21 March 2022
Is it possible to write a contemporary spy novel that lives up to the Cold War classics? This may seem an odd idea for someone in my line of work to entertain, let alone allow through the front door, but it keeps coming back like an uninvited guest. At times it wants to sit by the fire, put its feet up and talk about the past: did the Cold War give rise to a set of conditions uniquely favourable to spy writers? At other times it rolls up its sleeves and gets straight down to business: what ingredients are required to create a modern classic? In the middle of the night it jabs an accusing finger: you're wasting your time, it says. Well? Am I?