The location: West Africa

The player: 24-year-old spy Lachlan Kite

The target: A war criminal on the run

The objective: Kill or capture

Kite’s mission should be straightforward, but it soon turns into a terrifying game of cat and mouse along the beaches and backstreets of Senegal. Now, nearly thirty years later, it seems the game isn’t over.

And unless Kite can turn the tables on his pursuers, the inner workings of the secret state could be exposed…

An organisation that doesn’t exist. A spy that can’t be caught. Years ago, a spy was born… 1989: The Cold War will soon be over, but for BOX 88, a top secret spying agency, the espionage game is heating up. Lachlan Kite is sent to France to gather intelligence on the Lockerbie bombing. What he uncovers is terrifying… Now he faces the deadliest decision of his life… 2020: Kite has been taken captive and brutally tortured. He now has a choice: reveal the truth about what happened in France thirty years earlier – or watch his family die. In a battle unlike anything he has faced before, Kite must use all his skills to stay alive. ’A spy for the 21st century’Daily Mail, Books of the Year ‘Wonderfully taut, exciting and up-to-date’Spectator, Books of the Year ‘An ambitious fusion of coming-of-age novel and gripping espionage thriller’Financial Times, Books of the Year ‘BOX 88 is so good. Charles Cumming is up there with the very best espionage writers’ Ian Rankin ‘A wonderful spy novel; Charles Cumming’s most ambitious – and his best – yet’ Mick Herron ‘Charles Cumming has breathed new life into the spy novel’ Ben Macintyre ‘Atmospheric and full of sharply realised characters’ Sunday Times ‘A clever thriller’ Sun ‘Intelligence, grace, and stunning verisimilitude’ Gregg Hurwitz ‘An engaging hero’ James Swallow ‘All the hallmarks of the finest spy thriller’ Charlotte Philby ‘Sharp-eyed and satisfying’ Henry Porter ‘A great new spy hero is born’ Amanda Craig ‘Ideal for anyone nostalgic for their first love and the whiff of Marlboro Lights’ The Times

From the Top 10 Sunday Times bestselling author and winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller of the Year. Perfect for fans of John le Carre, Charles Cumming is 'the master of the modern spy thriller' (Mail on Sunday) Thomas Kell is a disgraced agent who longs to come in from the cold. When MI6's top spy in Turkey is killed in a mysterious plane crash, his chance arrives... for Kell is the only man Service Chief Amelia Levene can trust to investigate the accident. In Istanbul, Kell soon discovers that there is a traitor inside Western Intelligence. Then he meets Rachel- the dead spy's daughter- and the stakes grow higher still. From London to Greece and into Eastern Europe, Kell tracks the mole. But a betrayal close to home transforms the operation into something more personal. Soon Kell will stop at nothing to see it through.

The second book in Charles Cumming's gripping new thriller series surrounding BOX 88 - a covert intelligence organization that operates below the radar. A spy in one of the most dangerous places on Earth... 1993: Student Lachlan Kite is sent to Russia by secret intelligence agency BOX 88. To the outside world, he is there as a language teacher. In reality, he is there as a spy. But Kite's mission soon goes wrong and he is left stranded with a former KGB officer on his trail. An old enemy looking for revenge... 2020: Kite discovers he has been placed on the 'JUDAS' list -enemies of Russia who have been targeted for assassination. His only hope of survival is to confront the Russian secret state head on... Who will come out on top in this deadly game of cat and mouse? 'Judas 62 has all you could want from a tense, topical and intelligent spy thriller' The Times Books of the Year

Six years ago, after working for the British Secret Intelligence Service, Alec Milius got out of the spy game after being drummed out by MI6. His retirement came at unbearably great personal cost. But just because he's walked away from the life, it doesn't mean that that life has walked away from him.
Now living in exile in Madrid, quietly and as far under the radar as possible, Milius keeps a constant eye out for the enemies he made, hoping to avoid any future involvement. Yet when a prominent Basque politician goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Milius soon finds himself embroiled in another international conspiracy.
Introduced in "A Spy by Nature," Alec Milius returns in "The Spanish Game," a compelling, modern espionage novel from a writer widely acclaimed as a modern master of the form.

Winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller of the Year. Selected by Sunday Times Books of the Year and The Guardian as Best Thriller of the Year. Perfect for fans of John le Carre, a gripping and suspenseful spy thriller from 'the master of the modern spy thriller' (Mail on Sunday) Six weeks before she is due to become the first female head of MI6, Amelia Levene disappears without a trace. Disgraced ex-agent Thomas Kell is brought in from the cold with orders to find her - quickly and quietly. The mission offers Kell a way back into the secret world, the only life he's ever known. Tracking her through France and North Africa, Kell embarks on a dangerous voyage, shadowed by foreign intelligence services. This far from home soil, the rules of the game are entirely different - and the consequences worse than anyone imagines...

"Tautly written, cleverly plotted...it reminded me strongly of the early books of John le Carre" -- Robert Harris, author of "The Ghost" and "Fatherland" "Charles Cumming is a man put on earth to perpetuate the spy thriller." "--The Daily Telegraph" ..".supremely intelligent and utterly readable...Smartly paced and intricately plotted, Cumming's decidedly unglamorous look at industrial espionage provides plenty of elaborate deceits, double crosses and other trappings of a first-class spy thriller." --"Publishers Weekly "(starred review)
Alec Milius, a recent graduate of the London School of Economics, is young, smart, and a bit of a slacker, stuck in a shady job and suffering from a lack of direction. So, when an old family friend offers to put him up for a job in British Intelligence, Alec begins the rigorous selection process for SIS or MI6. Though he doesn't officially make the cut, he is funneled into a prime position at a British oil company with interests in the Caspian Sea. He is directed to befriend Fortner Grice and Katharine Simms, two charismatic employees of Andromeda, a rival American oil firm. Lured into the murky world of industrial espionage, Millius finds himself trapped in a life of secrets and lies, manipulated by MI6 and the CIA, and confronted by the reality of a ruthless business environment in which priceless information can come at the cost of human life. Compellingly told, utterly authentic, and heart-racingly tense, "A Spy By Nature "will grip you until the very last page.

A "Washington Post" Notable Fiction Book for 2011

The most closely-guarded secret of the Cold War is about to be exposed - the identity of a SIXTH member of the infamous Cambridge spy ring. And people are killing for it...

London, 1992. Late one night, Edward Crane, 76, is declared dead at a London hospital. An obituary describes him only as a 'resourceful career diplomat'. But Crane was much more than that - and the circumstances surrounding his death are far from what they seem.

Fifteen years later, academic Sam Gaddis needs money. When a journalist friend asks for his help researching a possible sixth member of the notorious Trinity spy ring, Gaddis knows that she's onto a story that could turn his fortunes around. But within hours the journalist is dead, apparently from a heart attack.

Taking over her investigation, Gaddis trails a man who claims to know the truth about Edward Crane. Europe still echoes with decades of deadly disinformation on both sides of the Iron Curtain. And as Gaddis follows a series of leads across the continent, he approaches a shocking revelation - one which will rock the foundations of politics from London to Moscow...

"Cumming's novel is characterized by a gripping sense of realism. He displays a vast knowledge of spycraft and Cold War history, and the dense, three-dimensional world he crafts comes complete with seedy hotels and smoky nightclubs. The result is absolutely gripping. Taut, atmospheric and immersive--an instant classic." - "Kirkus Reviews" (starred review) on "The Trinity Six"

"The Trinity Six" is a Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Thrillers title.

The third book in Charles Cumming’s gripping new thriller series surrounding BOX 88 – a covert intelligence organization that operates below the radar.

1995: In the wake of the Rwandan genocide, 24-year-old spy Lachlan Kite and his girlfriend, Martha Raine, are sent to Senegal on the trail of a hunted war criminal. The mission threatens to spiral out of control, forcing Kite to make choices that will have devastating consequences not only for his career at top-secret intelligence agency BOX 88, but also for his relationship with Martha.

