Illegal Action (Thorndike Thrillers) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Stella Rimington (Author)

Book Description

Series: Thorndike Thrillers | Publication Date: December 2008

The third thriller from the former head of MI5, featuring MI5 officer, Liz Carlyle.

Liz Carlyle has been transferred to Counter-Espionage, along with her research sidekick Peggy Kingsolving. Once the hub of MI5 operations, the department has been reduced in size since the end of the Cold War, and priority within the service is on counter-terrorism.

Yet there is plenty for Liz to do. In fact, there are more spies operating in London today than during the height of East-West hostilities. This includes Russian spies, who continue to operate in number. What has changed is their targets — now they spy on the international financial community, as well as on the wealthy, influential Russian “oligarchs,” many of whom live in London.

Liz learns of a Russian government plot to silence one of these oligarchs, Nikita Brunovsky, who is an increasingly vocal opponent of Putin. How he is to be kept quiet is unclear, but since the Foreign Office dreads any kind of incident, Liz is assigned to keep it from happening.

To protect Brunovsky from his Kremlin foes, Liz goes undercover and joins the oligarch’s retinue as she tries to determine who around the Russian might be willing to betray him, and hoping at the same time to learn the identity of a certain Russian “illegal” operative working undercover.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. MI5 officer Liz Carlyle tries to make the best of it after she's unwillingly transferred from counterterrorism to counterespionage in Rimington's excellent third novel (after Secret Asset). Assigned to a case involving a rich Moscow oligarch living in London, Liz quickly realizes that there's considerable evidence the oligarch's been targeted for death by someone in Russia—perhaps with the assistance of the Russian government, perhaps not. Matters become more complicated when it becomes evident Liz herself may wind up a target. Rimington's command of espionage and counterespionage history and techniques (derived from long personal experience at the same British agency as Carlyle's) enables her to bring enormous believability to her well-paced narrative. Her dialogue moves as swiftly as the action, and her characters are as believable as the world in which they—and we—live. Fans of intelligent spy thrillers are in for a treat. Author tour.(July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

This is the third entry in the British spy series by Rimington, herself a former director general of MI5, featuring the smart and daring intelligence-operative Liz Carlyle. Along with her sidekick, Peggy Kingsolving, Carlyle has been transferred to the Counter-Espionage division, which, in the terrorist-obsessed modern world, is no longer the plum assignment it was during the height of East-West rivalries. She is surprised to find that there are more spies lurking around the current London scene than there were during the cold war—no longer in pursuit of military intelligence but the rich stakes of the global business community. After discovering a plot to assassinate a Russian billionaire, Nikita Brunovsky, who has been strident in his public criticism of Vladimir Putin, Carlyle goes undercover as a member of the financier’s entourage only to find herself in danger from a Russian spy who is also masquerading as an innocuous associate of Brunovsky. Elements of the old-fashioned spy novel—sudden twists and characters with hidden agendas—combine with James Patterson’s secret to success (short chapters) to create an ideal beach read for the upcoming vacation season. --Michael Gannon --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 437 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; Lrg edition (December 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1410411656
• ISBN-13: 978-1410411655
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,092,151 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An authentic spy novel, October 13, 2007

By 

Julia Flyte - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Illegal Action (Hardcover)

This is the third thriller penned by Stella Rimington, the former Director General of Britain's MI5. Rimington's first hand experience in the Secret Service comes through in her writing and gives her novels a very authentic feel. When she writes about the way that a surveillance operation is conducted, for example, you know that this is really how it goes down.

This is an enjoyable book that takes off fast and holds your attention. The plot takes off where "Secret Asset" left off (though it's not necessary to have read that book) and again centres on Liz Carlyle, now transferred to the Counter Espionage division within MI5. Her team become aware of a Russian Government plot to silence a Russian oligarch living in the UK. Liz goes undercover in a bid to prevent the plot, but quickly becomes a target herself. Can she and her team find the potential assassin before it's too late?

It's hard to find a thriller that has a good ending and unfortunately this book is yet another that loses its way around the 90% mark. The resolution is ultimately weak but it's still a good book that keeps you hooked throughout, and while some of the key plot elements are very predictable, there are a couple of twists that most definitely aren't. The main characters are well thought out and the premise feels realistic. Rimington has written another winner and I look forward to her next.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The DG just keeps getting better, February 8, 2008

By 

Bryan (Ellicott City, MD) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Illegal Action (Hardcover)

The author, a former MI5 Director General, is at the top of her form in this third Liz Carlyle novel. Unlike so many fictional spies, Carlyle lives in a real world, with paperwork and budget cuts and manpower shortages. It's so refreshing to read about characters who could actually be human. The plot is intricate as well as educational regarding the extent of Russian espionage in the post-Yeltsin era. The Russians may not exactly be our enemies, but they're not allies either.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars `..truth was an abstract notion..', August 21, 2008

By 

J. Cameron-Smith "Expect the Unexpected" (ACT, Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Illegal Action (Hardcover)

Liz Carlyle, MI5 agent, is now working in the Counter-Espionage Branch. While it was once the hub of MI5 operations, Counter-Espionage has been reduced in size since the end of the Cold War - even though there are significantly more spies operating in London. Drawn in part by London's status as the base of the international financial community, Russian agents are particularly focussed on the Russian oligarchs intent on wielding their influence and spending their millions.

Liz learns of an apparent Russian government plot to `silence' one of the oligarchs who is becoming an increasing vocal opponent of the Putin regime. The Foreign Office is concerned about the negative consequences of any such incident and Liz is assigned to prevent the incident from occurring. First, though, she needs to learn who the target is. At the same time, it becomes apparent that there may be a Russian illegal in London: is there a connection to the government plot? In order to uncover the plot, Liz goes undercover as a member of the oligarch's retinue.

Ms Rimington is a former director of MI5, and this lends her novels a sense of credibility. This is the third novel to feature Liz Carlyle: a likeable but dedicated career officer who knows her tradecraft. I've read the novels out of order, and will hasten to remedy this by reading the second novel.

I especially enjoyed this novel because it features believably human characters.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith