The story is set against a background of protests against the dictatorial government of Venezuala. A dissident general flees to Spain, and asks an ex-MI6 employee to help him get to Lisbon and then to the United Nations headquarters in New York, where he intends speaking about what’s happening in his country. The Venezualan government sends an assassin to kill him before he is able to get there.

Usually I like espionage thrillers (think John le Carre, Robert Ludlum), but this one doesn’t have the thrill and suspense I would expect. It feels more like a “boys-own-adventure” with humour inserted at inappropriate times, for example, when there should be a building of tension. The editing is a failure. Check out the quotes below.

Quotes:

“Felix still peered into the peephole again.”

“Rounding the square, the jeep had just rounded the first corner of the square and was running alongside it when they heard a screech of tyres and a metallic bang.”

Author: Lachlan Page

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