonkel waar onze wereld helaas mee zit opgescheept. Dit verhaal geeft een goed beeld van de invloed van dat gekonkel op het leven van 'gewone' mensen, van zowel daders als slachtoffers. De hoofdpersoon wordt soms als het ene, soms als het andere beschouwd en waarom dat dan zo is, wordt vaardig uit de doeken gedaan.
Geen eenvoudige thriller, dit boek. De compacte schrijfstijl en het hoge tempo, alsmede het onderwerp, maken dat je er even voor moet gaan zitten. Wie dit geduld echter kan opbrengen, wordt beloond.
August 16, 2019
Writing espionage novels is a tough job as the author has to square an equation with many, apparently incompatible variables: subtlety and surprise, logic and ambiguity, plausibility and thrill, just to mention few. Just throwing all these ingredients randomly into the pot and stirring, maybe adding some kiss-kiss bang-bang in case the broth is still a little insipid, might give a decent result but never a great one.
A Spy’s Life is an example of this: plausibility is sacrificed in favour of a story aiming at having a large breadth but it ends up doomed by its own ambition. The author in fact sets himself a challenging task: he lays out five dots for his story and then he tries to connect them.
The five dots are: a mysterious plane crash; a UN investigation on war crimes in Bosnia in the mid 90’s; some cold war espionage events happened in Czechoslovakia in 1975; a star-crossed love story; a kind of wiki-leaks exposing CIA, MI6 and other major intelligence agencies.
These dots are simply too many and way too disjointed to be connected in one single, cohesive and plausible plot construct. So the story looks like a very long shot; which is a shame, as it is narrated in decent prose and it is quite readable. But plausibility is important to me and the suspension of belief requested here was just too high for me (as an add on, nearly 30 casualties is just out of range for a good spy story and it does not help the case of plausibility).
A Spy’s Life is an example of this: plausibility is sacrificed in favour of a story aiming at having a large breadth but it ends up doomed by its own ambition. The author in fact sets himself a challenging task: he lays out five dots for his story and then he tries to connect them.
The five dots are: a mysterious plane crash; a UN investigation on war crimes in Bosnia in the mid 90’s; some cold war espionage events happened in Czechoslovakia in 1975; a star-crossed love story; a kind of wiki-leaks exposing CIA, MI6 and other major intelligence agencies.
These dots are simply too many and way too disjointed to be connected in one single, cohesive and plausible plot construct. So the story looks like a very long shot; which is a shame, as it is narrated in decent prose and it is quite readable. But plausibility is important to me and the suspension of belief requested here was just too high for me (as an add on, nearly 30 casualties is just out of range for a good spy story and it does not help the case of plausibility).
April 24, 2018
I chose this book up from a ship’s library while on a cruise, because I had not read any of this author’s work. A Spy’s Life is his second book and I enjoyed it so much that I will try and find his debut novel.
If you are interested in the twists and turns of spying, and who to trust on either side, then this is the book for you.
The explanation of wake vortex and other high powered weapons were easy to understand, yet critical to the overall story.
The hero is not in the mold of ‘James Bond’, but more an older spy as in Lemus from The Spy Who Came In From the Cold.
The story is linked to the Bosnian conflict, so if this period, along with spies and intrigue is of interest to you then give this book a go.
If you are interested in the twists and turns of spying, and who to trust on either side, then this is the book for you.
The explanation of wake vortex and other high powered weapons were easy to understand, yet critical to the overall story.
The hero is not in the mold of ‘James Bond’, but more an older spy as in Lemus from The Spy Who Came In From the Cold.
The story is linked to the Bosnian conflict, so if this period, along with spies and intrigue is of interest to you then give this book a go.
August 25, 2021
I might have liked this book better if I had not just read Firefly. In that book, there are some characters who manage to fly in and provide extraordinary assistance, dues ex machina is the term for it. Macy Harp shows up again in this book, too. This book deals with very large topics about doing deals with the devil and there is a lot to recommend it. Long ago in Italy a guide told me that the three branches of government there are the formal government, the Catholic Church and the Mafia (used as a shorthand for organized crime) and between these three powerful organizations everything was managed. In every country and between counties there are powerful interests which persist as governments come and go. We just usually don’t see them behind the curtain.
June 5, 2024
This was an excellent and complicated spy novel/thriller. Robert Harlan is on a flight that crashes near La Guardia. He is a former agent with the British government, but his friend has been killed on the flight and people are asking him strange questions.
At the same time, a young man approaches him and claims to be his son from a long ago relationship with a Russian agent. There are several plots running in this one, especially a war crimes Investigation that will reveal that a former Serbian officer who was responsible for at least one massacre of a village is also being protected by the British secret service. He and Eva, his former love who reappears after their son is shot, must try to unravel the mess.
At the same time, a young man approaches him and claims to be his son from a long ago relationship with a Russian agent. There are several plots running in this one, especially a war crimes Investigation that will reveal that a former Serbian officer who was responsible for at least one massacre of a village is also being protected by the British secret service. He and Eva, his former love who reappears after their son is shot, must try to unravel the mess.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 18, 2025
I’d love to give this book 5 stars. The bones of the story are great, and it reads well. However, it’s really just too complicated for its own good. Porter is trying to weave together several different threads - sometimes successfully, sometimes not - that, I think, end up distracting the reader from what really is a compelling story. Just take the example of the ultimate explanation for the plane crash that opens the book for starters, and if someone would care to explain Walter Vigo to me I’d really appreciate it. Nevertheless, I found it to be a compelling read that, if tighter and 100 pages shorter, could be a 5 star.
