A spy book set in Greece, Corfu or to be more precise an island in the Ionian sea called Vidos, reimagined by the author as Spyland. It is a place inhabited by failed former spies who are parked there as an embarrassment for MI6 – yes, it is reminiscent of Slow Horses by Mick Herron.
Despite the interesting premise – the story of double agents working towards the failure of MI6 missions in the world, the collapse of the Western ideology and ironically – the triumph of the communist ideal, the novel leaves an aftertaste of dissatisfaction. Somehow, we suspected from the very start that Oxford-educated aristocracy and top KGB offspring were conspiring to dominate the world together…
There are some wide-gaping plot holes, some illogical moves, a lot of fluff “events” or “fillers” not contributing to the story’s integrity. There is more psychology than a reasonably entertaining spy novel can possibly sustain. There are well-crafted but quite long descriptions of physical action – a lot of swimming, running, sightseeing, or eating. The author deserves a credit though for communicating skillfully the beauty of the Ionian sea, and the bliss of a long morning swim.
The most interesting character, Nina is somewhat underdeveloped – and maybe, that is what makes her interesting. The rest of the characters are excessively “explained” – especially Benedict, who is supposed to be the most dramatic of them all.
Overall, as far as genre fiction goes, this one deserves a 6 out of 10. And yes, quality genre fiction is hard to find.