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The Righteous Spy: A twisting international spy thriller
INNOCENT LIVES ARE AT RISK... BUT WHO IS THE REAL ENEMY?
Eli Amiram is Mossad’s star spy runner and the man responsible for bringing unparalleled intelligence to the Israeli agency. Now, he’s leading an audacious operation in the UK that feeds his ambition but threatens his conscience.
The British and the Americans have intel Mossad desperately need. To force MI6 and the CIA into sharing their priceless information, Eli and his maverick colleague Rafi undertake a risky mission to trick their faking a terrorist plot on British soil.
But in the world of espionage, the game is treacherous, opaque and deadly...
A twisting international spy novel, The Righteous Spy is an intriguing tale of espionage that portrays a clandestine world in which moral transgressions serve higher causes. A must-read for fans of Homeland, Fauda and NCIS, it will also appeal to readers of Charles Cumming and John le Carré.
'Intriguing and atmospheric. Merle Nygate is a writer to watch' - Charles Cumming
'A tense, compelling thriller, The Righteous Spy combines the high drama of a spy story with a clear-eyed telling of the grubby compromises and betrayals that are the reality of agents’ lives. With vividly drawn characterisation and a gripping plot, I couldn’t put it down' - Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange
'Relentless - goes where le Carré fears to tread. Merle Nygate’s characters, their tradecraft and their dramas leap off the page in a spy tale that is as gripping as it is authentic' - Martin Fletcher, author of Promised Land
'Gripping from the start, The Righteous Spy is a must read for fans of fast paced and intelligent thrillers' - Leigh Russell, author of the million-copy selling DI Geraldine Steel series
** Look out for Honour Among Spies, the second page-turning espionage thriller featuring Eli Amiran **
Eli Amiram is Mossad’s star spy runner and the man responsible for bringing unparalleled intelligence to the Israeli agency. Now, he’s leading an audacious operation in the UK that feeds his ambition but threatens his conscience.
The British and the Americans have intel Mossad desperately need. To force MI6 and the CIA into sharing their priceless information, Eli and his maverick colleague Rafi undertake a risky mission to trick their faking a terrorist plot on British soil.
But in the world of espionage, the game is treacherous, opaque and deadly...
A twisting international spy novel, The Righteous Spy is an intriguing tale of espionage that portrays a clandestine world in which moral transgressions serve higher causes. A must-read for fans of Homeland, Fauda and NCIS, it will also appeal to readers of Charles Cumming and John le Carré.
'Intriguing and atmospheric. Merle Nygate is a writer to watch' - Charles Cumming
'A tense, compelling thriller, The Righteous Spy combines the high drama of a spy story with a clear-eyed telling of the grubby compromises and betrayals that are the reality of agents’ lives. With vividly drawn characterisation and a gripping plot, I couldn’t put it down' - Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange
'Relentless - goes where le Carré fears to tread. Merle Nygate’s characters, their tradecraft and their dramas leap off the page in a spy tale that is as gripping as it is authentic' - Martin Fletcher, author of Promised Land
'Gripping from the start, The Righteous Spy is a must read for fans of fast paced and intelligent thrillers' - Leigh Russell, author of the million-copy selling DI Geraldine Steel series
** Look out for Honour Among Spies, the second page-turning espionage thriller featuring Eli Amiran **
379 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 18, 2018
68 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Merle Nygate
10 books18 followersI’m the author of The Righteous Spy, winner of the 2017 Little Brown/UEA Crime Fiction Award. It's my first espionage novel. Previously I've worked as a screenwriter and script editor working on BAFTA winning TV, New York Festival audio drama, written original sitcoms and script edited across multiple genres..
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 20, 2018
It's not every day that you are invited to take part in the launch of a digital publisher. I am proud, honored, and so happy to feature The Righteous Spy, the first novel by the wonderful Verve Books team, on Chocolate'n'Waffles today. Thank you for providing me with a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for letting me share your steps into this great book world, and congratulations!
No matter how much I enjoy crime fiction, spy novels have had a hard time convincing me. I can count on one hand the number of action thrillers that have opened my eyes on subjects bigger than the number of ammo you need to get rid of a guy or a village. I don’t think I have ever been 1) interested 2) engrossed in an espionage maze. I could only picture James Bond and roll my eyes. Until The Righteous Spy.
