A Spy by Nature: A Novel
Product Description
“Tautly written, cleverly plotted…it reminded me strongly of the early books of John le Carré” — Robert Harris, author of The Ghost and Fatherland
“Charles Cumming is a man put on earth to perpetuate the spy thriller.” –The Daily Telegraph
”…supremely intelligent and utterly readable…Smartly paced and intricately plotted, Cumming’s decidedly unglamorous look at industrial espionage provides plenty of elaborate deceits, double crosses and other trappings of a first-class spy thriller.” –Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Alec Milius, a recent graduate of the London School of Economics, is young, smart, and a bit of a slacker, stuck in a shady job and suffering from a lack of direction. So, when an old family friend offers to put him up for a job in British Intelligence, Alec begins the rigorous selection process for SIS or MI6. Though he doesn’t officially make the cut, he is funneled into a prime position at a British oil company with interests in the Caspian Sea. He is directed to befriend Fortner Grice and Katharine Simms, two charismatic employees of Andromeda, a rival American oil firm. Lured into the murky world of industrial espionage, Millius finds himself trapped in a life of secrets and lies, manipulated by MI6 and the CIA, and confronted by the reality of a ruthless business environment in which priceless information can come at the cost of human life. Compellingly told, utterly authentic, and heart-racingly tense, A Spy By Nature will grip you until the very last page.
newyork2dallas lays out the story and the character of it protagonist better than I ever could.
Alec Milius At the age of 24 was talent-spotted by M16 in London and placed inside a British oil company with the purpose of befriending two employees of a rival American firm and selling them doctored research data on an oilfield in the Caspian Sea. The two employees turns out were CIA. After botching the job, by unbelievably stupid lame behavior. End of story. He goes on the run… Next book two “The Spanish Game”. Not good either.
Rating: 2 / 5
Some have compared Charles Cumming to the “next John Le Carre’”. I have read almost every book that Le Carre’ has written and I can assure you, Charles Cumming is no John Le Carre.
I am happy to say that I bought this book used, so at least I wasted only a little money along with my time. The pace of the plot in “A Spy By Nature” moves with the speed of a glacier before global warming set in. The main character, Alec Milius, is a slacker, who somehow managed to get through the London School of Economics. He is largely amoral and seems to be a pathological liar who is using his skills at a questionable job at the start of the book. As the plot proceeds he simply moves “up” to more complex lies. However, the issues at stake in the story are hardly the life and death stuff of cold war espionage. In keeping with the glacial pace of the book, conversations go on and on adding little to the plot. By the time the reader is two thirds of the way through the book, not much has happened. At this point it is difficult to care about Alec Milius or what finally happens. Perhaps Cummings intends the story to be some kind of morality tale. Unfortunately Alec Milius has little in the way of a moral compass. The plot is missing the tension that would exist if the character were a fine person, tested by circumstance (e.g., good people can sometimes do bad things under the right circumstances).
I picked up “A Spy By Nature” to see if I liked the author before buying his (more expensive) book Typhoon. I can now give Typhoon a pass.
Rating: 2 / 5
Sadly, this well observed, well written, not quite a spy novel lacks a satisfactory motive, and suffers from low plot pressure. The story of a would-be spy and second class everything, the driving point of this novel revolves around a broken love affair. This should be called a “novel of dissimulation” instead of a spy novel, but that category doesn’t sell very well. Very much in the Le Carre tradition of “ordinary men doing ordinary things and calling it adventure” the author can’t decide whether his character is an antihero, or just a failure. Probably both. There is actually some excellent writing, and wonderful observations of “the games people play”, but not enough to redeem the book. Will try the author’s next novel to see if he improves.
Rating: 2 / 5
In London twenty-four years old marketing consultant Alec Milius works for Central European Business Review selling advertising space to the new capitalists in that region. Alec understands the dubious meaninglessness of his vocation, but it pays the bills so even as his theme song is “We’ve Got to Get Out of this Place”, he feels he has no options if he wants to eat.
That is until a member of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) M16 meets him and hires him. As a rookie, they place Alec undercover with a British oil company; his real job to support another agent as needed. Alec enjoys the duality of his duplicity until the seemingly safe mission turns dangerous due to double and triple crosses that leave the rookie exposed in the cold with neither friend, family or British and American Intelligence to bring him home safely because he trusts no one.
A SPY BY NATURE is a terrific espionage thriller that stars a delightful protagonist who gets what he wishes for, a little excitement in his life. However, little turns into Mt. Everest as Alec is caught in a horrific spy vs. spy fiasco caused when the Yanks and the Brits fail at sharing information with both sides of the Anglo-Atlantic wanting to look superior; so it costs a SIS tyro his life. Charles Cumming’s tale will remind readers of TV’ Secret Agent Man even with a bungling neophyte muddling to survive the dangerous middle.
Harriet Klausner
Rating: 5 / 5
I picked up this novel, excited to read, was I in for a disappointment. I am an avid reader of spy novels and this just didn’t click for me. It was boring at the beginning, middle, and end and in my opinion to real plot. In fact I’m surprised this book was ever published! Sorry Charles Cumming I’m never reading one of your books again.
Rating: 1 / 5