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Kevin Wignall

The Traitor's Story Kindle Edition

by Kevin Wignall (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

11,160 ratings

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When fifteen-year-old American Hailey Portman goes missing in Switzerland, her desperate parents seek the help of their neighbor, Finn Harrington, a seemingly quiet historian rumored to be a former spy.

Sensing the story runs deeper than anyone yet knows, Finn reluctantly agrees to make some enquiries. He has little to go on other than his instincts, and his instincts have been wrong in the past—sometimes spectacularly wrong.

But he gets involved anyway, never imagining that Hailey’s disappearance might be linked to the tragic events that ended his career six years earlier, drawing him back into a deadly world that has neither forgiven nor forgotten.

Print length

384 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Thomas & Mercer
Publication date

June 21, 2016
File size

2434 KB
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Kevin Wignall
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“The entire novel is beautifully written, absolutely engaging and never falters. An utterly banging read from the first sentence to the last sentence and all of the bits in between.” —Liz Loves Books

“A gripping yarn.…fresh and fascinating…” —Brandywine Books

About the Author

Kevin Wignall is a British writer, born in Brussels in 1967. He spent many years as an army child in different parts of Europe and went on to study politics and international relations at Lancaster University. He became a full-time writer after the publication of his first book, People Die (2001). His other novels are Among the Dead (2002); Who is Conrad Hirst? (2007), shortlisted for the Edgar Award and the Barry Award; Dark Flag (2010); Hunter’s Prayer (2015, originally titled For the Dogs in the USA), which was made into a film directed by Jonathan Mostow and starring Sam Worthington and Odeya Rush; and A Death in Sweden (2016). The Traitor’s Story is his seventh novel.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0182YVVXU
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas & Mercer (June 21, 2016)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 21, 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2434 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 384 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #10,793 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #51 in Literary Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #85 in International Mystery & Crime (Kindle Store)
- #112 in Conspiracy Thrillers (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
11,160 ratings

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Kevin Wignall

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Kevin Wignall is the bestselling author of more than a dozen books for adults and young adults, as well as a number of acclaimed short stories. One of his novels, "The Hunter's Prayer", was turned into a movie starring Sam Worthington and Odeya Rush, and one of his short stories, "Retrospective", was turned into a short film starring Charles Dance. "People Die", "When We Were Lost" and "To Die in Vienna" are all currently in development in Hollywood. He lives most of the time in England, but travels a lot, both to research his stylish international thrillers, and on the lookout for the next big adventure.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

11,160 global ratings

5 star		50%
4 star		36%
3 star		10%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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lizmeyer

Keep my interest from the beginning to the end

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 23, 2023

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This book took me by surprise. I didn't think that I would like it as much as I did. I was hooked from page one. I got to know each character and could connect to them. I felt sadness at parts and happy with the way it ended. It was a very enjoyable read and I will be reading other books by Kevin Wignall.

One person found this helpful

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Lyle Wichman

good thriller

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 20, 2022

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This is a fast moving thriller. Good characters, including the bad guys. It is pretty violent. The only thing I didn’t like was swiping time line back and forth constantly.

Helpful

The first half of this book would have only gotten three stars - so, hang in there, it gets better.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 31, 2020

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This is a typical spy story with corrupt and dishonest British Intel types that are all following their separate agendas, some personal, others for thrills, and some actually trying to look out for their country.

I personally dislike the style of this book, in that it is actually two stories in one - one back in history, some six years prior, and the other current. The author keeps switching back and forth - your key to what time frame you are in is the word "History" in place of a chapter number. I can understand why the author chose this style for this particular story, as the past is intruding on the current, but it was disconcerting to me.

I had started reading this book at home and was having a hard time picking the book up after I had set it down - as opposed to those books that you cannot wait to get back to. I finished reading it while on vacation - probably the last 70% of the book. As I said at the beginning of this review, it gets better as it goes along.

There are a couple of nice twists in the plot.

This is an author that does not shy away from killing off characters, so don't get to attached to any of them as you are reading along - they may not be there a couple of chapters later.

A decent novel, but not one of Wignall's best.

4 people found this helpful

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Maria-Anne

A surprising story that will keep you hooked

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 20, 2022

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I realy liked this book and the only negative I found was the constant switching of the time frame between current and 6 years previously. It might have been less confusing if I had been reading but I listened to the bulk of the story when your mind isn't as quick to pick up the change. The narrator did a great job and was a pleasure to listen to.

One person found this helpful

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Terri Stewart

Page Turner

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 6, 2022

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This one kept me turning pages . The characters were realistic and getting to know them was an adventure. Great with a comfy chair and a cup of tea.

