JUDAS 62: The gripping new spy action thriller featuring BOX 88 from the master of the 21st century spy novel (BOX 88, Book 2)

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Box 88’s second outing, and you can’t help feeling that Cumming missed a trick here as this is pretty much two books in one, partly set in a world of Covid lockdowns, masks and temperature tests, a large portion of the story is told in flashback, and centres around Lachlan Kite’s second job for Box 88 as he’s sent to Voronezh in Yeltsin run Russia to help a chemical weapons scientist defect.

That same president can accuse his opponent’s son of corruption while his own children enrich themselves in full view of the American people.I do feel that Kite’s public school background has been fleshed out enough though and hope the next book deals entirely with the grown up Kite and his Box 88 team. The newest installment in the saga of "a spy for the 21st century" ( Daily Mail) combines two pulse-pounding narratives that show why Cumming is among the top tier of espionage authors examining the reality of spycraft in the post-Cold War era. If talk of temperature-taking, mask-wearing, social-distancing, limited-capacity restaurants, etc is a trigger for you— you might not want to read this one.

The Judas list has such a ring of authenticity as we all know of revenge stories such as Alexei Navalny and Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury. However, when it comes to Judas 62, Kite soon realises that this particular target is a lot closer to home.

Secret agent Lachlan Kite faces peril in Dubai as a brutal ghost from his past works his way down a Russian kill list – with Lachlan and one of his key contacts next in line. My fear now is that Cumming will stick to this structure in subsequent books, doing a back-and-forwards at least until we get to the bit in Lockie's life story where we learn how/why/when he broke up with Martha.

Judas 62' involves one of the stars of the series kickoff, Lachlan Kite, as he discovers a pseudonym he'd used in the past is now a name on Russia's 'kill list', also known as the Judas list.The first Kite novel was excellent, but this is even better ― an elegant exposition of what being a spy in the field actually feels like and the fear it can instil in even the most hardened operator. Cumming exploits these tawdry charms with complete authenticity, while drawing the story to a rich, tense climax, in which the outcome seems uncertain until almost the final page.

Cumming evokes a detailed and multi layered world of espionage, draws powerful characters and a dense atmosphere.Filled with intricate detail, great characters, and interesting twists and turns, Judas 62 is not to be missed by any thriller lover and especially espionage fiends like myself. Now, thirty years on, Kite's pseudonym and the name of the scientist have been added to the Judas List.