BOX 88: From the Top 10 Sunday Times best selling author comes a new spy action crime thriller: Book 1

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I rarely use the phrase ‘unputdownable’ but this book fits the cliche. Well-drawn characters, a pacy plot full of twists, turns and heart accelerating suspense with a very plausible and likeable (both at 18 and when older) narrator. 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.

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.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.

Kite’s story is told from two perspectives: that of the older, experienced operative, decades into his career as a spy; and that of Kite as an 18 year old, on his first mission. I thought the juxtaposition of the spy “origin story” on the one hand, and the supremely talented operative on the other worked extremely well, and over the course of the novel we get a pretty great portrait of Kite, his work, and his evolution as a person and spy. 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.Jolly good spy thriller - espionage in a rather old fashioned way but all the better for the book is a good enjoyable read. I have never come across Charles Cumming before however I will now be looking out for any books by him. 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.

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. As he finished boarding school Lachlan Kite was persuaded to spy on his friend’s father and his Iranian business associate whilst holidaying with the family during the summer. He was recruited by a “secret” spy organisation. The characters were well described and the settings evocative, particularly the villa near Mougins where they are all staying. The old fashioned methods of planting bugs in a game boy and the use of a Walkman as a spying listening device reminded me how far technology has moved on in the space of a few years.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.