There is so much to say about this novel that I have no idea where to start. Talk about a comprehensive and useful report! I would make a terrible agent. Let’s take the genre first. I was expecting gun blazing in every chapter, testosterone springing off the pages to hit me in the face with big muscles and a weak plot only designed to make the good appear good and the bad … well, bad. Now, I know this is a cliché and I should have more faith in authors. Merle Nygate simply took all those ideas from my mind and threw them out the window.
I don’t want to call The Righteous Spy a mere spy novel. It covers so much ground that it would be diminishing its power. I want to call it a thought-provoking masterpiece. Yes, just like this.
You see, when I started reading, images jumped at me. France has had its lot of terrorist attacks, we have been fed many truths and lies, we barely know what actually happens between the countries that compose our planet. Behind the cosy curtain of our lives lie the shadows working in silence. For the greater good. Which greater good? This question has no answer. Or rather, a million subjective answers. Do I feel bad that I got scared of reading when I realized the plans that were awaiting a key character and how easy it was to assemble every piece of the puzzle for it to happen? I don’t think so. It is scary. But the aim of this novel is not to take us deeper into the cacophony of what our world has become. I believe the author tried to give us keys to understand, or at least, try to understand just how intricate relations between nations are, just how easy it is to interpret events, words, silences. What does it entails to be a spy? How one second can change everything? I don’t want to make this a current politics info-dump post. This book is fictional, but it holds enough authenticity to reach out to the reader, take their thoughts to another level while maintaining the right level of entertainment. It takes a skilled writer to juggle such heavy subjects and create a riveting take on who the righteous are. Don’t ask me. I don’t have the answer.
The Righteous Spy had me intrigued with the idea of setting a false attack to get information. This was so plausible I cringed and wondered if … no … how many times it had happened. From the start, we are fed information from people without completely knowing which side they are on, which side we, as readers, are supposed to be on! I wondered if it was worth it, I cared about the effects, I was appealed by the different aspects of the structure of international politics, and most of all, I wanted to know all about the actors working on this play. Because at the heart of this steady-paced, calculated web of need-to-know plot, it is the characters who matter. What they do. What choices they make. The reasons behind their reasoning. I couldn’t get enough information on everyone. As the clock reminded me of a fatal deadline, I wanted to skin the protagonists and see through them. Merle Nygate did a wonderful job with her characterization. It takes courage, research, and a great deal of talent to turn what could easily be mistaken as a ‘guy’ book into a deep and engrossing tale of rights and wrongs.
Do I have opinion on what happened? Of course, I do. Did I manage to find a character to care about? Definitely! There is more to those spies than poker faces. And just like in real life, there are more than spies hidden between those pages. I was fascinated by the cold thinking and the compartmentalizing thing I can’t do, mixed with feelings, beliefs, and everything that makes a person who they are. I was torn and left wondering about humankind.
Did I see the ending coming? I had a gut-feeling. I couldn’t read fast enough to find out whether I was right. My feelings were all over the place and I found myself looking at the final page, sighing. I can’t say the ending is satisfying from a human point of view! I would say it perfectly fits the novel and mirrors the era we live in. I couldn’t have hoped for a better one. Do the means justify the end? Betrayals, risks, heart-stopping moments will have you doubt everything. This novel screams DANGER. For a good reason.
I come out of this experience with a better understanding of manipulation (at every damn level! I would suck at it!), eyes fully open and rather breathless as you don’t get to press ‘pause’ and have a break!! This fabulous book is chillingly stunning. Don’t let this ‘serious’ review fool you, you are in for a brilliant reading time. Just make sure your brain is ready for the ride!
October 19, 2018
The Righteous Spy is a very slow burning novel, so if you are looking for a high octane espionage thriller this may not be the book for you. Set mainly in the UK, the book does open in quite dramatic style with Mossad Agent Eli Amiram taking down someone who he believes to be an imminent threat on his journey into the office. But, much like everything else in this novel, nothing is quite as it seems, but the scene is set for all that is to come.
Sent to London with his colleague Rafi, Eli has two important tasks. One, to bring a former double agent, Red Cap, back into the fold and two, to ensure the success of a classified operation, Sweetbait. It is hard to say much more about the central story without giving away some of its intricate twists and turns, but Sweetbait is a terrorist plot on which a young woman, Sahar, is willing to act as martyr, or shahida, and sacrifice herself for the sake of her country. Can she be stopped before it is too late?