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Frost

Very good novel-and different

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 4, 2016

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I bought the book The Reluctant Traitor because, having read the blurb on Amazon, I thought it was a spy thriller. It is, but it is a quite different one from the usual, I think.
For one thing, do not expect high-tech, high intensity action with the hero. The leading character of the book, Finn Harrington is leading a quiet life as an author of histories, some of which have enjoyed successful reviews and been best sellers.
As can be read in the plot summary on Amazon, Finn is asked to look into finding the run- off daughter of his neighbors; he is asked simply because of the rumors that he was a spy in the past. He was. He has tried to live it down. To set the style and pace of the book,the book begins with Finn , in his spy days, at the scene of a covert operation gone bloody bad. The first chapter resonates thorough Finn's life. Chapters set in the past alternate with those in current time, and do do seamlessly and without the sometimes annoying loss of continuity that often occurs when less adept authors use this device.
It is here that this novel leaves behind the usual formula of the super spy fighting a Mr.Big Bad Terroist .No; for most of the book , Finn is a detective who follows threads left behind by the girl to find her. In this we are treated to fully drawn and sympathetic characters and a tightly- drawn plot that spreads from Switzerland to Estonia and France.
The Reluctant Traitor's plot moves form past to present, from Finn's personal into his professional live (lives, really), until the violence from long ago brings death to those close to him.
Mr Wignall writes wonderfully well. Expecting quick and violent action, I was totally captured by his tale of a man who cannot forget his past, and whose past cannot forget him.

Recommended not as a spy thriller but as a very good novel.

One person found this helpful

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KenO

A hint of Bond

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 25, 2022

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An interesting novel with many twist and turns keeping the reader captivated. Mixing the present with flashbacks to the past increased the intrigue and slowly unearths the plot. Not sure why Film's enemies were haunting him but when they stepped across that proverbial line in the sand, he sprang into action.

What was disappointing was the ending. Just bit too much fluff.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Mr. Peter Franklin

The Reviewer's Story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 20, 2017

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Firstly, this is an excellent novel. The story is well constructed and delivered. It achieves the primary goals of any such works in that it entertains, engages and provides escapism.

The story is in some respects comparable to the Jason Bourne storyline in that we have an ex-spy working outside the organisation towards his own (laudable) aims. It also addresses why Fin (the central character) is an ex-spy in "flashback" chapters. Every character in the book, from the most important to the most trivial (for example the man that looks after the building where Fin lives) has their own compelling character, rather than being just a mechanism for moving the plot along and thereby hangs one of the reasons that makes this book so compelling. You can empathise with them all. Even, to an extent, the "baddies" who have their good points. There are love interests, bursts of action, intrigue, regrets, fallibility and grim determination exhibited by Fin, who I suppose you might call a cross between Jason Bourne and George Smiley.

It's a while since I've read a spy novel. But this one is worth reading whether you are into spy novels or not because it's simply a good book. One of the tell tale signs of a good story is when you just don't want it to end and this is the case here. But, I guess, leave them wanting more is always good. Which, as a reader, I think I shall look for in more of Kevin Wignall's work.

5 people found this helpful

Kaffmatt

Average Spy Tale

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 5, 2017

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Well written but neither very exciting nor really boring- average. As a spy story, it doesn't flick the thriller switch much.
Finn Harrington was an intelligence officer who 'took a fall', which resulted in him being classed as a traitor. Six years later he's writing history books having finished with intelligence work. His neighbours' daughter, Hailey, goes missing and Finn volunteers to find her. It transpires that secret agents have been spying on Finn and inadvertently Hailey and her friend, Jonus, hack one of the spy's computers. It contains some worrying information about Finn.
Told in history-what led up to Finn being a 'traitor' and present day- dangers revealed and the quest to find Hailey, there's a fair mix of intrigue but nothing exceptional.
Worth reading but not a page turner.

3 people found this helpful

Mark

The Traitor’s Story -

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 28, 2023

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I felt the first 20% of the book was a little slow but then it started to pick up pace. In the end I was keen to see how it unravelled. The book flips from the past and to the future. I would give it a 4.25 out of 5. Enjoyed it but didn’t have me wanting not to put it down.

One person found this helpful

Timothy D. Richardson

Reads like a first novel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 12, 2016

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The Traitor's Story shows some promise but is let down by some pretty shallow characterisation and frankly implausible details - a rescued Russian orphan learning English in a week stands out. It's almost like the author would like to write about the dark characters engaged in intelligence services, a la Smiley's People, but can't get out of the more sensational I am Pilgrim / Nomad genre and ends up falling uncomfortably in between. Early Charles Cumming novels succeed walking this wire much better.

12 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Decent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 1, 2018

Verified Purchase

Bought this book having just read A Death in Sweden by the same author. I found this book again easy to read and enjoyable although I preferred the book previously mentioned. This story moves back and forth between the past and present of the main character who displays some characteristics not initially suspected as the plot develops. Once the scene is set it moves along at a fair pace and with enough action to keep the attention. I will continue to follow the author.

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