Fantastic - 5 stars

The second outing for Gabriel Dax, William Boyd's endearing but somewhat reluctant double spy……” his other unsought-for, parallel existence, his life in the shadowy fringes of the espionage world”...... He is approached again by his MI6 handler Faith Green to travel to Guatemala and assess would be presidential candidate: Padre Tiago, could he be viewed as a friend of the Americans? At the same time the Russians want him to pass back information concerning Fatih Brown, who also somewhat confusingly is Gabriel Dax’s part time lover. Whilst in Guatemala Dax befriends 2 CIA agents, Frank Sartorius and Dean Furlan. Furlan states he is in the restaurant trade and looking to buy Guatemalan coffee. An unexpected incident occurs and Dax is called back to London for a new mission in Berlin. The plot at this stage goes in a very dangerous direction and becomes wrapped up in a worldwide historical visit. Running alongside the main story is Dax’s infatuation with Faith Green who is happy to sleep with him but shuns long term commitment……is she playing him? As all this excitement is happening Dax feels the need to visit a psychoanalyst Katerina Hass (their conversations add a dash of humour :), paid for by Russian blood money. In Berlin Gabriel unbelievably encounters Dean Furlan, is he really a coffee buyer?...or is there a dangerous sinister plot to destabilise the Western world?

This is brilliant, fast, taut writing of the highest order, mixing fact with fiction, bringing to life the complicated, unpredictable life of reluctant antihero and spy Gabriel Dax. I cannot wait for the third outing by one of our greatest authors. Highly recommended!