October 3, 2023
I read it a few weeks ago. I actually liked it although there were several negative reviews on it.
I didn't like the Baltic Babes nonsense. Yuk. A Brit agent has connections with Serbians.
That's about it really. The suspension of belief fight in the end was too much. He would go through all that for a Baltic Babe. Again yuk. But you wanted him to get out of the mess. Not sure I'd read this author again.
Not sure I'll be reading much of anything soon again with this legal litigation matter at hand.
I didn't like the Baltic Babes nonsense. Yuk. A Brit agent has connections with Serbians.
That's about it really. The suspension of belief fight in the end was too much. He would go through all that for a Baltic Babe. Again yuk. But you wanted him to get out of the mess. Not sure I'd read this author again.
Not sure I'll be reading much of anything soon again with this legal litigation matter at hand.
April 13, 2024
Wow! Only his second novel and it was great! First of the Robert Harland series. Robert Cope Harland ended his career as a British spy in an Austrian hospital, after being tortured and beaten by Czech security agents in the last days of the communist regime. He was young enough then to find a new life with the Red Cross and then with the UN. Twelve years later his UN plane crashes in mysterious
circumstances at La Guardia airport, New York and Harland is the only survivor. Was it sabotage, and if so, was Harland the target?
circumstances at La Guardia airport, New York and Harland is the only survivor. Was it sabotage, and if so, was Harland the target?
July 12, 2025
Reading this thriller is like being entangled deep within a Gordian knot, and seeing it start to untangle on its outer extremities while you're still trying to figure out what's going on... delusions and suspicions, betrayals and secret passions... reading this can be tortuous, and it can be suddenly ecstatic. There's a beautiful line of honor that runs buried deep beneath it all, expressed sometimes as respect, and at other times just as simply the right way of doing things, that will bring you the best in the end.
July 22, 2021
I couldn’t put this excellent spy thriller down. Effortless writing, telling a complex story with such ease and grace. Even the gruesome bit were essential reading.
Henry Porter is certainly Le Carre’s heir. His intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the security services, leads to only to the conclusion that he must have been there.
As I move onto the next Robert Harland appearance in number 2 of this trilogy, Empire State….I realise Henry Porter is compulsive reading.
Henry Porter is certainly Le Carre’s heir. His intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the security services, leads to only to the conclusion that he must have been there.
As I move onto the next Robert Harland appearance in number 2 of this trilogy, Empire State….I realise Henry Porter is compulsive reading.
October 15, 2018
An elegantly plotted, fast paced excursion back into the Cold War that reaches into the present for the protagonist Robert Harlan. A credible examination of the fate of one of the many agents of the Warsaw pact security services who grasped the possibilities of capitalism before their fellows and made the most out of it while the going was easy.
A good read. Hard to put down.
A good read. Hard to put down.
April 17, 2022
Epic but confusing
This is a sprawling tale that has plenty of surprises and intrigue. The are some really engaging principal characters. However, at times it was very confusing and I wasn't always clear who causation characters or locations were.
However, I certainly will be reading the next one!
This is a sprawling tale that has plenty of surprises and intrigue. The are some really engaging principal characters. However, at times it was very confusing and I wasn't always clear who causation characters or locations were.
However, I certainly will be reading the next one!
August 11, 2023
Decent spy yarn with lots of twists and turns and many characters, so pay attention.
One character is shot which results in total paralysis. The description of the world from his perspective is among the most terrifying things I’ve read.
The party spilled into a sun room. A room English people add on to their homes without knowing what to do in it.
One character is shot which results in total paralysis. The description of the world from his perspective is among the most terrifying things I’ve read.
The party spilled into a sun room. A room English people add on to their homes without knowing what to do in it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2017
Although I found that many parts of this novel kept my attention and interest, I finished it feeling generally unsatisfied with the story. As well thought out as much of the storyline is there are other aspects of the story that seem too simple and unrealistic.
December 31, 2019
had its ups and downs. This was quite a slow read. I see where its a first in a series. I may have to try a 2nd one just to see how the author develops as a writer. First books are usually a bit wobbly. :)
October 30, 2020
What started at a bit slow pace has developed into quite an intriguing story of espionage of global proportions. A couple of tiny editing slip ups (for example Eva is occasionally spelled as Eve) did not prevent me from actually enjoying this novel.
February 27, 2023
A complicated, but elegantly plotted, espionage thriller. There are a lot of dots to connect here, you have to pay attention.
Includes a delightful cast of supporting characters and the quintessential long game. Well done.
Includes a delightful cast of supporting characters and the quintessential long game. Well done.
January 7, 2024
fabulous
Fabulous characterisation, plot, writing and suspense. Fabulous characterisation, plot, writing and suspense. Fabulous characterisation, plot, writing and suspense. Fabulous characterisation, plot, writing and suspense.Great book
Fabulous characterisation, plot, writing and suspense. Fabulous characterisation, plot, writing and suspense. Fabulous characterisation, plot, writing and suspense. Fabulous characterisation, plot, writing and suspense.Great book
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