JUDAS 62

The past comes calling for a London spy, setting him on a course of revenge.

The horrible death of ceramics-factory worker Alexei Nikolaye after a disastrous—and top secret—leak from a Soviet bioweapons program in 1979 serves as prologue to the present-day murder of Russian émigré and retired spy Saul Kaszeta near his Adirondack cabin. In London, meanwhile, Lachlan Kite, a British intelligence agent, is dealing with his mother's descent into Alzheimer’s when he receives an unwelcome visit. His colleague Cara Jannaway has unsettling news about a new addition to a hit list called JUDAS that contains the names of former Russian intelligence personnel living in the West, several of whom have been murdered. When Kite sees Peter Galvin, a former alias of his own, listed as JUDAS 62, he realizes that he must act to save himself and his family, who know nothing of his intelligence work. As one character remarks, “the personal is operational.” So it is with Cumming, who creates fully fleshed characters whose storylines play out in a perilously realistic world. Before undertaking an intricate mission that culminates in Dubai and involves leveraging the assistance of businesswoman and call girl Natalia Kovalenko, flashbacks take Kite to 1993, when he first became involved in espionage as a carefree cricketer at Eton. Cumming’s timely second installment, following Box 88 (2022), stands alone but also adds breadth and depth to the story of Lachlan Kite. Expect more.

An engrossing cloak-and-dagger thriller that’s both chilling and convincing.