Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Watchman: A Novel

Ian Rankin

British political spy thriller with all the bells and whistles expected in such a thriller. Intrigue and infighting between MI-6, MI-5, Special Branch, and "the cousins". Irish intrigue, tabloid press and the constant wondering about who is good, who is bad and who is helping whom. As with many of these well written and semi-realistic stories, the answers to the good/bad question is not always answered. Spying is just darn complex. Miles Flint is our protagonist who is part of the Watcher task group, which is the internal surveillance system for the British. A couple of screw-ups by the team leads Miles (a dedicated and well trained watchman) to start asking questions which of course brings attention to him. Miles is supposed to watch, to be invisible, not be watched. So a series of decisions, both by Miles and others, leads to the development of Miles from a passive man of observation to a decisive man of action. You will have to read it to see how it all turns out.

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