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A Wilderness of Mirrors
Publication January 1989 "A Wilderness of Mirrors" weaves together the worlds of the spy and the psychic, of the CIA, British Intelligence and the kidnap of the daughter of an East German research neurologist. Ted Allbeury's recent novels have been bestsellers and three have been turned into radio serials. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
256 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1988
About the author
Ted Allbeury
176 books43 followers1917 - 2005. Also wrote under the pseudonyms Richard Butler and Patrick Kelly.
Ted Allbeury was a lieutenant-colonel in the Intelligence Corps during World War II, and later a successful executive in the fields of marketing, advertising and radio. He began his writing career in the early 1970s and became well known for his espionage novels, but also published one highly-praised general novel, THE CHOICE, and a short story collection, OTHER KINDS OF TREASON. His novels have been published in twenty-three languages, including Russian. He died on 4th December 2005.
See also: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/j...
and
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/t...
Ted Allbeury was a lieutenant-colonel in the Intelligence Corps during World War II, and later a successful executive in the fields of marketing, advertising and radio. He began his writing career in the early 1970s and became well known for his espionage novels, but also published one highly-praised general novel, THE CHOICE, and a short story collection, OTHER KINDS OF TREASON. His novels have been published in twenty-three languages, including Russian. He died on 4th December 2005.
See also: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/j...
and
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/t...
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 21, 2019
A brilliantly suspenseful well written spy thriller that would rival the likes of Le Carre, Deighton or Graham Greene for character development and storytelling. It's a story essentially about Fisher who is a SIS (Secret Intel. Service) agent for Britain who has gone missing. Not presumed dead, no, he has presumably left the agency and gone underground. Thornton has been the agent assigned to look for Fisher, but he's not given all the access to all of Fisher's files and then, he can't even get a look at Fisher's house without some stooge telling him to come back with a warrant. So what's going on? Does the agencies really want to find their man or not? Someone says he was a good man and then someone else says, 'good ridden' to him and then there is the issue about his wife? Some say they have never heard of her? What's up with that? Most of the files that he has seen don't even mention her. Does she even really exist?
Allbeury proficiently puts together the story by starting off with a highly intelligent soviet scientist taking a job in Siberia with her german speaking daughter who would work for an elderly lecturer living just down the road. The young gifted girl gets involved in para-psychological experiments which the CIA gets a whiff of and then things start to go terribly wrong. All the CIA were interested in was to know what the Soviet Union was doing behind the iron curtain, especially when they hadn't had any research done on these matters themselves. In this story, a Russian family became collateral damage in the bigger scheme of things and that included both parents and the talented young girl. The story really heats up considerably when Thornton enters the fray about halfway through it and then things start to boil when Fisher finally emerges. A brutal vivid story essentially about a young girl caught in web of CIA counter-intelligence with a SIS agent her only hope. Read it and weep! Five Stars!
Ted Allbeury wrote a staggering 42 novels and wrote under two other pen names ~ Richard Butler and Patrick Kelly as well. Here are 28 read’s from Allbeury, all rated accordingly:
THE GOOD (Four to Five Stars): ‘The Lantern Network’, ’Shadow of a Doubt’, ’A Wilderness of Mirrors', 'A Time Without Shadows' aka 'The Rules of the Game', 'The Only Good German' aka ‘Mission Berlin’, 'The Dangerous Edge', ‘Palomino Blonde’ aka 'Omega- minus', 'The Lonely Margins', ’The Crossing' aka ‘The Berlin Exchange’, 'Seeds of Treason', 'Other Kinds of Treason', 'Special Forces' aka 'Moscow Quadrille', the feel good, 'The Girl From Addis', 'Pay Any Price' and the rather exceptional, and this person's favourite, 'The Line-Crosser' (published in 1993).
THE AVERAGE (Two or Three Stars): 'Show Me a Hero', 'No Place to Hide' aka ‘Hostage’, ‘The Reckoning’, ’The Twentieth Day of January’ a.k.a. ‘Cold Tactics’, 'The Reaper' aka 'The Stalking Angel' and ‘Deep Purple’. He also wrote, ’The Choice' which is not espionage and this reader thought (even though it was critically acclaimed) not a good one.
THE UGLY (One or two stars): It’s, however, probably best to stay away from: ‘Aid and Comfort’, ‘The Assets' aka “Due Process’, 'The Secret Whispers’, 'The Alpha List', ’Consequences of Fear' aka ‘Smokescreen’ and ’The Spirit of Liberty'.
Allbeury proficiently puts together the story by starting off with a highly intelligent soviet scientist taking a job in Siberia with her german speaking daughter who would work for an elderly lecturer living just down the road. The young gifted girl gets involved in para-psychological experiments which the CIA gets a whiff of and then things start to go terribly wrong. All the CIA were interested in was to know what the Soviet Union was doing behind the iron curtain, especially when they hadn't had any research done on these matters themselves. In this story, a Russian family became collateral damage in the bigger scheme of things and that included both parents and the talented young girl. The story really heats up considerably when Thornton enters the fray about halfway through it and then things start to boil when Fisher finally emerges. A brutal vivid story essentially about a young girl caught in web of CIA counter-intelligence with a SIS agent her only hope. Read it and weep! Five Stars!
