of a really really good thriller, which is that: the plot is completely insane; the hero is totally implausible, he's a genius, he speaks 27 different languages, every woman he meets wants to have sex with him. Quite a lot of the book features him building an entire car from scratch using only spare parts... He makes James Bond look like a bit of a slacker." In 2019, the book was optioned to be adapted into a movie. References 1994 British novels British thriller novels British spy novels Cold War spy novels Novels set in Russia Novels set in British Columbia Heinemann (publisher) books