Box 88 by Charles Cumming is an outstanding espionage novel which is is superbly written has an excellent main underlying storyline and well drawn out main and supporting characters. The fall of the Berlin Wall is imminent and the Cold War will soon be over. But for BOX 88, a top secret spying agency known only to an inner circle of MI6 and CIA operatives, the espionage game is heating up. Jolly good spy thriller - espionage in a rather old fashioned way but all the better for the book is a good enjoyable read. We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin.

Long time readers of CR will know that I am a big fan of Charles Cumming’s spy thrillers. Ever since Typhoon, I’ve eagerly anticipated each new novel from the author. Box 88 was no different, and I’m very happy to report that it lived up to my high expectations. Really enjoyed this.Past and present collide in this excellent spy thriller. In 2020 the mysterious Lachlan Kite is kidnapped after attending the funeral of his old school friend and threatened with torture if he des not reveal certain information.

Box 88’ is a superbly written spy thriller. Not only does the plot intrigue and the pace remain appropriately frenetic throughout but Charles Cumming is also able to create living breathing characters whose actions are wholly plausible, quite an ask of any writer immersed in an enigmatic world of espionage. We’re first introduced to Lachlan Kite when he attends the funeral of his one-time close friends. We know little of him other than the fact that he works for a secret group collected from former members of British and American intelligence agencies. The team call themselves Box 88 and their aim is to ensure that the conflicting goals of whatever government happens to be in power do not prevent the ‘right’ sort of operations being undertaken. But soon Kite finds himself in peril and with no means of communicating with his team. MI5 hear rumours of BOX 88’s existence and go after Kite – only for Iranian intelligence to get to him first. Taken captive and subjected to torture, Kite is presented with a simple choice: reveal the truth about what happened in France thirty years earlier – or watch his family die. I have never read an espionage book before but if they are as good as this one I will certainly read more of them. Other than a brief mention of plant varieties, cicadas, snails and Absinthe (the author should know that Absinthe could not be sold as such in France in 1989) there was little that reminded me of the South of France from my youth there. The most striking thing I recall was the heavenly smell of the place.Thank you, thank you, thank you to Charles Cumming, Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and give my unbiased opinion of this book. I have never come across Charles Cumming before however I will now be looking out for any books by him.