Legacy by Alan Judd
In the 1970s Charles Throughgood is a trainee at MI6 when he is asked to try and turn an old college friend, Viktor Koslov, who is working at the Russian embassy. It is a mission that reveals an unexpected secret about Charles’ late father and cold war plotting. This is a good enjoyable read. It was recently adapted by BBC2 into a film which bore only a faint resemblance to the book.
Best Lines:
“You still style your hair as if it’s the fifties.”
“There was some trouble during his last posting with a girl in Mexico City, though nothing was ever proven. In fact I’m not sure she was ever found.”
“To enable Viktor to escape anyone to whom he wasn’t actually handcuffed.”
“And then he has to go to the toilet because he is getting an old man and must often go there...he is pissing, which takes a long time because he is getting old.”
“KGB cow. It marks the spot. The Centre thinks of everything.”