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I have never come across Charles Cumming before however I will now be looking out for any books by him. Accompanying his schoolfriend Xavier Bonnard to France in 1989, Kite must gather information about one of the family’s houseguests, an Iranian businessman who may have been involved in the Lockerbie bombing. He eventually settles down, becoming friends with the wealthy Xavier Bonnard, accepted by and staying with Xavier's family in their various homes in the holidays. As he finished boarding school Lachlan Kite was persuaded to spy on his friend’s father and his Iranian business associate whilst holidaying with the family during the summer.
It’s not just the events, though: Cumming is able to bring each of the settings to life brilliantly, without over-describing or spoon-feeding the reader. I really hope that this is going to be part of a bigger series involving Lachlan Kite because he's been built up so well in this novel - he feels like a fleshed out character, which is sometimes missing from fast-paced thrillers. The ease with which Box 88 tested the young Lochlan Kite prior to him being approached to become a spy was rather fanciful and almost impossible to pull off in real life, witnessed by the lack of explanation of the ticket inspector. As this book straddles the 1980s to the present day, we are treated to good old fashioned dead drops, Moscow rules and the long entrenched traditions of classic spy craft, as well as it’s more contemporary, more impersonal equivalents - the spawn of the technological revolution. He is not so close to the chilling and distant beauty that his mother, and plays an instrumental part in helping to run their Scottish hotel.The Lockerbie bombing looms large in people’s minds, Salman Rushdie is in protective custody following Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa and events in Tehran continue to cause concerns. All the characters are very real and I really cared for Lachlan and his team, that they would reach him in time. As soon as I have finished one of Charles Cumming's' spy novels, I am waiting impatiently for the next one. As someone who grew up unhappy (and not belonging) at a British boarding school, there were a lot of amusing, sometimes uncomfortably reminiscent, flashback details and moments when I felt sympathy for Kite — Cumming critiques the elite school system brilliantly, highlighting its inequities and bizarre Darwinian elements. This is the story of Lachlan (Lockie) Kite and how he is recruited into Box 88, a covert, below the radar US/UK espionage group.
Cole expertly ratchets up the tension as this tale of systemic racism, rampant capitalism and the concomitant exploitation of the poor and disadvantaged becomes increasingly and terrifyingly macabre. I am assuming there are many more books by this author, and I want to read them all, judging by this one. It’s clear from the start that Lockie is going to be a great asset as he shows real initiative even as a young man.
It’s brilliantly done: the pace and structure of the story and the character development (of all the leading players) drew me in totally. I think this is the author’s best book to date and even better it appears to be the start of a series featuring Lachlan Kite. The stories tend to be complex puzzles you have to be on your game to unravel and usually told in a manner that ensures you have to pay very close attention to the detail.
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