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mattburris's review against another edition
2.0
This was OK. Some things fell together for the main character a little too easily though.
shannonmcewen's review against another edition
3.0
Reasonably well written, intriguing, gripping -- all those things one wants in a novel about spies. I felt the characters' motivation lacking at times though -- they would go from point A to point C in their thought processes without pausing at point B. It was weird. It's hard to describe since I didn't make notes about when this happened. But the main character especially would do this. Whatever, though -- I'll definitely be reading some more books by this author.
halfmanhalfbook's review against another edition
5.0
It is 1992, a few years after the cold war and in a hospital in London late one night, a low level diplomat, Edward Crane is declared dead. But Crane was much more than that, and not everything is as it seems.
A decade and a half later, Sam Gaddis, an academic with a particular interest in Russia, suddenly has a mountain of debt to pay. The huge tax bill, and demands from his ex wife means he needs to land a lucrative book deal. An old friend hints that she is onto the story of a lifetime, that she has discovered that there was a sixth member of the infamous Cambridge spy ring. He agrees to help with the research. But both the British and the Russians want this secret suppressed, and within a few hours she is dead from a heart attack.
With the blessing of her late husband, he picks up the investigation. His research is flagged at the heart of the British Secret service and the wheels are set in motion to counter what Gaddis is trying to find out. As he contacts people that knew about Crane, the Russians are not far behind, and they are taking steps to ensure that no secrets are ever spoken again.
He is contacted by a man in a nursing home, who hints that he knows about the enigmatic man, Crane. With his details and the records of a Russian journalist, Gaddis is closing in on his scoop of the century, but the threat to his life is ever more perilous.
Cummings has written here a magnificent spy thriller. He has plenty of tension, a plausible plot that rings almost true, and a way of writing that means that you connect with the main character Gaddis. It has a good pace too, even though it is just over 400 page in this edition, I zipped through this in no time at all. It has all the hallmarks of a classic spy novel too, cold war history, double agents, tradecraft and secrets. Cumming has also managed to convey that feeling of fear that as Gaddis suddenly realises that he is in way deeper than he imagined was possible.
Great stuff. Will definitely be reading all his others.
A decade and a half later, Sam Gaddis, an academic with a particular interest in Russia, suddenly has a mountain of debt to pay. The huge tax bill, and demands from his ex wife means he needs to land a lucrative book deal. An old friend hints that she is onto the story of a lifetime, that she has discovered that there was a sixth member of the infamous Cambridge spy ring. He agrees to help with the research. But both the British and the Russians want this secret suppressed, and within a few hours she is dead from a heart attack.
With the blessing of her late husband, he picks up the investigation. His research is flagged at the heart of the British Secret service and the wheels are set in motion to counter what Gaddis is trying to find out. As he contacts people that knew about Crane, the Russians are not far behind, and they are taking steps to ensure that no secrets are ever spoken again.
He is contacted by a man in a nursing home, who hints that he knows about the enigmatic man, Crane. With his details and the records of a Russian journalist, Gaddis is closing in on his scoop of the century, but the threat to his life is ever more perilous.
Cummings has written here a magnificent spy thriller. He has plenty of tension, a plausible plot that rings almost true, and a way of writing that means that you connect with the main character Gaddis. It has a good pace too, even though it is just over 400 page in this edition, I zipped through this in no time at all. It has all the hallmarks of a classic spy novel too, cold war history, double agents, tradecraft and secrets. Cumming has also managed to convey that feeling of fear that as Gaddis suddenly realises that he is in way deeper than he imagined was possible.
Great stuff. Will definitely be reading all his others.
admiral5500's review against another edition
4.0
This is a fun book that anyone can enjoy, especially fans of spy novels. For the first 100 pages I was afraid it may be too cliche and predictable. In fact, one of the big secrets revealed about halfway through the book was very easy to figure out about a quarter of the way through. Despite this, the plot was interesting and from about 1/3 of the way through the book until the end I was not able to put it down. The scenes were tense and realistic. The movement through the various clues and encounters was set at just the right pace. The big secret at the end was worthy of the drama during the build-up. Also, the main character was flawed but still like-able, and I was rooting for him. I almost gave it 5 stars but not quite; it's still a great read.
caterinaanna's review against another edition
4.0
Innocent academic gets dragged into spy games beyond his experience or understanding; some trotting around Europe, delving into history, involvement with beautiful people, trusting deceivers, secrets, things hidden or twisted at the highest level ... all the usual ingredients. This one has a mixture of real people for context and imagined people for the crucial mystery - except it isn't all hugely mysterious. A couple - no, quite a few - of the twists were ones I saw coming and felt that the hero had enough information to work out too, especially since he was meant to be intelligent. Nonetheless, it rattled along nicely and it was good to have female characters that had more about them than in some others from the genre that I have read recently. I did continue reading until my eyes protested, so that's a recommendation. I was disappointed in the behaviour of people towards the end - integrity diminished, principles compromised - but it was an all too credible, Realpolitik conclusion so, although it left a sour taste, it strengthened the book.
