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[extract] It wasn't just a question of sharpness, Kane thought. Missions like this took a particular kind of willpower. A suspension of disbelief. He knew men braver than any, the ones you sent in when no one else would go, who one day kitted up and couldn't walk out the door. And they had to step away from the front line forever because-this was Kane's analysis-they had become sane: suddenly, painfully sane. They didn't crave the cocktail of testosterone and adrenaline that overrode this sanity, couldn't justify the willingness to inflict pain on others. They were healed.
Praise for A Shadow Intelligence 'Tremendous'
Sunday Times Crime Club star pick
'Elliott Kane is an unusually thoughtful spy... As much a thinker as a doer, Kane has much in common with le Carré's Jerry Westerby'
Irish Times[thumbnail of A SHADOW INTELLIGENCE cover]
About the author
Oliver Harris was born in London but now lives in Manchester. He is the author of the Nick Belsey series of crime novels, plus two novels featuring MI6 officer Elliot Kane. He teaches creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Summary
'One of our finest thriller writers' Evening Standard
A BBC2 BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK 2021
'Oliver Harris is always pure quality' Ian Rankin
'A fascinating tale of modern espionage in a unique setting' Irish Independent
Three friends from a mission many years ago reconnect when one of them dies in mysterious circumstances on remote Ascension Island. Rory Bannatyne had been tasked with tapping a new transatlantic data cable, but a day before he was due to return home he is found hanged. When Kathryn Taylor, on the South Atlantic MI5 desk, begs ex-spy Elliot Kane to go over and investigate, he can't say no, but it's an uneasy reintroduction to the intelligence game.
Entirely isolated from the world, the disappearance of a young girl on the island at the same time as Rory's death means local tensions are high. Elliot needs to discover what happened to her as well as to Rory. But the island contains more secrets than even the government knows, and it's not going to give them up without a fight.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
'Captivating...Gripping, relevant and frenetic. You'll be hard pressed to put this one down for a second' Amazon reader five star review
'Stunning spy novel...This is the best of its genre I've read' Amazon reader five star review
'A bit like a thinking person's Lee Child' Amazon reader five star review
Foreword
A brilliant and gripping literary thriller, set on Ascension Island - one of the remotest places in the world...
Additional text
Oliver Harris is always pure quality and I'm loving the hell out of his foray into the contemporary spy novel. Elegant and compulsive'
