ABOUT THE BOOK

Listening to a Radio Moscow broadcast on holiday on Jura, Glasgow schoolboy Robert Harvie finds errors in the programme which he reports to the Russians. Then, as a student, the Soviets give him a grant, and so Robert is inadvertently compromised. His first job takes him to Ghana, and soon he has murder on his hands. How can he escape Soviet attention?

MY REVIEW

This is a fascinating and unimaginable story based on true events. While on holiday in 1967, a teenage boy is thrown into a Russian espionage plot to gain information during the Cold War.

Robert Harvie’s good intentions as a teenager, unfortunately, placed him in a web of lies to mold him into a Russian spy. After graduating from college funded by the Russian government, he is asked to pay the piper by working undercover as a manager of a peanut factory in Ghana, West Africa. What he thought was a simple visit to drop off a gift to a Russian spy disguised as a Spaniard turned into a disaster leaving Robert to change his identity and flee to the Russian Embassy in the capital of Ghana.  When Robert’s fiancee, Morag, comes to work as an intern in a nearby hospital, he realizes the mess he is in is threatening more than his life so he makes a plan to escape the Russians.

This is a fast-paced thriller that kept me reading into the night. The chilling way the Russians lured Robert into their trap was unbelievably simple and frightening to read.  I was impressed with Robert’s cool head and careful planning during a dangerous time. I was also happy to see his fiancee, Morag, was supportive through such a trying time.

If you like espionage thrillers based on true stories, give this one a try.  Recommend highly!

Thank you to Mr. Caldwell for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I  retired at the age of 53 as I found I had mild cognitive impairment MCI. This is a condition that gives me a poor memory but a sharp mind. It was difficult to find work that would take me and so I decided to write books. Sixteen years later, I have written twenty-three books with another two yet to be published. I have learned the book writing skills through writing clubs and writers magazines. Over the years I find my writing is much better received. I am seen as a novelist but I have three illustrated children’s books, several biographies, and three self-help books as well. My website sags with the volume. But I cannot be pigeon-holed. It depends on what theme obsesses my thinking, as that will be my next book.

I have been on the committee of the Society of Authors in Scotland and have been their Events Manager. I am due to speak at next year’s Wigtown Book Festival as A Reluctant Spy will be a documentary by then. That reminds me I have an agent. A Literary as well as a Film agent in Mathilde Vuillermoz. With her on board, I will release some of my self published books through her. Without an agent, it is becoming more difficult to attract traditional publishers. So I remain optimistic and find like a graph, my trajectory is currently on an upswing.

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