Darkling Spy, The

Darkling Spy, The

Edward Wilson

London, 1956. A generation of British spies are haunted by the ghosts of friends turned traitors. Henry Bone, a Mandarin spymaster, is convinced that a man code-named 'Butterfly' is the Holy Grail of Cold War Intelligence. In reality, however, Butterfly is an aristocratic pervert whose political tastes are as ugly as his sexual preferences. Worst of all, Butterfly has the ability to identify each traitor - and every serving British spy who helped them.

It's on par with John le Carré...It's that good...As a novel this has a wonderful feel the taste, the texture and the smell of authenticity.' Tribune

'The glory days of the Cold War are evoked in The Darkling Spy by Edward Wilson, who boldly ventures into the territory so well trodden by John le Carré. The professionalism of the novel, so rich in detailed perspectives, it's characters so sturdily grounded, enables it to outgrow the spy-thriller's more wearisome conventions, while delivering strong emotional charges.' Times Literary Supplement

'A thriller of page-turning brilliance' I Love a Mystery

Price £: 
8.99
Paperback
Published: 
21 Apr 2011
ISBN: 
9781906413873
Available from:
 
 
 
 
 

Darkling Spy, The

Edward Wilson

London, 1956. A generation of British spies are haunted by the ghosts of friends turned traitors. Henry Bone, a Mandarin spymaster, is convinced that a man code-named 'Butterfly' is the Holy Grail of Cold War Intelligence. In reality, however, Butterfly is an aristocratic pervert whose political tastes are as ugly as his sexual preferences. Worst of all, Butterfly has the ability to identify each traitor - and every serving British spy who helped them.

It's on par with John le Carré...It's that good...As a novel this has a wonderful feel the taste, the texture and the smell of authenticity.' Tribune

'The glory days of the Cold War are evoked in The Darkling Spy by Edward Wilson, who boldly ventures into the territory so well trodden by John le Carré. The professionalism of the novel, so rich in detailed perspectives, it's characters so sturdily grounded, enables it to outgrow the spy-thriller's more wearisome conventions, while delivering strong emotional charges.' Times Literary Supplement

'A thriller of page-turning brilliance' I Love a Mystery

Price £: 
5.99
eBook
Published: 
01 Apr 2011
ISBN: 
9781908129161
Available from:
 
 
 
 
 

About the author

  • Edward Wilson

    Edward Wilson’s first home was a waterfront bar in Fell’s Point, a Baltimore neighbourhood whose residents included Billie Holiday and Edgar Alan Poe. He went to Baltimore Poly, a school where Ta-Nehisi Coates and Dashiell Hammett were former students. He served in Vietnam with the 5th SFGA and was decorated for his part in rescuing wounded Vietnamese soldiers from a minefield. After leaving the Army, Wilson became an expatriate and gave up US nationality to become a British citizen. He has also lived and worked in Germany and France, and was a post-graduate student at Edinburgh University. He is the author of eight novels, A River in May, The Envoy, The Darkling Spy, The Midnight Swimmer, A Very British Ending, The Whitehall Mandarin, South Atlantic Requiem and Portrait of the Spy as Young Man, all published by Arcadia Books. The author taught at Lowestoft College and local schools for thirty years. He lives with his wife Julia in rural Suffolk where they garden and try to identify birds.

    Titles by Edward Wilson

    A Very British Ending
    The midnight swimmer by Edward Wilson
    Portrait of the Spy as a Young Man
    South Atlantic Requiem