Secret Asset

Zusatztext “Stella Rimington bids to join the ranks of such secret agent-authors as W. Somerset Maugham! Graham Greene! [and] John le Carré.”— The Wall Street Journal “Welcome a new queen of the genre. . . . Stella Rimington! who was the first female director of MI-5! knows of what she writes.”— The Washington Times “Intelligent! vivid . . . [with] rich insider detail.” — The Plain Dealer “Brisk pacing and intelligent attention to detail make this thriller one of the better spy stories of recent times.” — Mystery Scene Informationen zum Autor Stella Rimington Klappentext Liz Carlyle, the quick, passionate intelligence officer of Britain's MI5, returns to defuse a terrorist plot in this high-stakes, high-tension tale of international espionage. When it appears a "secret asset”—a sleeper spy—has infiltrated British Intelligence, the Director of Counter-Terrorism assigns Liz Carlyle to dig up the mole. The spy, possibly a former IRA operative now working with British-born Al Qaeda sympathizers, has one thing on his (or her?) mind: total devastation. With a major attack looming, Liz must trust her instincts and move fast. But this assignment is deadly, and suddenly she feels like she has wandered into a wilderness of mirrors, where nothing is what is seems and no-one can be trusted. Chapter One In the upmarket bathroom shop in Regent’s Park Road in North London, the slim brown-haired woman was showing a close interest in the display of tiles. “Do you need some help?” asked the young male assistant, who was keen to close since it was almost seven o’clock in the evening.Liz Carlyle was killing time. In trainers and designer jeans, she looked like any of the wealthy young married women who drifted in and out of the interior-design shops and boutiques of this part of London. But Liz was neither wealthy nor married and she was certainly not drifting. She was very focused indeed. She was waiting for the device she held tightly in her left hand to vibrate once—the signal that it was safe for her to proceed to the meeting in the coffee shop further down the road. In the mirror on the shop wall facing her, she could see Wally Woods, the leader of the A4 team providing counter- surveillance backup, taking his time buying an Evening Standard from the newsvendor on the corner.He had already sent the two pulses, which signalled that her contact, Marzipan, was inside the café waiting for her. Once his team further up the street on either side were satisfied that no one had followed Marzipan, Wally would send the okay.A young Asian man, dressed in black jeans and a hooded top, came along from the direction of Chalk Farm Underground Station. Wally and his team watched tensely as he paused to look in an estate agent’s window. Moving on, he crossed over and left Regent’s Park Road, walking off into the distance down a side street. Now the device in Liz’s hand vibrated once. “Thanks very much,” said Liz to the relieved shop assistant. “I’ll bring my husband in tomorrow evening and we’ll decide then.” She left the shop, turned right and walked quickly along the street to the coffee shop, which she entered without hesitating, all under the watchful eyes of the A4 team.Inside, Liz waited at the counter to order a cappuccino. She felt the familiar tension in her stomach, the quickened beating of her heart, which always accompanied work on the front line. She had missed this excitement. For the last four months or so, she had been on convalescent leave, following a counter-terrorist operation in Norfolk at the end of the previous year.She’d gone down to her mother’s house in Wiltshire almost immediately after the MI5 doctor had ordered her off work. In the ensuing weeks she’d soon been well enough to help her mother in the garden centre she ran. On days off, they’d visited National Trust houses and cooked elaborate dinners for two; occasionally, at the weekend they would socialise...

Product details

• Authors: Stella Rimington
• Publisher: Vintage USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 06.05.2008
• EAN: 9781400079827
• ISBN: 978-1-4000-7982-7
• No. of pages: 368
• Dimensions: 133 mm x 204 mm x 20 mm
• Series: Agent Liz Carlyle Series; Agent Liz Carlyle Series; Agent Liz Carlyle
• Subject: Fiction > Suspense