strange and random happenstance: Spy

Showing posts with label Spy. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

A Spy Among Friends

I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who remembers the miniseries Cambridge Spies. Starring Toby Stephens, Tom Hollander, Rupert Penry-Jones, and Samuel West as the famous Philby, Bugress, Maclean, and Blunt respectively. This was a whose who of top British talent that followed the infamous spies from their halcyon days at Cambridge up until they were exposed. Needless to say it was kind of a rose tinted view of spying. They had scruples but their idealism, their conviction that they were doing this for the greater good, outweighed the downside. Yes they would touch on issues like Burgess's alcoholism, but I think it was more because Tom Hollander plays a wonderful dipsomaniac than any darker import like guilt. I felt at the time that it was missing a beat. The DVD set I had rented had a documentary on it and I think that did a better job than the entire miniseries in showing how what they did was a betrayal of their country. They might have been idealistic fools but they were also traitors. Which is why I was so excited for A Spy Among Friends. Based on the nonfiction book by Ben Macintyre, this seemed like it would actually give us a version of the truth. Because the truth is that we will probably never know the whole truth. And even here, even in a world of "truth" we are warned that some things aren't as they seem. This miniseries gets to the heart of the old boys network by showing that the education and comradery forged within the upper echelons of British aristocracy was ripe for infiltration because in the world they moved in it was something that simply wasn't done. The question isn't how it was done or why it was done it's a more intimate look at two friends who come to the realization that their shared history isn't what they thought it was. Damian Lewis as Nicholas Elliot was sent to Beirut to interview Kim Philby as played by Guy Pearce and Elliot let Philby run. Much like in the Watergate scandal there was some missing minutes on their taped debriefing and that lead to much speculation. A Spy Among Friends spins out what could have happened in that time and who is playing who. It's a cat and mouse game involving Russians, Americans, Britons, and old old friends. But by pulling back the iron curtain and seeing what Philby's life in Russia was actually like gives his crimes a greater weight. Was this the glorious life he was fighting for? And what of those he left behind and those he's reunited with? Through flashbacks and dreams, we see these two men circle each other. We see the same events over and over again through different eyes with new knowledge. The genius of this miniseries is that it relies on two of the greatest actors today, Guy Pearce and Damian Lewis. They bring a weight to this miniseries that makes every betrayal land a punch. You actually feel the dead Philby's legacy is propped up with. I don't know if I have ever seen a better Cold War thriller and the fact that it rests on the shoulders of so few yet talented actors shows that with the right people and the right material you can make magic.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments

Labels: A Spy Among Friends, And the Emmy Goes To, Ben Macintyre, Cambridge Spies, Damian Lewis, Guy Pearce, Kim Philby, Nicholas Elliot, Rupert Penry-Jones, Russia, Samuel West, Spy, Toby Stephens, Tom Hollander, Traitor

Friday, August 26, 2022

Book Review - Lauren Willig's The Lure of the Moonflower

Lure of the Moonflower by Lauren Willig
ARC Provided by the Publisher
Published by: NAL
Publication Date: August 4th, 2015
Format: Paperback, 528 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Jane doesn't know if it's wise to be working with Jack Reid, alias the Moonflower. But her mission is in Portugal, she doesn't speak the language, and he's the agent on the ground. Seeing as her old compatriot and chaperone Miss Gwen is married to Jack's father, Jane has heard all there is to know about Jack and his ever shifting allegiances. What she hasn't heard about Jack is that perhaps the legend doesn't match the man. And that man has sure heard of the legend of the Pink Carnation, who is now supposedly leading this new mission that he isn't allowed any input on. Jane is not suited to the search for the Portuguese Queen across the rough and tumble countryside, yet that is just what she plans to do. She is being dictatorial and living down to his expectations. But that is the problem. They have both prejudged each other and found the other lacking. It doesn't help that Jack unknowingly is the reason Jane had to go rogue because she was unmasked when he sent the Jewels of Berar to his sister Lizzy. If they could just start over then perhaps they could find more than just a serviceable working arrangement. That new start happens when the deadliest of French spies, the Gardener, appears on their trek. They both have a history with him, and neither one is pleased to see him. They scrap all their plans and go off the grid, trying to beat the Gardener to the Queen and trying to trust each other. But trekking across rough terrain while ensconced with the French army, albeit in disguise, was far easier than what they now face. The cold, the blisters, the unnamed donkey. As Christmas draws near can they achieve their goal? What's more, can Jane achieve her second, secret mission? Reuniting Jack with the family that loves and misses him. While in the future Eloise and Colin are facing something just as daunting; their wedding day. Which should go off without a hitch, that is until Colin's beloved Aunt Arabella is kidnapped the night before the ceremony and Colin reveals she was spy in her day! So they just have to deal with the kidnapper's demands and THEN they can get married.

Parting is such sweet sorrow. And the parting of ways here is occasionally as rocky as the terrain. I've never been the biggest fan of Jane. She's always been an enigma, and rightfully so, she is illusive after all. Always in the background setting the world to rights. Lauren previously needed her to be infallible and maddeningly omniscient and capable. These traits don't lend themselves to a character of flesh and blood, but an analytical ice maiden. A perfectly coolly composed heroine does not make the most interesting read. The Lure of the Moonflower gets off to a rocky start because, like Jack, we only see what Jane wants us to see. This capable perfect agent. When the truth starts to seep out, her self doubt, her sacrifices, how much she and Jack feel the weight of the mantle of spy, do you finally start to relate and to understand Jane. The loneliness, the long nights, the seclusion, the isolation from everything and everyone else as you have to be self sufficient and self reliant. That is where Lauren succeeds and the book comes together, she believably gives us insight into Jane. Slowly the layers are peeled away and the person who was once inconceivable is now all too human and relatable. And two can handle what one can't alone. It's Jane's opening up to Jack that not only makes Jane relatable, but that made me connect to her. Finding the right people, the right person, who is there to lift you up when you're down, to help you over the rough patches, that is the most precious gift we can get in life. And Jane realizes that Jack is just such a person. Someone who takes the weight of the mantle "The Pink Carnation" off her shoulders. Neither of them have any reason to trust the other, but their experiences together and their similar backgrounds makes them compliment each other. To have Jane find someone to compliment her is a wonderfully happy place to end this series, but more than that, to find someone to share her burdens, to rely on, someone with whom you can let down your defenses and admit you need help, that is the true happily ever after.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments

Labels: Berar, Christmas, Donkey, Jack Reid, Jane Wooliston, Lauren Willig, Miss Gwen, Napoleonic War, Portugal, Regency Romp, Spies, Spy, The Gardener, The Lure of the Moonflower, The Moonflower, The Pink Carnation

Friday, July 15, 2022

Book Review - Andrea Penrose's The Cocoa Conspiracy

The Cocoa Conspiracy by Andrea Penrose
Published by: NAL
Publication Date: December 6th, 2011
Format: Paperback, 324 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Arianna still hasn't come quite to grips with the fact that she is the new Countess of Saybrook. Her marriage to Sandro seemed kind of expedient to get out of trouble. Sure, they rub along nicely, but what if he wakes up one day and realizes that an uneducated woman with a dodgy past from the West Indies isn't who he wanted to marry despite their shared love of chocolate? Therefore she will be the best wife she can be, and that means getting him a really spectacular birthday present. She ventures into the rarified air of Messrs. Harvey and Watkins Rare Book Emporium where she finds a book with the most exquisite engravings of Theocroma cacao. And the binding, the binding is like chocolate. Therefore she is more than shocked when a foreigner tries to wrest the book from her causing a scuffle in the store. She is victorious, but she wonders if the encounter was something more than a fanatical book collector not getting the prize he desired. When Sandro's uncle convinces the newlyweds to attend a county house party Arianna is shocked to find the man who attempted to steal her book in attendance. What's more, she thinks she's discovered why he wanted the book. As she prepares to wrap it she finds three sheets of papers slipped into the back binding. Two are encoded but one, a sensitive government document, points to Sandro's uncle as having possible links to the dangerous leak within the government, the spy known as Renard. There also happens to be an attempt on Sandro's life and a stranger is murdered at the house party. In other words, if they thought that the chaos that embodied their courtship was an aberration they are soon to find out they are sadly mistaken. To save his uncle's reputation Sandro agrees to a scheme devised by Grentham, Sandro and Arianna are to go to the Congress of Vienna. There Sandro will play the academic while Arianna will seduce the secrets out of the chief suspects. But what happens if Sandro realizes that he doesn't like risking his wife's life and reputation because he has come to hold her rather dear? Will it help or hinder their investigation?

For the longest time I felt utterly at sea with this volume of Arianna and Sandro's adventures. I had read the first volume, Sweet Revenge, only two weeks prior, and yet I couldn't figure out who the hell Renard was. Yes, I knew about the mole within the government aside from Grentham's aide who had an unfortunate encounter with Arianna's kitchen knives, so abstractly I wondered, could this be Renard? But my all consuming thought that kept repeating on a loop in my head was who the heck was Renard? I felt like I was going insane. Was I missing something like the recipe for Chocolate Coconut Cake that is at the beginning of the twelfth chapter? Because a cake isn't done when it's still just batter on the third step, where Renard just seemed to appear fully formed from nothing. Is Renard the equivalent of this cake? Skip a whole bunch of steps and voila, spy! I even went back and skimmed the previous volume for any reference to Renard and couldn't find one. So, if you know where the first mention of the name is I'd be very grateful to be told where it is, because I'm assuming it was omitted somehow.... So once I moved beyond Renard, just accepting their existence as a fait accompli, I was shocked that I found the house party kind of meh. I just love house parties. They are my catnip. When I read the blurb I was blah about the politics and Vienna and wild about the house party. But Andrea Penrose surprised me by taking the political machinations of the Congress and making it so much more. This was like a country house party on crack. The party was just bigger, grander, and with castles! There was intrigue, romance, dalliances, partner swapping, everything that was missing from the house party here, but oh so much better. What's more, there was an urgency to the whole situation. There was a force pushing the narrative that made me not want to put the book down. And as for that ending? I will warn you now, you have to have the next book, Recipe for Treason, ready to go. Because while their continental adventure might be over, there's still a fox in the hen house.