Book Review of Bos 88 by David Cumming

 

Twenty-eight years after the crash of Flight 103 over Lockerbie, British intelligence officer Lachlan Kite receives an ominous phone call. His friend Xavier Bonnard has killed himself, and the caller claims he's left behind a trail of clues that could reveal his true identity — the identity of BOX 88, a shadowy group that shares top-secret information with MI6 and the CIA. The omens continue to mount when Kite is kidnapped by a team of hard-nosed Iranians while attending the funeral of his childhood best friend.

An enjoyable spy thriller introducing a new lead character for Cumming. A secretive organisation on the fringes of official intelligence agencies, Box 88 is run by its tiny staff of highly-trained agents, including Scot Lachlan Kite. Recruited straight out of an elite boarding school in the summer of 1989, Lachlan cut his teeth by going deep cover and befriending a man believed to be responsible for the Lockerbie bombing. He then fell off the radar and went into family business running an upscale hotel with his Swiss-American wife and daughter, while also helping his mum out in her medical practice in Scotland.

But when he's invited by the family of a Bos88 friend to stay in France and attend a family reunion, his trip is a front for a secretive mission by BOX 88 to investigate a dangerous Iranian businessman. During his captivity, the Iranians and MI5 are in a race to find him, but as Lachlan's mind races he is forced to revisit a dark past and reopen old wounds he thought he'd closed forever.

A fast-paced, well-crafted thriller, reminiscent of John le Carre and Ken Follett. This book is a welcome addition to the espionage fiction genre. Featuring a likable protagonist and a tense plot, this is definitely one to check out. Featured image by iFollowScottish on Twitter.