Dead Line

Dead Line by Stella Rimington is a first class spy novel set round a Middle East peace conference due to take place at Gleneagles, the luxury golf complex in Scotland. I am sure that I am not alone in noticing that these conferences always take place at luxury venues. MI6 receives information from a highly placed Syrian source that there is a plot to disrupt the conference probably in such a way as to put the blame on Syria. Apart from the fact that two individuals are involved there is no information as to who they are or what they plan to do. As MI5 deals with espionage inside Britain the problem is passed to them and lands on the desk of Intelligence Officer Liz Carlyle. Stella Rimington has created a lead character that is just the right side of believable for example when she is injured she is off work for a month not bouncing back in ten minutes sporting a grimy bandage a la Bruce Willis. The writing is pacy and compelling and the plot as complex as a spy thriller should be. No black hatted villains or Boy Scout heroes all have their personal problems and the conflicts between agencies, even those belonging to the same country, are portrayed in all their petty pointlessness. Miss Rimington (I am sure that she was made a Dame at some point although it is not mentioned in her CV at the back of the book) has used all her experience as a Director of MI5 to produce a book that keeps one " glued to the page" as the saying goes. If she ran MI5 half as well as she writes spy novels then Britain was indeed in safe hands.