The Agent Runner - Softcover

Conway, Simon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0992995639 ISBN 13: 9780992995638

Publisher: Pembury House Publishing, 2014

Synopsis

Ed found it difficult to explain why he felt such a strong allegiance to Britain, perhaps because he found it difficult to define what it meant to be British. British by birth, foreign by descent and agnostic by conviction, Edward Henry Malik is an MI6 agent-runner. For four years he has been running an agent codenamed Nightingale inside the ISI, Pakistan’s Hydra-headed spying agency. Then, in the aftermath of the death of Osama bin Laden, Nightingale is unmasked and Ed’s world dramatically falls apart. Dismissed from MI6 and with his reputation in tatters, Ed returns to his roots in the immigrant enclave of Whitechapel in London’s East End. He finds a job at a freight forwarding office and unexpectedly falls in love with the proprietor’s daughter. It seems as if he has finally found respite from his demons. But you can’t escape your past. Ed knows too much and he has come to the attention of the Hidden Hand – Pakistan’s legendary spy of spies – Major-General Javid Aslam Khan. From the teeming city of Lahore to the anarchic tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, with a plot to detonate the dirtiest bomb imaginable, The Agent Runner carves a dramatic arc across modern Pakistan and reaches a thunderous climax in the mountains of the Hindu Kush. Praise for A Loyal Spy: “It's sprawling, violent and contemporary, with whiffs of authenticity that lift it above the crowd” The Spectator “Conway has concocted a credible, and wholly cynical, tale of dirt, death and double-dealing” The Times “A LOYAL SPY is so vivid, so real, that reading it you sense Simon Conway must almost have lived it himself” Jon Snow

About this title

Review:

In this hard-nosed thriller . . . Conway, a former British army officer, excels at capturing the brutality and duplicity of the ways of espionage. Many of his scenes, particularly late in the story, are disturbingly realistic, with magnetism that plays out before your unblinking eyes.” Publishers Weekly

Conway’s lean and propulsive prose makes the moral murk of deceit and betrayal compelling, and his take on the historic price of British involvement in the Middle East rings true.” Booklist

If you’re in the mood for duplicity, violence and behind-the-scenes political deal-making, you’ve come to the right place. Conway delivers in such an authoritative manner that the reader may suspect this is a true story that never quite made it to the headlines.” BookPage

"From first to last, The Agent Runner is smart, authoritative and completely immersive, a pleasure to read. Simon Conway knows his espionage and, equally important, knows how to write. This is a terrific thriller." Richard North Patterson, New York Times bestselling author

Conway is a master of taut, evocative prose, delivering blanching terror at a relentless pace. The Agent Runner is a dazzling tale of the wrenching human toll wrought by clandestine geopolitics.” Eliot Pattison, award-winning author of the Inspector Shan series

"An edgy, brutal thriller that serves up a dangerous cocktail of double agents, nasty sex, drugs and sadistic torture. Simon Conway takes us behind the headlines in Pakistan and Afghanistan, unveiling a grotesque nightmare of betrayal, violence and political vendettas in the aftermath of 9/11. Every page contains a hidden landmine and nobody is spared. An explosive read, right down to the final paragraph." Stephen Alter, author of The Rataban Betrayal

"Vivid, true to life, brilliantly written, The Agent Runner by Simon Conway is OUTSTANDING!" Jon Snow, broadcaster, Channel 4 News

"A classic tale of spies and subterfuge set in modern Afghanistan" The Scotsman

"Barely giv[es] the reader a chance to draw breath." Express Tribune, Karachi

A thumping read that joins the dots in the War on Terror. Conway writes with passion and authority.” Tim Butcher, author of Blood River

It’s sprawling, violent, and contemporary, with whiffs of authenticity that lift it above the crowd.” Spectator (for A Loyal Spy)

Conway has concocted a credible, and wholly cynical, tale of dirt, death, and double-dealing.” Times (for A Loyal Spy)

About the Author:

Simon Conway is a former British Army officer and international aid worker who has cleared landmines and unexploded bombs in the aftermath of war in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. As Co-Chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition he successfully campaigned for an international ban on cluster bombs. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the mine clearance charity The HALO Trust and travels regularly overseas. He is the author of five novels including the 2010 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger winner 'A Loyal Spy'.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pembury House Publishing
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0992995639
• ISBN 13: 9780992995638
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 294