Rating: 3/5
Review:
Rather unsatisfying
This is the start of Gavin Lyall's Ranklin series which sees
Ranklin at the very birth of the British Secret Service in 1912 as the First
World War looms. It's well written and
the political background is very well researched and painted, but I found it
rather unsatisfying overall.
The book is a series of slightly disjointed episodes in
Ranklin's career as it begins and he becomes a more experienced agent. There is a bit of a Bulldog Drummond feel to
it – no doubt deliberate – which doesn't quite work for me. Although Ranklin is a far more thoughtful
character than the gung-ho literary heroes of the time, there isn't a lot of
subtlety (or plausibility at times) about the plots, so it had a slightly
cartoonish feel to me much of the time.
Spy's Honour is readable enough because Lyall was a good
writer and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to try it, but I won't be
bothering with any more in the series.
(My thanks to Ipso Books for an ARC via NetGalley.)
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