2023: Eric Appiah, an old friend from Kite’s days at school and an off-the-record BOX 88 asset, makes contact with explosive information about what happened all those years ago in West Africa. When tragedy strikes, Kite must use all his resources to bring down a criminal network with links to international terror … and protect Martha from possible assassination.

From the winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2012 for Best Thriller of the Year comes a gripping and suspenseful spy novel. Perfect for fans of John le Carre, Charles Cumming is 'the master of the modern spy thriller' (Mail on Sunday) Mark and Benjamin Keen have not seen their father, Christopher, for more than twenty years. Hoping for a reconciliation, Christopher reappears, but he has only just begun to shed light on his life in the secret service when he is murdered in cold blood by an unidentified assassin. Was his death connected to his MI6 past? Did Christopher uncover a dangerous conspiracy involving his elder son? And what were his links to Moscow, Afghanistan and the Russian mafia in London? To discover the truth - and avenge their father's death - the brothers are drawn into the legacy of his life as a spy. And inheritance can be deadly...

A Sunday Times top ten bestseller perfect for fans of John le Carre, from the winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller of the Year and 'the master of the modern spy thriller' (Mail on Sunday). A NEW COLD WAR IS LOOMING Former MI6 officer Thomas Kell thought he was done with spying. Until the Russian agent he blames for the death of his girlfriend is spotted at a Red Sea resort - in dangerous company. ONE SPY WANTS REVENGE Taking the law into his own hands, Kell embarks on a mission to recruit his rival. Only to find himself in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse in which it becomes increasingly difficult to know who is playing whom. THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL As the mission reaches boiling point, rumours of a terrorist attack suggest a massacre on Britain soil is imminent. Kell is faced with an impossible choice. Loyalty to MI6 - or to his own conscience?

'Recommended. I read it one breathless sitting' Ian Rankin A gripping new standalone spy thriller, recalling the classic film Casablanca, from the winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller of the Year and 'the master of the modern spy thriller' (Mail on Sunday). A SIMPLE TASK Successful novelist Kit Carradine has grown restless. So when British Intelligence invites him to enter the secret world of espionage, he willingly takes a leap into the unknown. A GLOBAL THREAT Kit finds himself in Morocco on the trail of Lara Bartok - a leading figure in Resurrection, a revolutionary movement whose brutal attacks on right-wing politicians have spread violence throughout the West. A DANGEROUS TARGET Drawn to Lara, but caught between competing intelligence services who want her dead, Kit faces an awful choice: abandon her to her fate or risk everything trying to save her. 'An instant classic of the genre' Mick Herron 'The Man Between is up there with the best - full of thrills, wit and fine writing' Peter Robinson

From the winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2012 for Best Thriller of the Year comes a gripping and suspenseful spy novel. Perfect for fans of John le Carre, Charles Cumming is 'the master of the modern spy thriller' (Mail on Sunday) Hong Kong, 1997. Only a few short months of British rule remain before the territory returns to Chinese control. It's a feverish city. And the spooks are hard at work, jostling for position and influence. So when an elderly man emerges from the sea, claiming to know secrets he will share only with the British Governor, a young MI6 officer, Joe Lennox, sees the chance to make his reputation. But when the old man, a high-profile Chinese professor, is spirited away in the middle of the night by the CIA, it's clear that there's a great deal more at stake here than a young spy's career. The professor holds the key to a sinister and ambitious plan that could have catastrophic repercussions for the world in the twenty-first century...

The third book in Charles Cumming’s gripping new thriller series surrounding BOX 88 – a covert intelligence organization that operates below the radar. 1995: In the wake of the Rwandan genocide, 24-year-old spy Lachlan Kite and his girlfriend, Martha Raine, are sent to Senegal on the trail of a hunted war criminal. The mission threatens to spiral out of control, forcing Kite to make choices which will have devastating consequences not only for his career at top-secret intelligence agency BOX 88, but also for his relationship with Martha. 2023: Eric Appiah, an old friend from Kite’s days at school and an off-the-record BOX 88 asset, makes contact with explosive information about what happened all those years ago in West Africa. When tragedy strikes, Kite must use all his resources to bring down a criminal network with links to international terror … and protect Martha from possible assassination.