Charles Cumming was in the US in December to publicize the American release of the second book in his "Box 88" series of spy novels. These books feature a protagonist named Lachlan Kite. Kite works for the super secret intelligence agency Box 88. It is so secret that even the CIA and MI6 are unaware that it exists.
In the first book, Box 88, Kite was just beginning his career as an undercover operative. Cumming takes us back and forth between flashbacks of the young Kite spying on an Iranian villain in France and more recent events as Kite's wife is being held hostage by, you guessed it, some Iranian bad guys. Kite's past always seems to overlap with his present.
In the second novel, Judas 62, once again we meet the young Kite as he is living undercover in Russia while trying to discreetly smuggle a Russian scientist out of the country. We have flashbacks to that sequence of activities interspersed with Kite's movement in the present as he uses that same scientist as bait while attempting to lure a guy named Gromik, his nemesis during the original extraction of the scientist, out from under his deep cover in Dubai.
When Charles was in New York we were unable to schedule an interview. Thankfully, the author is a real gent, he agreed to call in to us once he was back home in London and we were able to complete an interview. Such a generous writer, and his books give readers great value, they are long, thick, propulsive thrillers.
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, and Wright Memorial Public Library.