Ted Allbeury wrote a staggering 42 novels and wrote under two other pen names ~ Richard Butler and Patrick Kelly as well. Here are 28 read’s from Allbeury, all rated accordingly:
THE GOOD (Four to Five Stars): ‘The Lantern Network’, ’Shadow of a Doubt’, ’A Wilderness of Mirrors', 'A Time Without Shadows' aka 'The Rules of the Game', 'The Only Good German' aka ‘Mission Berlin’, 'The Dangerous Edge', ‘Palomino Blonde’ aka 'Omega- minus', 'The Lonely Margins', ’The Crossing' aka ‘The Berlin Exchange’, 'Seeds of Treason', 'Other Kinds of Treason', 'Special Forces' aka 'Moscow Quadrille', the feel good, 'The Girl From Addis', 'Pay Any Price' and the rather exceptional, and this person's favourite, 'The Line-Crosser' (published in 1993).
THE AVERAGE (Two or Three Stars): 'Show Me a Hero', 'No Place to Hide' aka ‘Hostage’, ‘The Reckoning’, ’The Twentieth Day of January’ a.k.a. ‘Cold Tactics’, 'The Reaper' aka 'The Stalking Angel' and ‘Deep Purple’. He also wrote, ’The Choice' which is not espionage and this reader thought (even though it was critically acclaimed) not a good one.
THE UGLY (One or two stars): It’s, however, probably best to stay away from: ‘Aid and Comfort’, ‘The Assets' aka “Due Process’, 'The Secret Whispers’, 'The Alpha List', ’Consequences of Fear' aka ‘Smokescreen’ and ’The Spirit of Liberty'.
January 10, 2019
This is a fine book which requires a certain degree of suspension of disbelief in order to be fully appreciated; the central matter of the plot (the application of long-distance mind reading to espionage) is kind of long shot. But if the reader is open to grant such suspension of disbelief, then he will enjoy the elegance of the story.
Both the content of the plot and the way it is told are a wilderness of mirrors; the reader is intrigued by way the two different paths of the story unfold, by the games played by various dubious characters, until slowly light is shed on the logic and the chronology of the events, leading to a very bitter closing.
Both the content of the plot and the way it is told are a wilderness of mirrors; the reader is intrigued by way the two different paths of the story unfold, by the games played by various dubious characters, until slowly light is shed on the logic and the chronology of the events, leading to a very bitter closing.
July 10, 2024
3,5 stars
An interesting spy novel from 1988, A Wilderness of Mirrors follows the hunt for a British spy gone missing. While not the caliber of LeCarré, this is still a thoughtful novel about personal loyalties and moral choices.
An interesting spy novel from 1988, A Wilderness of Mirrors follows the hunt for a British spy gone missing. While not the caliber of LeCarré, this is still a thoughtful novel about personal loyalties and moral choices.
July 18, 2025
was confused at the beginning decided I wasn't going to finish it. Picked it back up a day or 2 later and thought I was following until the last few chapters and i was confused again
August 19, 2024
One of the most comforting feelings for readers like myself is jumping (only by luck, of course) on little jewels like this one. An average thought to be spy-book reveals itself as a pleading for friendship, love and comradery, only to show, in its final pages, how tough "real life" could be.
John le Carre or Graham Greene (until now, the writer of this summer, as I've read four of his novels, including another 5-star masterpiece, The Honorary Consul) would be proud of this novel.
The plot is quite simple: David Fischer, a field officer, has remorse after he would have to betray a young German girl, he saves her, falls in love, marries the girl, has to fight for their existence. It looks like he's done his best and they are far of anyone's touch, but only one uninspired move is more than enough.
And that's not all, as Robert Thornton, another officer and gentleman, proves to be much smarter than his chiefs, even if his skills are not of much use.
Sad, but beautiful, a book I warmly recommend.
John le Carre or Graham Greene (until now, the writer of this summer, as I've read four of his novels, including another 5-star masterpiece, The Honorary Consul) would be proud of this novel.
The plot is quite simple: David Fischer, a field officer, has remorse after he would have to betray a young German girl, he saves her, falls in love, marries the girl, has to fight for their existence. It looks like he's done his best and they are far of anyone's touch, but only one uninspired move is more than enough.
And that's not all, as Robert Thornton, another officer and gentleman, proves to be much smarter than his chiefs, even if his skills are not of much use.
Sad, but beautiful, a book I warmly recommend.
February 23, 2013
Had a hard time deciding how to rate this book. I got a serious sense of deja vu in terms of the structure and characters vs the first Allbeury book I read, "Spirit of Liberty." In some ways, it seemed like a "Mad Libs" template filled out with different names, nouns and other descriptors than the first book so he didn't have to work on the plot too hard (and in fairness, I think some of Silva's Allon books fall into the same trap). But ultimately, I decided I liked the book because I liked the central characters and what they were about, and it's a good story when all is said and done. There was something of the kind of ending LeCarre used for his later books, where the good guy riding into the sunset isn't the final montage and there is a great deal of moral ambiguity in the outcome. But overall, it was worth reading - pleasant, interesting, entertaining. I will probably read other books by this author.
November 29, 2016
Excellent spy novel. Allbeury is one of the great classic espionage writers. None of the crap that fills modern thrillers. Solid characters and plot.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews