Customer Reviews

Blood Money (Charnwood Library)

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I noted that Egleton's books came up in the "Readers Also Bought" category for John Le Carre's novels on Amazon, so I took a try. I was pleased, and I will keep reading Egleton.

Some points of comparison:
1) Egleton's plotting and complexity of character seem no match for Le Carre. But you can't hold that against him.
2) That said, the characters are credible and interesting. Peter Ashton, the main guy in this book, is human enough, with a wife and mortgage, with fears and pet peeves. He doesn't find himself suddenly in bed with lustful Soviet spies, for which I am grateful.
3) The politics of the English system seem right out of Le Carre, with budget cuts, intrusive bureaucrats, and endless departmental squabbles.
4) Finally, I like the dry absurd humor in the book, as when an ambassador hands him sequentially numbered bills to hand to a spy or when a random person springs an ambush and beats a hasty retreat. Just like life.