NEW SPY FICTION 2024: A RELUCTANT SPY by DAVID GOODMAN

After a slowish start, the spy fiction offerings for 2024 and early 2025 are beginning to pick up with new books by Henry Porter, Paul Vidich and David McCloskey in the pipeline, and Patrick Worrall’s The Exile still on my shelf to be read.

In the interim, one book which is well worth checking out is David Goodman’s debut espionage novel, A Reluctant Spy (Headline, 12 September 2024).

The story revolves around the central conceit of the Legends Program, a secret British intelligence effort to prepare impenetrable backstories for undercover agents. It uses real people, living low-key real lives, who are willing to hand over their identities, so that an agent can become them for a few weeks in order to go undercover. In return, the real ‘legends’ are given a helping hand with plum jobs, influence and access, and a stress free holiday while someone else is using their identity.

Jamie Tulloch is a successful executive at a top tech company, a long way from the tough upbringing that drove him to rise so far and so quickly. He has also been a member of the Legends Program since he was 23, getting a nice kick along in his career in the process.

After years of waiting, he is finally activated by British Intelligence. Arriving at a French airport ready to hand over his identity, Jamie finds his primary contact murdered in a toilet, the agent who’s supposed to step into his life AWOL, and his options for escape non-existent. In desperation, he uses the ticket meant for the fake Jamie Tulloch, and steps onto the plane as himself, and heads to Zanzibar. Once there he becomes caught up in a dangerous operation involving Russian mercenaries, a rogue general, and an infamous arms trader. Meanwhile British Intelligence is playing catch-up, with the controller on the ground in Zanzibar only gradually coming to realise what has happened. While back in London, the bosses of the Legends Program have to deal with a major IT and physical attack on the program.

The twin storylines work really well, with the political and inter-service maneuverings of the Intelligence mandarins in London, nicely contrasted with the on-the-ground action of the scenes in Zanzibar. The pace is brisk throughout, with just the occasional pause for descriptive passages of the sights and smells of Zanzibar and Tulloch’s internal angst over his situation.

Some suspensions of disbelief are required, especially around Tulloch’s actions, but this is well offset and grounded by convincing details around spycraft, and credible descriptions of intelligence operations. The multiple viewpoints are well handled, and each of the characters are interesting in their own rights, particularly the agent on the ground in Tanzania, Nicola Ellis, and Adil Komba from the Tanzanian Intelligence and Security Service.

After some good build-up, the ending delivers with a violent maelstrom of action and killing, and the requisite twists and turns. The identity of the ‘mole’ at the centre of the operation is not overly surprising, but the steps to their unveiling are well worked out.

In all, a very impressive debut that reminded me at times of the recent novels by Charles Cumming. I suspect that it is going to be the start of a very successful series for Goodman.

A Reluctant Spy will be released in Australia and the United Kingdom on 12 September 2024.