A fast-paced and fascinating tale which draws the reader into the pre-war spying world. In the months leading up to the declaration of war, four unlikely new agents, three men and one highly intelligent young woman, are recruited by British Intelligence. We follow their meanderings across Europe as each meets up with Knox, their military liaison officer. Their mission is to flush out and identify a counter spy referred to as ‘The Spider’. They are pursued by our arch villain, Hildebrandt, who has an uncanny knack of involving himself in hunting down each of our spies. All four are eventually drawn to Vienna and an exciting and unexpected denouement. Initially you are introduced to a plethora of characters, a bit confusing, but that's spying for you. This is an excellent read.
From the secret archives of the Comptrollerate-General for Scrutiny and Survey. Summer 1914: Europe is on the brink. As Britain's enemies grow stronger, the Comptroller-General must confront the man with whom he has struggled for a generation - a man he knows only as the Spider. In a desperate gamble, he sends four agents out across the continent, on a mission they do not understand...The future of British intelligence - of the British Empire - is in their hands. Not all of them will return. Unique and resourceful, hunted and deceived, they have embarked on a journey that will climax in the town of Sarajevo on the 28th of June 1914.
Robert Wilton has held a variety of posts in the British Ministry of Defence, Foreign Office and Cabinet Office. He was advisor to the Prime Minister of Kosovo in the lead-up to the country's independence, and has now returned there as a senior international official. He divides his time between Kosovo and Cornwall.
