Illegal Action (Thrillers) - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
The third thriller from the former head of MI5, featuring MI5 officer, Liz Carlyle.

Liz Carlyle has been transferred to Counter-Espionage, along with her research sidekick Peggy Kingsolving. Once the hub of MI5 operations, the department has been reduced in size since the end of the Cold War, and priority within the service is on counter-terrorism.

Yet there is plenty for Liz to do. In fact, there are more spies operating in London today than during the height of East-West hostilities. This includes Russian spies, who continue to operate in number. What has changed is their targets — now they spy on the international financial community, as well as on the wealthy, influential Russian “oligarchs,” many of whom live in London.

Liz learns of a Russian government plot to silence one of these oligarchs, Nikita Brunovsky, who is an increasingly vocal opponent of Putin. How he is to be kept quiet is unclear, but since the Foreign Office dreads any kind of incident, Liz is assigned to keep it from happening.

To protect Brunovsky from his Kremlin foes, Liz goes undercover and joins the oligarch’s retinue as she tries to determine who around the Russian might be willing to betray him, and hoping at the same time to learn the identity of a certain Russian “illegal” operative working undercover.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

An authentic spy novel October 13, 2007
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

This is the third thriller penned by Stella Rimington, the former Director General of Britain's MI5. Rimington's first hand experience in the Secret Service comes through in her writing and gives her novels a very authentic feel. When she writes about the way that a surveillance operation is conducted, for example, you know that this is really how it goes down.

This is an enjoyable book that takes off fast and holds your attention. The plot takes off where "Secret Asset" left off (though it's not necessary to have read that book) and again centres on Liz Carlyle, now transferred to the Counter Espionage division within MI5. Her team become aware of a Russian Government plot to silence a Russian oligarch living in the UK. Liz goes undercover in a bid to prevent the plot, but quickly becomes a target herself. Can she and her team find the potential assassin before it's too late?

It's hard to find a thriller that has a good ending and unfortunately this book is yet another that loses its way around the 90% mark. The resolution is ultimately weak but it's still a good book that keeps you hooked throughout, and while some of the key plot elements are very predictable, there are a couple of twists that most definitely aren't. The main characters are well thought out and the premise feels realistic. Rimington has written another winner and I look forward to her next.

4 out of 5 stars

Old style and gripping January 6, 2008
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

MI5 officer, Liz Carlyle is now working in Counter Espionage since the end of the Cold War reduced the size of her department. Liz hears of a supposed Russian government plot to eliminate one of the millionaire oligarchs who now live lives of super luxury in London.She is about to be planted in the millionaire's home as an art student and so takes a crash course in modern Russian art, enough to give her a convincing cover story to pass as the real thing. An attempt is made on her life in the guise of a street mugging but she's determined to go ahead with the plan. The household consists of a strange mixture of people with mysterious pasts and complete innocents so Liz continues to probe secretly into the cast of characters in an attempt to foil any attempt at murder which would cause a political crisis on the eve of the British PM's trip to Russia. It's a good, old fashioned spy story and my only criticism is the unbelievable number of times that the word oligarch is used in the story, but I'll still be looking for more books by Stella Rimington.

5 out of 5 stars

The DG just keeps getting better February 9, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

The author, a former MI5 Director General, is at the top of her form in this third Liz Carlyle novel. Unlike so many fictional spies, Carlyle lives in a real world, with paperwork and budget cuts and manpower shortages. It's so refreshing to read about characters who could actually be human. The plot is intricate as well as educational regarding the extent of Russian espionage in the post-Yeltsin era. The Russians may not exactly be our enemies, but they're not allies either.

4 out of 5 stars

`..truth was an abstract notion..' August 22, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Liz Carlyle, MI5 agent, is now working in the Counter-Espionage Branch. While it was once the hub of MI5 operations, Counter-Espionage has been reduced in size since the end of the Cold War - even though there are significantly more spies operating in London. Drawn in part by London's status as the base of the international financial community, Russian agents are particularly focussed on the Russian oligarchs intent on wielding their influence and spending their millions.

Liz learns of an apparent Russian government plot to `silence' one of the oligarchs who is becoming an increasing vocal opponent of the Putin regime. The Foreign Office is concerned about the negative consequences of any such incident and Liz is assigned to prevent the incident from occurring. First, though, she needs to learn who the target is. At the same time, it becomes apparent that there may be a Russian illegal in London: is there a connection to the government plot? In order to uncover the plot, Liz goes undercover as a member of the oligarch's retinue.

Ms Rimington is a former director of MI5, and this lends her novels a sense of credibility. This is the third novel to feature Liz Carlyle: a likeable but dedicated career officer who knows her tradecraft. I've read the novels out of order, and will hasten to remedy this by reading the second novel.

I especially enjoyed this novel because it features believably human characters.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

5 out of 5 stars

Excellent modern day espionage thriller July 2, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful

MI5 officer Liz Carlyle is unhappy with the management directed reassignment from the counterterrorism department to the backwater counterespionage dept., but vows to excel in her new office. Her first major project involves surveillance of an affluent Russian expatriate residing in London. Apparently a drunken Stakhov mentioned a nebulous plot that worries the M16 leadership as the war on terrorism supersedes the counter espionage so much so that a caught spy is not expelled from the country out of fear of harming the partnership with the Russians. The assignment is to monitor Stakhov and the other oligarchs in order to learn what their plot is.

Liz concludes that someone has targeted the wealthy oligarch for assassination. She follows up on clues and begins to believe the hit was called by someone powerful in Russia; perhaps a person connected to the Putin government. However, unbeknownst to Liz is that some is watching her sleuthing and is considering her as a potential threat worth eliminating.

This modern day espionage thriller is excellent from the onset as a disappointed Liz realizes in spite of the pay being the same she was demoted when the brass transferred her from the top gun department to yesterday's new department. The story line is fast-paced as Liz begins to unravel the complex truth, which makes her a strong secondary target. Spy thriller fans will fully relish Stella Rimington's terrific tale as ILLEGAL ACTION may mean nothing in the current counterespionage world.

Harriet Klausner

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