I will admit that I wasn't sure quite what to expect when I started to read this book. It is very cleverly plotted and all the seemingly unconnected threads are pulled together in the most dramatic of ways, but it takes a while to build and to really get into the heart of the novel. In reality, this slower pace adds a level of authenticity to the story as it is rarely all high action intrigue in the world of the secret services like you might expect to see on an episode of spooks. There is a lot of time spent in the book creating the narrative and establishing the characters so that by the time the real tension starts to build and we draw closer to the main event you are properly invested in all around you.
Invested and perhaps a little confused but not in a bad way. With all the talk of espionage and double agents it is hard to know who, if anyone, to trust. I did find myself warming to Eli more than Rafi as the story progressed, although there are times to question both men's actions. There is also Rafi's contact, Trainer, or Petra, who is brought in to keep an eye on Sahar in the weeks leading up to her sacrifice. Petra is a strong character, a former agent herself and while I was initially unsure as to her true role in the story, she was someone I also grew to respect, if not always like.
To me, the novel is a complex look at the idea of honesty, loyalty and personal belief or faith. Sahar feels she is making the ultimate sacrifice for her religion and her people and yet she may be misguided. Eli and Rafi are taking a stand for their country too, doing their duty as Mossad agents and following the path they feel to be right. And Petra is following her own path and her independence is based purely on her own morals, rather than any code of god or country. Perhaps the simplest and most touching part of the book, as strange as it may seem, was the interaction between Eli and Redcap. Although driven by a need to complete a mission, there is also the sense of a genuine bond between the two men which extends beyond the job.
As I said, this is not a fast paced novel but if you stay with it, allow for the scene and background setting to occur, then you will be rewarded with a story rich in prose and discussion points, asking you to question whether the ends can ever justify the means, challenging the very idea of sacrifice and making you wonder just who, of all the characters you meet, the 'righteous spy' really is.
Sent to London with his colleague Rafi, Eli has two important tasks. One, to bring a former double agent, Red Cap, back into the fold and two, to ensure the success of a classified operation, Sweetbait. It is hard to say much more about the central story without giving away some of its intricate twists and turns, but Sweetbait is a terrorist plot on which a young woman, Sahar, is willing to act as martyr, or shahida, and sacrifice herself for the sake of her country. Can she be stopped before it is too late?
I will admit that I wasn't sure quite what to expect when I started to read this book. It is very cleverly plotted and all the seemingly unconnected threads are pulled together in the most dramatic of ways, but it takes a while to build and to really get into the heart of the novel. In reality, this slower pace adds a level of authenticity to the story as it is rarely all high action intrigue in the world of the secret services like you might expect to see on an episode of spooks. There is a lot of time spent in the book creating the narrative and establishing the characters so that by the time the real tension starts to build and we draw closer to the main event you are properly invested in all around you.
Invested and perhaps a little confused but not in a bad way. With all the talk of espionage and double agents it is hard to know who, if anyone, to trust. I did find myself warming to Eli more than Rafi as the story progressed, although there are times to question both men's actions. There is also Rafi's contact, Trainer, or Petra, who is brought in to keep an eye on Sahar in the weeks leading up to her sacrifice. Petra is a strong character, a former agent herself and while I was initially unsure as to her true role in the story, she was someone I also grew to respect, if not always like.
To me, the novel is a complex look at the idea of honesty, loyalty and personal belief or faith. Sahar feels she is making the ultimate sacrifice for her religion and her people and yet she may be misguided. Eli and Rafi are taking a stand for their country too, doing their duty as Mossad agents and following the path they feel to be right. And Petra is following her own path and her independence is based purely on her own morals, rather than any code of god or country. Perhaps the simplest and most touching part of the book, as strange as it may seem, was the interaction between Eli and Redcap. Although driven by a need to complete a mission, there is also the sense of a genuine bond between the two men which extends beyond the job.
As I said, this is not a fast paced novel but if you stay with it, allow for the scene and background setting to occur, then you will be rewarded with a story rich in prose and discussion points, asking you to question whether the ends can ever justify the means, challenging the very idea of sacrifice and making you wonder just who, of all the characters you meet, the 'righteous spy' really is.
January 29, 2019
The Righteous Spy is a 21st century spy story which weaves together the critical threads of geopolitical crisis and inter-agency rivalry between supposed allies.
An older Mossad agent is tasked with running a dubious false flag operation to raise the agency’s standing with the CIA and MI6. He’s hampered by his own misgivings and an unconventional subordinate, an impulsive agent for whom the ends invariably justify hazardous means. On top of that, Eli has to deal with another asset whose domestic situation recently reached DefCon3 – just as he’s finally delivering crucial intelligence.
For Eli, it’s vital that his missions succeed. If he fails, then he’ll be relegated to inconsequential low-grade analysis, where his talents and experience will be wasted. If he can pull off the near-impossible, then there’s a chance he could become head of London station. This is his make or break moment, and it’s fraught with moral complexity.
All this, mixed in to an ominous narrative of young people in the UK being manipulated and radicalised; of repercussions from overseas interventions bringing violence back to Britain’s streets. Can Eli prevent a terrorist atrocity… or not?
Author Merle Nygate definitely delivers across the board. The Righteous Spy is as close to perfect a spy story as I’ve read for many years. I have to think back to the streamlined simplicity of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold to recall a tale as elegant and well-constructed. Nygate combines three-dimensional characters, people who fluidly escape the usual genre and gender boundaries, with an extensive exploration of detailed tradecraft. It’s a captivating read.
Ambiguous, intricate and deliberately deceptive, The Righteous Spy should satisfy any true espionage enthusiast. It’s the literary equivalent of a painstaking jigsaw puzzle: one where you can’t see the true picture until the very last piece is in place…
9/10
There are more reviews of spy stories and crime / thrillers over at http://www.murdermayhemandmore.net
An older Mossad agent is tasked with running a dubious false flag operation to raise the agency’s standing with the CIA and MI6. He’s hampered by his own misgivings and an unconventional subordinate, an impulsive agent for whom the ends invariably justify hazardous means. On top of that, Eli has to deal with another asset whose domestic situation recently reached DefCon3 – just as he’s finally delivering crucial intelligence.
For Eli, it’s vital that his missions succeed. If he fails, then he’ll be relegated to inconsequential low-grade analysis, where his talents and experience will be wasted. If he can pull off the near-impossible, then there’s a chance he could become head of London station. This is his make or break moment, and it’s fraught with moral complexity.
All this, mixed in to an ominous narrative of young people in the UK being manipulated and radicalised; of repercussions from overseas interventions bringing violence back to Britain’s streets. Can Eli prevent a terrorist atrocity… or not?
Author Merle Nygate definitely delivers across the board. The Righteous Spy is as close to perfect a spy story as I’ve read for many years. I have to think back to the streamlined simplicity of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold to recall a tale as elegant and well-constructed. Nygate combines three-dimensional characters, people who fluidly escape the usual genre and gender boundaries, with an extensive exploration of detailed tradecraft. It’s a captivating read.
Ambiguous, intricate and deliberately deceptive, The Righteous Spy should satisfy any true espionage enthusiast. It’s the literary equivalent of a painstaking jigsaw puzzle: one where you can’t see the true picture until the very last piece is in place…
9/10
There are more reviews of spy stories and crime / thrillers over at http://www.murdermayhemandmore.net
December 9, 2019
An unusual POV for a spy thriller, with characters more well-rounded than the norm.
August 21, 2025
With "The Righteous Spy", Merle Nygate penned a quite righteous spy novel in his initial foray into the genre. After a relatively slow and sometimes confusing start, it finishes strongly with a nice twist and enough loose ends to ensure future entries in the series. The most interesting aspect of The Righteous Spy to me is the fact that all the 'spying' occurs between countries that are 'friends': Israel, the UK, and the USA. The ostensible enemies, crazed Palestinian terrorists, are relegated to bit player status.
Eli is an agent runner in the Mossad, Israel's intelligence service. He's in the middle of 2 major efforts, the first involving one of his spies who happens to be within Britain's intelligence community and who wants to 'get out'. However, his spy is also sitting on some great intelligence that Israel really needs so Eli needs to keep him under control. The second assignment is much more significant, with Israel conducting a 'false flag' operation involving a young Palestinian girl whom Mossad agents, posing as terrorist leaders, dupe into thinking she'll blow herself up with suicide vest in a public forum in England. That project was developed by the Israelis to allow them to feed information to the Brits allowing them to stop the attack, thereby getting some leverage in negotiate future cooperation between the service. However, in the immortal words of Mike Tyson, "everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face" and the plan does indeed get punched in the face.
Nygate's prose is fine, and I liked the rotating POVs among the key players. Once the plot picked up some steam, the story moved quickly and came to an almost predictable but nonetheless stunning conclusion. I liked the character development, the dialogue, the story, and the writing and am therefore looking forward to more from this author.
