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February 17, 2005
BOOK REVIEW: 'At Risk' is Stunning Debut Thriller by MI5's First Woman Director General
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| Stella Rimington's debut thriller "At Risk" (Knopf, 384 pages, $24.00) |
Huntington News Network Book Critic
Hinton (HNN) — As the two terrorists become aware that their mission in England is being tracked by a combination of the nation's anti-terrorist forces, the woman "invisible" tells her Afghan companion that "they've sent their best man. The best man is a woman."
This kind of dialogue is part of what makes Stella Rimington's debut thriller "At Risk" (Knopf, 384 pages, $24.00) such a pleasure to read. The "invisible" — so called because she's a native Englishwoman of no distinctive ethnic group — is spot on, as the British might say. I won't call it women's intuition, but Lucy Wharmby, as we first come to know her, fully understands how competent her country's intelligence services are. She tries to impress this on her companion in terrorism.
The "best man" in "At Risk" is MI5 operative Liz Carlyle, a brilliant woman in an organization dominated by men. Rimington joined MI5 in 1969 and became the agency's first woman director general in 1992. She retired in 1996 and promises to write more novels. There probably is a lot of Liz Carlyle in Stella Rimington, and vice versa, so with 28 years experience in espionage, we can expect excellent reading from Rimington.
Formally called the Security Service, MI5 is roughly the equivalent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in its mission to counter penetration of domestic organizations by foreign intelligence agencies. Responsible for foreign espionage, the Secret Intelligence Service or MI6, is approximately the equivalent of our CIA, with a little National Security Agency thrown in. Just as the CIA and FBI have an often edgy and even hostile relationship, in "At Risk," the two agencies appear to be competing for the same turf as they join forces to track the two terrorists.
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| Stella Rimington |
The action toggles between Thames House on Millbank in London, headquarters of "Five," and the Norfolk coastline of the North Sea, where the light-complected Afghan, Faraj Mansoor, has landed with a group of economic refugees. Lucy, his "invisible" colleague, has rented a seaside cottage, even though it's winter.
Rimington combines elements of a classic British police procedural — such as might be written by Ruth Rendell or P.D. James — with an espionage plot line worthy of John Le Carre — all with her own distinctive voice. This is quite an achievement for a debut spy novelist: There must be something in the U.K. water supply that enables the nation to turn out so many excellent thriller and detective writers.
Liz Carlyle is as complicated a person as the woman she's tracking. She's having an affair with a married journalist but is trying to break it off. She's dedicated to her career at "Five," and realizes that a messy divorce would harm it. Plus, she doesn't think Mark Callendar is all that ready to leave his wife, Shauna. Yes, there's an element of "chick lit" in Rimington's novel, but this shouldn't deter male readers. Balancing out the romantic element is Charles Wetherby, an older mentor for Liz at "Five" who respects her judgment and doesn't patronize her at all. Wetherby is obviously attracted to Liz and vice versa. Maybe we'll learn more in the next novel; I'm hoping Liz Carlyle and Wetherby will be in it.
"At Risk" is a much more than competent first novel by an author who has the ultimate insider's knowledge of espionage. The characters are well drawn and complex. Rimington is especially excellent — and yes, somewhat sympathetic — in her depiction of Lucy the Invisible and Faraj. The plot delivers just the right amount of twists and turns.
Publisher's Web Site: www.aaknopf.com
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More Book Reviews by David M. Kinchen
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