Customer Reviews

Lions Run

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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"Lion's Run" (published in the UK as "Bear's Tears") concerns the sudden reversal suffered by British Intelligence Chief Kenneth Aubrey. A stalwart presence in the anglo-Intel community (and perrenial hero in many Craig Thomas novels) Aubrey is revealed in "Run" to have been working for the Russians, perhaps going all the way back to his capture in the Soviet sector of Germany just after the war. The revelation is compounded by the fact that the British were about to radically revamp and centralize their operations. Aubrey's disclosure comes amidst his efforts to get a high-ranking KGB agent to defect. Aubrey learns too late that the planned defection was a trap, meant to lure the British spy-chief close enough to the Russians to corroborate the suspicions about him. Unfortunately, Aubrey's manipulated disgrace is only part of the plan that will see him kidnapped away to Russia (everybody will assume he just defected) and see the actual mole take command in his place. Aubrey's only hope is Patrick Hyde, the Australian former SAS officer who seems capable of just about anything (but not capable of doing anything painlessly - Hyde is no Bond). Unfortunately, Hyde will need to sneak into a Soviet intelligence stronghold in Czechoslovakia and access a secret computer for the files that will exonerate his boss. However, Hyde will first journey to the killing fields Afghanistan. There he will find the Russian general Petrunin, the one man who knows how to access the "Teardrop" files, and possibly the one man above every other on Earth who wants to Kill Hyde.

"Lion's Run" is another great Thomas novel. It's chock full of the characters who intermittently recur throughout his other novels, but Thomas's prose and feel for his characters never alienate unfamiliar readers, and seem to welcome everybody. (I would still recommend starting off with "Firefox" or "Snow Falcon") Thomas seems to fit in a comfortable yet sparsely populated niche combining heady Bond thrills with the more cerebral quality of Deighton. Aubrey knows that he's innocent, but Thomas hints that the veteran spy-chief has some secrets he can barely face himself. Thomas also deftly probes the pressures and ambitions of the Russians, restless on the verge of achieving a double-intelligence coup (kidnapping Aubrey while maneuvering one of their own into the inner-circle of British Intelligence), and the inner shame of Petrunin, whose assignment to Afghanistan may work against his masters. At the same time, we have Hyde braving the snowy no-mans-land of the Hindu-Kush, and then his mad-dash across the wall to the east and back. Of course, Aubrey and crew will have to deal with both the Russians and their own countrymen who are assured of Aubrey's guilt. There are some gaps - though Thomas has delved too deeply into Aubrey before too leave any doubt as to his loyalty, he taunts us with hints that Aubrey does have something to hide. But that's not handled as well as it could have been. Also, Hyde's character seldom demonstrates the depth of the others - unlike ex-para Richard Anderson ("A Hooded Crow") or Mitchel Gant ("Firefox"). Still a great novel, with thrills down to the last page.

Lion's Run is, quite simply, the best work of spy fiction that I have ever read.

I am a lifelong fan of the work of Craig Thomas, who puts the vast majority of suspense writers to shame, and I would venture that this is his best work.

Lion's Run is global in scale and Shakespearean in drama. It is the archetypal Craig Thomas novel, where a small group of people, working against the odds and against time confront a powerful conspiracy.

Within the first fifty pages of the novel, Sir Kenneth Aubrey, Britain's spymaster, is falsely accused of being a KGB mole. His friends and colleagues: Paul Massinger, Peter Shelley and Patrick Hyde race against time to exonerate Aubrey.

The action in Lion's Run is global and breathless - some of the best sequences include chases in Afghanistan, Vienna, and Prague. Thomas' character are expertly crafted, and his writing is always gripping. Particularly well written are the characters of Massinger, Hyde, and the fiendishly clever Tamas Petrunin who makes an unforgettable appearance.

In short, if you are seeking good spy fiction, look no further.

I am reading it now and I am enjoying it very much. I forgot why I liked Craig Thomas and is one of my favorite modern day authors.

With his tenth book, titled The Bear's Tears for the UK release and Lion's Run in the US, it really pays off to be familiar with the world that Craig Thomas created. Craig pulled together most of his recurring characters for this outing, and concocted his most ingenious plot he would ever come up with.

The story starts with a fake Russian defector being sent to the West, and with him a top-secret Soviet file codenamed "Teardrop", with evidence (again, fake) that head of SIS Kenneth Aubrey is a Russian double-agent, and has been so since just after the war when he had been briefly captured by the Russians in Berlin. Aubrey is arrested, but his right-hand man, Patrick Hyde, knows something's wrong and finds himself on the run in Vienna from his own side. Paul Massinger, an old friend of Aubrey, also can't belive the news when he reads about it in the papers. So Massinger, Hyde, and even Peter Shelley (Aubrey's assistant), try to figue the whole ugly business out, and will soon discover that there is in fact a Russian double-agent in SIS, but it sure isn't Aubrey.

This is also the concluding chapter of the Hyde/Petrunin story arc that started with Sea Leopard and contiuned with Jade Tiger. After Petrunin's failure in Jade Tiger, he got banished to the Soviet embassy in Kabul. Ironically, Hyde will need his help this time around, because Petrunin knows a bit or two about this "Teardrop" business, and Petrunin may not be too reluctant to help because of his feelings of being sent to war-torn Afghanistan. Hyde also gets help from Tony Godwin and Wolfgang Zimmerman who both appeared in Jade Tiger, and we also see the introduction of Ros Woode, Hyde's girlfriend.

All in all, it's a big sprawlling action-packed epic. It's one Craig's longer novels, if not the longest, though that's not a complaint. Definately one of his best.

Here is the book you have been looking for, espionage enthusiasts. Imagine a Russian plot where film and tapes have been made and sent to the CIA, via a fake defector/double agent, that portray the head of the British Intelligence as a long time Russian mole. Now who is to be trusted? This premise quickly builds into the most engrossing novel I have read. You will lose lots of sleep tracking the desperate efforts of Sir Kenneth Aubrey and Patrick Hyde, his SIS bodyguard, as they try to clear the name of Aubrey and determine the identity of the REAL mole. The novel takes us around the world tracking down the few tenuous leads that may help them. Double-crosses, intrigue and excitement abound in this wonderful novel. I could not recommend this novel more enthusiastically. Better than any Ludlum, Forsythe, or Clancy novel, easily. Do what you have to to obtain this book. By the way, it was also published as "The Bear's Tears", for your info.

Story involves a middle-aged spy who's on vacation in eastern Europe, when he's called forward for a dangerous assignment, dealing with a nefarious plot set up by the Russians (i.e. this is set during the Cold War).

Some of the most intense emotional experiences for the spy as he realizes he can trust no one and is running out of time. His escape, in the beginning, from Austria was a roller coaster ride.

Elaborate and involved double cross defection designed to bring down the British Secret Service. Not quite the pizzazz of a Bond novel.