As he finished boarding school Lachlan Kite was persuaded to spy on his friend’s father and his Iranian business associate whilst holidaying with the family during the summer. He was recruited by a “secret” spy organisation. Box 88’ is a superbly written spy thriller. Not only does the plot intrigue and the pace remain appropriately frenetic throughout but Charles Cumming is also able to create living breathing characters whose actions are wholly plausible, quite an ask of any writer immersed in an enigmatic world of espionage. Box 88 by Charles Cumming is an outstanding espionage novel which is is superbly written has an excellent main underlying storyline and well drawn out main and supporting characters.

We’re first introduced to Lachlan Kite when he attends the funeral of his one-time close friends. We know little of him other than the fact that he works for a secret group collected from former members of British and American intelligence agencies. The team call themselves Box 88 and their aim is to ensure that the conflicting goals of whatever government happens to be in power do not prevent the ‘right’ sort of operations being undertaken. But soon Kite finds himself in peril and with no means of communicating with his team. The characters were well described and the settings evocative, particularly the villa near Mougins where they are all staying. The old fashioned methods of planting bugs in a game boy and the use of a Walkman as a spying listening device reminded me how far technology has moved on in the space of a few years.We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin. I rarely use the phrase ‘unputdownable’ but this book fits the cliche. Well-drawn characters, a pacy plot full of twists, turns and heart accelerating suspense with a very plausible and likeable (both at 18 and when older) narrator.

Having read (and loved) several of Cumming's previous works, most recently, The Man Between, I was so excited to be offered an ARC of this book and it did not disappoint. This time the action centres around Lachlan Kite, a young Scottish lad recruited to the enigmatic Box 88 espionage unit. I really hope that this is going to be part of a bigger series involving Lachlan Kite because he's been built up so well in this novel - he feels like a fleshed out character, which is sometimes missing from fast-paced thrillers. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Charles Cumming, Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and give my unbiased opinion of this book.

What a read! A blend of John le Carre, William Boyd and Rory Clements (Wilde series) at their best with a twist of something different - a truly winning combination. I started reading on Friday evening and had finished by Saturday lunchtime (with some time for sleeping!). MI5 hear rumours of BOX 88’s existence and go after Kite – only for Iranian intelligence to get to him first. Taken captive and subjected to torture, Kite is presented with a simple choice: reveal the truth about what happened in France thirty years earlier – or watch his family die.