Eli is an agent runner in the Mossad, Israel's intelligence service. He's in the middle of 2 major efforts, the first involving one of his spies who happens to be within Britain's intelligence community and who wants to 'get out'. However, his spy is also sitting on some great intelligence that Israel really needs so Eli needs to keep him under control. The second assignment is much more significant, with Israel conducting a 'false flag' operation involving a young Palestinian girl whom Mossad agents, posing as terrorist leaders, dupe into thinking she'll blow herself up with suicide vest in a public forum in England. That project was developed by the Israelis to allow them to feed information to the Brits allowing them to stop the attack, thereby getting some leverage in negotiate future cooperation between the service. However, in the immortal words of Mike Tyson, "everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face" and the plan does indeed get punched in the face.
Nygate's prose is fine, and I liked the rotating POVs among the key players. Once the plot picked up some steam, the story moved quickly and came to an almost predictable but nonetheless stunning conclusion. I liked the character development, the dialogue, the story, and the writing and am therefore looking forward to more from this author.
November 4, 2018
4+ out of 5 stars, it finished as strong, if not stronger than it started. The best espionage book that I have read with a contemporary U.K. setting since Mick Herron's "Slow Horse" series. As always with espionage books, I must take care to review without spoilers, so I will say that the plot has "courage" in that it does not "wimp out" or "take the easy option" and that its characters are multi-dimensional and realistic. I learned that Ms. Nygate is an accomplished screenwriter, which goes some way to explaining the strength of this debut novel, but that is not to detract from the achievement, as they are very different mediums and skill sets. Having just finished the BBC's "Bodyguard" - it is easy to imagine this making a fantastic BBC limited series. I hope to read further adventures of Eli, Rafi and particularly Petra in future. Recommended.
January 24, 2019
A gripping story with well-crafted characters, lovely writing, and inspired visuals like "rain drops decked the leaves like drops of mercury...". Spies, friends, lovers; or are they? Nygate keeps you guessing. I initially found the mix of first and third person jarring, then it soon began to work on several levels, ultimately providing an emotional gravitas by the time the finely wrought climax wrenched me back to earth. Whew! Thank you for the ride Merle! I look forward the next one...
March 1, 2021
This is an excellent book with a clever ending. It tells of the oh so familiar evil that is Mossad and the current Zionist state of apartheid Israel and how they justify using and murdering innocent people to further their own ends. All governments do it but as we see so often in the news the open unaccounted terrorism of Israel is shocking. This tale documents how it happens and the weak cruel justification that is used to legitimate it.
June 6, 2024
This was a very well done espionage thriller, the characters were drawn with attention and compassion. The sticky and ambiguous nature of intelligence work is examined in a fresh and clever fashion, the nuances of grey in behavior and intent outlined and examined…The Israelis come off fairly well, but the portrait is far from flattering. A quick and compelling read.
November 24, 2019
Twist and double cross
Excellent characters make this a great read. The development of the plot was a little plodding for the first third of the book, but that allowed the characters to be at the forefront
Excellent characters make this a great read. The development of the plot was a little plodding for the first third of the book, but that allowed the characters to be at the forefront
January 11, 2020
A decent spy thriller but without the real feel of espionage greats (Le Carre, Deighton, Cummings and, particularly relevant to this, Daniel Silva). Interesting characters and a well developed plot made this an enjoyable read and I will look out for the author again.
May 11, 2025
The Righteous Spy was an interesting read. Spy thrillers are my favorite genre, and I appreciated that this one strayed from the usual formula. That said, it didn’t quite resonate with me overall. The twists near the end were intriguing and caught me by surprise, which I did enjoy.
January 21, 2026
Fast and Easy Read
My first time reading this author, and I really liked it. The storyline was good, the characters were developed and likeable.
The plot twist was kinda obvious but still made the story work.
My first time reading this author, and I really liked it. The storyline was good, the characters were developed and likeable.
The plot twist was kinda obvious but still made the story work.
August 16, 2020
An unusual spy novel
A slightly different take on the standard spy novel, but intruiging to the end. Quite an enigmatic ending I thought
A slightly different take on the standard spy novel, but intruiging to the end. Quite an enigmatic ending I thought
January 10, 2021
I could only get through up to 33%, a fifty shades thriller.....
February 15, 2021
Contrived and insipid. I've read the 5 star reviews on here and felt like I must have read the wrong book. A very poor copycat spy novel.
October 31, 2025
I found the start and the constant use of codenames to be a little confusing, especially at the start. However, a good spy story did eventually unfold.
January 20, 2025
A good well written spy thriller, liked the characters and the story, beach read territory
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews