What happens when America's spies go to war with Britain's? In London Station, David McCloskey finds out, and he brings Artemis Aphrodite Procter back with a bang to do it.
Artermis Procter is back
David McCloskey has steadily built a reputation as one of the finest contemporary spy authors since his debut, Damascus Station. After a brief hiatus from the world of the CIA and Artemis Procter with the standalone The Persian, he brings Artemis Aphrodite Procter back with a bang in London Station.
There's a new regime at Langley, and it has taken a dislike to how much the CIA shares with its London counterparts. This, of course, doesn't sit well with the Brits. And after a botched operation on British soil, the last person they want to see heading up the CIA's London station is Artemis Procter.
Procter is now sober and, while perhaps less of a loose cannon, is still decidedly unpredictable. Some readers had grown tired of her shenanigans after The Seventh Floor, but here she is a fascinating character, torn between her long-standing loyalty to the agency and her distrust of the new head honchos.
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A war between allies
The CIA's actions spark a war of attrition between British and US intelligence, each trying to one-up the other and destroy the other's reputation. Of course, it doesn't simply stay between the two members of the “special relationship”. It may seem far-fetched on paper, but as with all of McCloskey's work to date, it is rooted in a frightening realism.
Beyond Procter, it is a mostly new cast of characters: Bobby Jerome, the new head of the CIA, and a cohort of British intelligence operatives and staff at London Station.
To his credit, McCloskey has made each Procter novel feel unique, and here she often takes a back seat to the scheming. She is more sympathetic, and in detective mode, trying to work out exactly who is playing whom as the ramifications of this game become all too apparent – with dead operatives from both sides scattered across the globe.
Former CIA Analyst David McCloskey on London Station and Writing Spy Thrillers
The verdict
This is another thrilling entry in McCloskey's Artemis Proctor series. It can be read as a standalone, but there are neat throughlines connecting it to previous entries. London Station is an enjoyable, tense and frightening novel. Once again, McCloskey seems to have his finger on the pulse of geopolitical tension, drawing on his own time in the CIA.
Five novels in, he continues to prove why he is held in such high regard, showing no sign of a drop in quality.
Spy Thriller Review by Chris Connor for Spybrary.com
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