The Spy With a Clean Face

by: Russell R. Miller

Published by: Beachhouse Books

Reviewed by Michelle Kerns

Russell R. Miller’s The Spy With a Clean Face is the perfect read for spy aficionados who have read Robert Ludlum’s and John le Carré’s books three times each and who dream at night of becoming George Smiley.

Charlie Connelly is a highly successful international businessman with a wife and three children. In his twenties, he had been considered for a position with the CIA, but, due to funding problems, the job never materialized. He is astonished when, decades later, he is contacted by the agency and asked to provide them with information on the various foreign countries he routinely visits during his work.

Although Charlie is at first reluctant, he agrees to cooperate with the agency. He becomes what, in spy lore, is known as a “clean face”: a person who has no obvious connection to a spy agency. Being a clean face doesn’t help Charlie however when a mission he is asked to accomplish goes disastrously wrong. Suddenly, Charlie finds himself in danger with no knowledge of who is friend or foe—and with the future of countries balanced on his every decision.

Miller has created an engagingly naïve and plucky character in Charlie Connelly: patriotic, optimistic, and resourceful, he holds his own despite having had no special training in spy tradecraft. Charlie is an easy character for spy fans to identify with, and to like.

The Spy With a Clean Face will particularly appeal to readers interested in international politics. Miller writes clearly and knowledgably about the Cold War, Communism, and recent problems in the Ukraine, China, and the Middle East. Miller’s own background as an international executive is apparent as exotic locales that many readers may have never even heard of, like Maracaibo, Medellin, are described in detail with easy familiarity.

The Spy With a Clean Face is a solid meat-and-potatoes spy thriller with international flair, and hopefully Miller plans to bring Charlie Connelly back for another mission.

Fans of Robert Ludlum and John le Carré should add Robert R.Miller’s The Spy With a Clean Face to their reading lists: tradecraft, international intrigue, and renegade spies—what more could a spy fan ask for?

Armchair Interviews agrees!

Author’s Web site: http://www.UkrainianSpy.com