The new installment in Stella Rimington?s series of ?frighteningly authentic? espionage thrillers (Chicago Tribune) featuring the fiercely intelligent, ambitious MI5 officer Liz Carlyle.

Liz has been transferred to counter-espionage?the hub of MI5 operations during the Cold War, which has been scaled back as anti-terrorism has gained priority. But there?s plenty for her to do: there are more spies operating in London in the twenty-first century than there were during the height of East-West hostilities. Even the Russians still have a large contingent, although now they spy on the international financial community and on the wealthy ex-pat oligarchs who make England their domain.

In her new assignment, Liz quickly uncovers a plot to silence one of these Russians: Nikita Brunovsky, an increasingly vocal opponent of Vladimir Putin. The Foreign Office is adamant about forestalling a crime that could become a full-blown international incident, but there?s not a single clue as to how the assassination will be carried out?and Liz is solely responsible for averting disaster. So she goes undercover, attaching herself to Brunovsky?s retinue: racing against the clock to determine who betrayed him and suddenly facing a wholly unexpected second task?unmasking a Russian operative working undercover alongside her.

Dame Stella has once again distilled her experience as the first woman Director General of MI5 into a spy novel of arresting psychological complexity and unflagging suspense.