Hammer to Fall

Description

It's London, the swinging sixties, and by rights MI6 spy Joe Wilderness should be having as good a time as James Bond. But alas, in the wake of an embarrassing disaster for MI6, Wilderness has been posted to remote northern Finland in a cultural exchange program to promote Britain abroad. Bored by his work, with nothing to spy on, Wilderness finds another way to make money: smuggling vodka across the border into the USSR. He strikes a deal with old KGB pal Kostya, who explains to him there is a vodka shortage in the Soviet Union - but there is something fishy about Kostya's sudden appearance in Finland and intelligence from London points to a connection to cobalt mining in the region, a critical component in the casing of the atomic bomb. Wilderness's posting is getting more interesting by the minute, but more dangerous too. Moving from the no-man's-land of Cold War Finland to the wild days of the Prague Spring, and populated by old friends (including Inspector Troy) and old enemies alike, Hammer to Fall is a gripping tale of deception and skullduggery, of art and politics, a page-turning story of the always riveting life of the British spy. 'The thriller writer's thriller writer returns with one of his best: a dark tale of treachery and betrayal with a humdinger of an ending.' - The i 'It's a blast...all the elements coalesce for the superbly tense showdown' - The Times

John Lawton worked for Channel 4 for many years, and, among many others, produced Harold Pinter's O Superman, the least-watched most-argued-over programme of the 90s. He has written eight novels in the Inspector Troy series, three Joe Wilderness novels, the standalone Sweet Sunday, a couple of short stories and the occasional essay. He writes very slowly and almost entirely on the hoof in the USA or Italy, but professes to be a resident of a tiny village in the Derbyshire Peak District.

'The thriller writer's thriller writer returns with one of his best: a dark tale of treachery and betrayal with a humdinger of an ending.' - The i 'It's a blast...all the elements coalesce for the superbly tense showdown' - The Times 'An entertaining read, with an intelligent backdrop of cold-war geopolitics.' - Financial Times 'Those of you who like your fiction based firmly in historical fact, with walk-on parts from the great and the good of the age, scattered with literary, political and cultural references and frequently hilarious to boot, are in for a real treat...This book and its predecessors are such a valuable tonic in these dark times.' - Shots