Illegal Action

by: Stella Rimington

Published by: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Reviewed by Caryn St. Clair

Rimington’s protagonist, MI5 Officer Liz Carlyle, makes her third appearance in Illegal Action. Picking up right where Secret Asset’s plot ended, Liz, who is still recovering from the aftermath of her last case, is transferred out of Counter-Terrorism into Counter-Espionage. Since the end of the Cold War, Counter-Espionage is considered a step down, but Liz is somewhat mollified when she learns her friend and colleague Peggy Kingsolving has also been reassigned to Counter-Espionage.

Once she’s in place, she’s stunned when she discovers that not only is London still “spy central,” there may be more spies in London now than during the height of the Cold War. Before long she uncovers an assassination plot against a wealthy Russian, Nikita Brunovsky. In order to foil the attempt, she goes undercover as a member of his staff and soon becomes a target as well.

For the everyday citizen, it’s hard to imagine the same cities we live in, the same trains and buses we ride on and the same buildings we frequent are being overrun with international spies. However, given that Rimington herself is not only a former MI5 Officer, but also served as the Director General of the agency, readers can be assured that she knows what she’s writing about inside and out.

That insider feeling comes through strongly in all three of the books in the series. While the internal workings of the agency, the procedures and the language all ring true, the plot development and pacing is also excellent. Sometimes when an author has lived what he is writing about, the result can be a dry, tedious lecture for the reader. Not so with this series. Rimington has taken her own experiences and spun them into spy thrillers that will keep readers enthralled. Rimington also uses the shorter chapter format to help keep the pace of the book moving, thereby helping to build the suspense.

When readers reach the end, they will be left wanting, hoping the author’s next installment is coming soon.

Armchair Interviews agrees that thriller/suspense fans will like this book.