Old Flames

by John Lawton

Book Overview

Brilliantly evoking the intrigue of the Cold War and 1950s London, John Lawtons thrilling sequel to "Black Out" takes Inspector Troy deep into the rotten heart of MI6, the distant days of his childhood, and the dangerous arms of an old flame: Larissa Tosca, late of the U.S. Army, later still of the KGB. It is April 1956, and an official visit to Britain by Soviet leaders Khrushchev and Bulganin is unexpectedly interrupted when a mutilated body is...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0871138646
• ISBN13: 9780871138644
• Release Date: November 2002
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

And I thought the 1950s were boring...

I actually contemplated calling in sick to stay home from work and finish this book. That is high praise indeed. Other reviewers have recounted the plot twists and turns. Why did I find this book so compelling? First, Lawton's evocation of place. I now live in a city where it rarely rains, but I remember summer downpours in England, when the rain bounces off the pavement soaking you from below as well as from above. Lawton brought that back to me. He also beautifully conveyed the strangeness and tranquility of "the vast Georgian pile that was Mimram House," Troy's country estate. Second, Frederick Troy is my favorite kind of protagonist: flawed and perfectly believeable. He is cynical, sexy, smart, gullible,and rebellious. He also has a wacky family as a supporting cast, including weird and creepy twin sisters. Lawton does a better job with male characters than with female characters. I actually detested Tosca and couldn't wait for something bad to happen to her (not that I'm saying it does...). Third, I was fascinated by the historical context -- post-War, Cold War Britain, which was so different from the United States. I always wondered how spies like Kim Philby were recruited and what motivated them. Now I know. I cannot wait to read the other books in Lawton's Frederick Troy series. I need to go back to "Black Out" and find out what happened to Diana Brack.

A Powerful Slow-Burner

I came late to this book. I'd read the one that came first (Black Out) and the one that comes after (White Death). This is the best of the three. But if you're reading it for the thrills you're wasting your time. Reading Lawton for thrills or worse for the 'whodunnit' is like reading Kurt Vonnegut and complaining that his sci-fi is nothing like Star Wars. Who dun it isn't even on the map. These books are the most sophisticated literary historicals to come out of England in 25 years. His dialogue fizzles, his metaphors meander, his characters bring history roaring to life. Old Flames takes as its plot the events of 1956 - when Britain invaded Egypt - a low tide in the Special Relationship between Britain and Uncle Sam. This is 2004. What, in letters 8 miles high, could be more topical?

slow start but a sprint at the end

i read a few espionage novels each year, in amidst many mystery/police procedural novels. this is the best in the past few years. i liked a recently read alan furst novel, but i'd have to say this one was more satisfying. furst is good. lawton is very good. i didn't know the history, so the author's liberty with it didn't bother me. but i enjoyed the history and the author explains at the end that while he takes some liberties, he's not distorted events.more cerebral than deighton; akin to le carre.

terrific espionage thriller

In 1956, Nikita Khrushchev visits England. Because he can speak Russian, having moved from there as a child, Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Frederick Troy is assigned as Khrushchev's escort, his (and the English) interpreter, and English spy. Most cops would loath the assignment, but Frederick even more so because of his espionage assignments during WW II and his gut belief that his father was a spy and traitor.As Khrushchev gets ready to depart (to Troy's relief), in Portsmouth Harbour the mutilated body of a navy diver Lieutenant (R) Arnold Cockerell is found though his wife says the corpse is not him, but provides no explanation as to where he is. Evidence leads to the conclusion that Cockerell, a furniture salesman, apparently was a spy, but no one confesses that he was employed by them, leaving the police to wonder for whom did he work? Troy is involved in that case and wrapping up his spying on Khrushchev, but also has personal problems to contend with, as his family detests the past resurfacing and his former deadly KGB old flame making a return into his life.OLD FLAMES is a powerful espionage tale that plays out on two levels. First, the story line is an atmospheric Cold War spy novel set at a time when England and the West are shocked by the Philby-Burgess scandals and Khrushchev is screaming nuclear burial. The ploy also provides a subtle humor to all the spy and counterspy activity. Troy keeps the tale together as the audience receives a terrific espionage thriller cleverly inter-wrapped with a probing police procedural like a Moebius Band.Harriet Klausner

John Le Carre meets Agatha Christie

This witty, quick-paced book offers much more than a surprising plot leading through several layers of suspense. The selection of characters is as rich as in the best of Agatha Christie's works, but their psychological portraits are much more sophisticated and fine-tuned. Lawton succeeds also in "smuggling" some insights into the mentality of the post-war England, and he treats the subject lighter, though equally deep, than John Le Carre. His literary style gives a pleasure in itself.