Not one I'd have chosen myself (I won it in a Bookcrossing raffle), but glad I read it.
Not one I'd have chosen myself (I won it in a Bookcrossing raffle), but glad I read it.
aemsea26's review against another edition
2.0
I read this and it was fine but I am just so bored with the forty-something sexy rumpled academic who falls into bed with a smoking hot twenty-something female after one cup of coffee. This wasn't helped by the references of his former age-appropriate girlfriend, Charlotte, who practically couldn't be mentioned without a description on how the ravages of time had taken their cruel toll. It's just so tedious that even allegedly smart and sensitive males are completely and utterly predictable, even in fiction.
bmartino's review against another edition
3.0
I won this book in a GoodReads giveaway, but it's also very much the kind of novel I might have picked up had I seen it on the new books shelf at the library. That said, I didn't feel like there was a lot of "there" there, at least when it came to the mystery our hero was investigating. The spycraft was okay, the writing itself was just fine, but I prefer spy novels to be more complex and twisty. A fairly easy read that didn't have any over-the-top "oh this is ridiculous" moments, so points in its favor there, but I've rated it only 3 stars for lack of plot.
brettt's review against another edition
2.0
For the United States, the Robert Hanssen case from 2001 is certainly one of its worst intelligence disasters, if not the actual top. Hanssen sold U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and then to Russia from 1979 to 2001. For Great Britian, the top (or bottom) spot is taken by the so-called Cambridge or Trinity Five, a group of four known and one suspected agents who sold British secrets to the Soviet Union during World War II and into the 1950s before defecting to the U.S.S.R. The ring, some of whom held high positions in the government as well as British intelligence, were all students at Trinity College in Cambridge University and thought to have been recruited then.
In The Trinity Six, Charles Cumming supposes a sixth member of the ring, previously kept hidden by the MI6 foreign intelligence service, whose identity is about to be exposed by a journalist. That journalist dies, and her friend, college professor and Russia expert Samuel Gaddis, takes her research and tries to follow her leads to expose the long-forgotten spy. But intelligence services like to keep their secrets secret, and they have fewer qualms than many about how they do so. And there may be some others involved, with even fewer scruples. Gaddis has begun a game with stakes far beyond faculty politics, and one he is not ready to play.
The actual Trinity/Cambridge spy ring serves mostly as a MacGuffin for Cumming, as it is the secrets behind the secret that will both drive Gaddis' search and his enemies' moves to stop him. So a significant part of the story seems wasted; much of it could have been trimmed to move into the meat of the narrative a lot more quickly or to give it more of a purpose for being there. Gaddis himself isn't someone you'd root for if you had many choices; he begins a relationship during the early part of the story and not long after contemplates how he will make a move on a researcher he's met during a records search. He's also not too bright; doing things to put himself in danger as well as those close to him and failing to grasp how far ahead of a college professor actual professional spies might be in a spy-related matter.
The combination drains The Trinity Six of much of the interest it could have had; Cummings' wry tone and ability to keep from telegraphing a plot twist make it palatable but nothing that would add him to any list of must-reads.
Original available here.
In The Trinity Six, Charles Cumming supposes a sixth member of the ring, previously kept hidden by the MI6 foreign intelligence service, whose identity is about to be exposed by a journalist. That journalist dies, and her friend, college professor and Russia expert Samuel Gaddis, takes her research and tries to follow her leads to expose the long-forgotten spy. But intelligence services like to keep their secrets secret, and they have fewer qualms than many about how they do so. And there may be some others involved, with even fewer scruples. Gaddis has begun a game with stakes far beyond faculty politics, and one he is not ready to play.
The actual Trinity/Cambridge spy ring serves mostly as a MacGuffin for Cumming, as it is the secrets behind the secret that will both drive Gaddis' search and his enemies' moves to stop him. So a significant part of the story seems wasted; much of it could have been trimmed to move into the meat of the narrative a lot more quickly or to give it more of a purpose for being there. Gaddis himself isn't someone you'd root for if you had many choices; he begins a relationship during the early part of the story and not long after contemplates how he will make a move on a researcher he's met during a records search. He's also not too bright; doing things to put himself in danger as well as those close to him and failing to grasp how far ahead of a college professor actual professional spies might be in a spy-related matter.
The combination drains The Trinity Six of much of the interest it could have had; Cummings' wry tone and ability to keep from telegraphing a plot twist make it palatable but nothing that would add him to any list of must-reads.
Original available here.