Review by Booklist Review
Alexsi Smirnoff is still trying to survive WWII, spying for whomever seems to be offering the best chance for staying out of harm's way. In A Single Spy (2017), he betrayed both the Germans and the Russians in the course of foiling a Gestapo plot to assassinate Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill at the Tehran Conference (Alexsi was to be the sacrificial killer). Now he's landed in London, captured by the British, and plans to stretch out the tale of how he came to be a double agent until the war is over; the plan seems to be working ("the Russians would interrogate and shoot someone in the time it took an Englishman to frame a question"), but then Churchill gets the big idea of sending Alexsi back to Germany as a double agent with a new master. Knowing both the Russians and the Germans would be happy to kill him if his multiple identities were to be revealed, Alexsi does his best to stay under everyone's radar, knowing that "sooner or later someone with a gun would arrive at your door, and you would have to go out the window." Most spies suffer from a surfeit of convictions, which is probably why Alexsi, who believes only in survival, is such a breath of fresh air. Like Falstaff, he is determined not to "die o' Wednesday." Terrific antiwar fiction.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in 1943 and 1944, Christie's excellent sequel to 2017's The Single Spy picks up immediately after the previous book's events. Having saved Prime Minister Winston Churchill from a Gestapo assassination plot in Tehran, Alexsi Ivanovich Smirnov, a Soviet spy under deep cover as a German intelligence officer, turns himself over to the British expecting gratitude and sanctuary. Instead, the British put Alexsi back in the field as a double agent, assigned to the German SS headquarters in Rome. There he transmits coded messages back to England, beds an Italian princess, and avoids reprisal from German soldiers and Italian partisans. Christie's knowledge of old-school tradecraft is exhaustive, and his portrayal of the genuine Ardeatine massacre of more than 300 Italian civilians in 1944 is haunting. A reluctant operative driven more by self-preservation than quaint notions of duty, Alexsi nevertheless possesses a deep core of personal honor. If he can't prevent Nazi butchery, he at least won't participate, and when the opportunity to escape finds him, he'll instead risk it all to do the right thing. Fans of Ken Follett's and Len Deighton's espionage novels will find much to admire. Agent: Richard Curtis, Richard Curtis Assoc. (Nov.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A dangerous spy with a secret agenda continues to cut a deadly swath through World War II. Christie picks up the story of Alexsi Ivanovich Smirnov where he left off in A Single Spy (2017): It's 1943, and Alexsi is in Tehran, where he shares his singular story with Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the British Embassy. After a hardscrabble childhood, Alexsi became a Russian spy and infiltrated Germany, becoming a high-ranking intelligence officer there. His plans apparently go beyond cooperating with the British. He undertakes a daring escape in the middle of the night. Posing as a poor Iranian, he hitches a ride with a group of smugglers and, after near-fatal injuries incurred during an encounter with a rival group, finds himself in a hospital, chained to his bed. There are more twists and turns before Alexsi lands in British custody again. This time he's taken to England as a prisoner, where he's commanded to share the unabridged account of his life and exploits for British stenographers, an appealing challenge for an inveterate yarn spinner like Alexsi, who changes identities as easily as clothes and kills without remorse. Christie's brisk opening chapters serve to flesh out the backstory alluded to in the prologue and to illustrate the devious derring-do of his protagonist. His taut thriller is also a panoramic view of a crucial stretch of World War II, set forth with pace and precision. Readers will be challenged to guess Alexsi's motives and next moves as they feverishly turn the pages. Authentic history tucked neatly into a riveting thrill ride. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
