Dirty Little Secret

The final book in an espionage trilogy that has been called "as elegant as le Carré and as cynical as the twenty-first century" (Lee Child)The "special relationship" between London and Washington is in tatters. Salim Dhar, the world's most wanted terrorist, has disappeared after an audacious attack on an American target in the United Kingdom. The CIA believes Daniel Marchant, renegade MI6 officer, was involved. But Marchant has a bigger secret: Dhar has agreed to work for MI6, promising to protect Britain from future terrorist atrocities. He has also asked for something in return: Marchant must help him with a final strike against America. Will the UK sign up to this Faustian pact or hunt them both down? In Dirty Little Secret, a high-octane finale to a trilogy that will appeal to fans of Alex Berenson and Olen Steinhauer, Marchant wrestles with his conscience and the question: Does loyalty to one's country come above all else, whatever the price? "Twisty and relentless. Stock has brought the literary spy novel into the twenty-first century." ―Portsmouth Herald

From Booklist

MI-6 operative Daniel Marchant has convinced the world’s most-wanted terrorist, his half-brother, Salim Dhar, to help protect Britain from future terrorist attacks. But Marchant clinched the deal in a Russian fighter while Dhar was shooting down a U.S. plane at a British air show. The CIA, which had already renditioned and water boarded Marchant in a black jail (Dead Spy Running, 2010), is after him again. Marcus Fielding, head of MI-6, is also on the run. The Yanks believe that Marcus is a Russian mole, although Fielding and Marchant believe the real mole is Fielding’s ambitious deputy, Ian Denton, who owes his ascension to a bull-in-a-china-shop CIA thug. Stock’s Marchant trilogy started strongly but lost momentum in Games Traitors Play (2012). Despite some very interesting bits about spooks using supermarket barcodes to pass on intel and the claim that Bush-era “enhanced interrogation techniques” are essentially still in use, this one is a bit disappointing. Too much going on; not enough narrative focus. --Thomas Gaughan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

JON STOCK, a former Delhi correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph, writes a column for The Week magazine in India, and has contributed to BBC Radio 4. He is the author of Dead Spy Running as well as two previous novels. He lives in Wiltshire, UK. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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