Wilderness of Mirrors

by Linda Davies

Eva Cunningham, an undercover agent for British Intelligence, uses a diamond mine in Vietnam as bait to entrap an international businessman suspected of assisting China's illegal trade in nuclear weapons

Genres: Fiction, Espionage, Thriller

499 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 1995

About the author

With the publication of her debut novel, Nest of Vipers, a book that would become a celebrated international bestseller, Linda Davies launched a new genre and a new career. But long before the global book deals and stellar reviews in the New York Times, Linda was logging 80 hour work weeks as one of the first women investment bankers in the City of London. At nights and weekends, she’d squeeze in time working on her first novel.

Born in Scotland and raised in South Wales, Linda inhaled books as child and dreamed of becoming a writer. But she was the daughter of an economist and a homemaker, and therefore, raised to be practical. So she went into investment banking instead. For the next eight years she worked in the City of London where she saved her running away money. One day, to her horror, she figured out a way to commit the perfect financial crime. After considering it for 3 seconds, she opted to instead write a novel about it.

18 months later, she decided to confront reality and test whether it really had been wise to give up her day job. She pitched her book to an agent... A week later he presented her with a stunning book deal that would see Nest of Vipers published in over 30 territories and optioned by MGM Studios. Since publishing Nest of Vipers, Linda Davies has gone on to publish twelve more books, seven for adults and five for children, which collectively have sold millions of copies and won various awards.

She has lived in Peru and the Middle East with her husband and three children. In 2005, in what could have been ripped from the pages of her own books, she and her husband were kidnapped, interrogated and held prisoner in Iran. She went on to write about this experience and what she learned from it in her first work of non-fiction, Kidnapped: The true story of my captivity in Iran.

Linda’s fast-paced page turners explore risk, identity, temptation and who we really are, when the things we value most have been taken away.

Reviews

[Poppy · Rating 5 out of 5]

there's not a day i don't think about this. i read this in 2015-16 in a reader's digest collection series. i still don't know if they featured full books in the collection or the shortened version. i couldn't tell back then. they seemed like complete stories to me. i do plan on revisiting them because they used to keep me sane and grounded and i kinda owe my adventurous nature to them.

the wildernese of mirrors is The Ultimate Spy Novel. for me. it was the hallmark of spy / MI6 / detective novels. still is. i have yet to read one that topped this. the heroine was everything to me. the role model. the romance with the villain will never not leave my mind. they were the pinnacle of trying to kill each other in public but fucking in private. i remember cassandra too. preppy blonde best friend who comes handy in a tight situation. i love archetypes.

will i enjoy it if i was reading it now for the first time? maybe not. nostalgia is a big factor for me. but then it exists for a reason, and i thrive on it. i will be reading soon.

[Alf Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it and found it hard to put down. Very fast moving, intriguing a loaded with excitement and mystery.

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this book in 2 days. The end was a fast-paced race to the conclusion. I won't read this one twice but I check out Ms. Davies first book, "Nest of Vipers" from the library the next time I go.

[joan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor example of the financial thriller. A bunch of sleek and immaculate, calculating and cool, brilliant and intuitive - yet passionate and damaged - city types in a winner-takes-all, cat-and-mouse game of, etc etc.

[Jackie Simons]

Read 1/99

[Danielles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great,.......... with intriges, friendships and hate!
Fantastic till the end! Till the last page,.......

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok