- Hardcover: 426 pages
- Publisher: W F Howes Ltd, Leicester (2003)
- ASIN: 184197661X
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 577,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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First Sentence
The Russian is sitting alone on the driver's side of a rented Mercedes Benz. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
The Russian is sitting alone on the driver's side of a rented Mercedes Benz. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Why has nobody told me about Charles Cumming? I bought The Spanish Game in 06 and thought it was superb so worked my way through his other books, A Spy By Nature and this one - The Hidden Man. It's a dense read, but a fascinating insight into what happens to families when one of their members (or more...) gets wrapped up in the world of espionage. It's not Ludlum-light. You need to keep concentrating and to remember who all the characters are, but it's extremely well written and very tense. Highly recommended if you want something with a bit more meat on it than Andy McNab or Stella Rimington.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There was a famous review of an early Bruce Springsteen concert that ran along the lines of "I've seen the future of rock'n'roll - and his name is Bruce Springsteen". Well, I've just read the future of spy fiction, and if there's any justice it will be Charles Cumming. This is as immaculately plotted a thriller as you could want, with the added bonus - rare in the genre - of plausibility, literacy, and an understanding of how people tick.
The storyline is simple, and none the worse for it. Patrician M16 officer comes in from the cold to try to patch up relations with the sons he walked out on 30 years before, but just as the thaw begins he is murdered. Brother 1 - thrusting executive for a Ministry of Sound-style club - joins forces with Brother 2 - layabout artist with a flirtatious journalist wife - to find out who bumped off their old man, but are soon out of their depth as Russian gangsters and MI5 muscle in and the safety catches come off.
What distinguishes the book is partly Cumming's deft observation of contemporary London - though there is no shortage of characters meeting sticky ends, the mood in general is much more "bling-bling" than "bang-bang" - and also his grasp of human relations and motivations. It is this, rather than standard gung-ho action, that drives the book, and so renders the characters credible. The Hidden Man is thus much more of a spy novel in the tradition of Maugham or Le Carre than your average, thick-eared beach read, although Cumming's own time as an MI6 trainee (which he drew on in his previous book, A Spy By Nature) means that, as in Maugham and Greene's work, there is also no shortage of inside information on how the intelligence game is really played. Strongly recommended.
The storyline is simple, and none the worse for it. Patrician M16 officer comes in from the cold to try to patch up relations with the sons he walked out on 30 years before, but just as the thaw begins he is murdered. Brother 1 - thrusting executive for a Ministry of Sound-style club - joins forces with Brother 2 - layabout artist with a flirtatious journalist wife - to find out who bumped off their old man, but are soon out of their depth as Russian gangsters and MI5 muscle in and the safety catches come off.
What distinguishes the book is partly Cumming's deft observation of contemporary London - though there is no shortage of characters meeting sticky ends, the mood in general is much more "bling-bling" than "bang-bang" - and also his grasp of human relations and motivations. It is this, rather than standard gung-ho action, that drives the book, and so renders the characters credible. The Hidden Man is thus much more of a spy novel in the tradition of Maugham or Le Carre than your average, thick-eared beach read, although Cumming's own time as an MI6 trainee (which he drew on in his previous book, A Spy By Nature) means that, as in Maugham and Greene's work, there is also no shortage of inside information on how the intelligence game is really played. Strongly recommended.
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What on earth is "Ranald from Nr. Alresford, Hampshire" talking about? I couldn't disagree more with his reading of "The Hidden Man" which I found to be exciting both in terms of plot and writing style. In fact I wonder if he has actually read the novel as there is not one scene set in Paris and I cannot work out for the life of me to what he is referring when he writes, "his succint and surprisingly sex free stories of fragrant infidelity." I became a fan of Charles Cumming's writing after reading his impressive debut, "A Spy By Nature" and I found "The Hidden Man" more than lived up to its predecessor's example. Cumming continues to write about human relationships and internal conflict with incredible insight. Furthermore, the plot is superbly constructed and kept me on the edge of my seat right up until the last page. I highly recommend you ignore "Ranald" and buy a copy immediately.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Rare Disappointment
Charles Cumming proved himself to be a great spy thriller writer with his debut novel, A Spy By Nature, and it's sequel, The Spanish Game. Read more
Published on 2 April 2010 by M. Cunliffe
Enjoyable
I read A Spy By Nature first, and although I found it a bit slow going in the first half, did enjoy the book - I next read this one a few months later and found it much better... Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2010 by McColl
Response to "Womenxtra"
Amazon customers might be interested to know that this reviewer (below) gave FIVE STARS to Angels and Demons (huh? Read more
Published on 26 July 2007 by Colin Lambert
Boring!
I don't usually write harsh comments - but this is a really boring book. thriller? is this what they consider as a thriller book? Read more
Published on 26 July 2007 by SEOrocks
A decent contemporary thriller
I don't think this is a great thriller, but there's enough about it to make it worth the while. The plot is relatively straightforward - an ageing MI6 officer, after years of... Read more
Published on 12 July 2007 by Donaldo
Totally un-gripping
Sorry to all reviewers who liked the book. I didn't. It started off OK, there are some good character descriptions, but overall I found it tedious. Read more
Published on 30 May 2007 by C. Hackwith
Un-put-downable
I was saving this book to read on holiday, but picked it up for a quick flick through after it had arrived, and have now read the whole thing before I've even left the country! Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2004 by Katie O'Donovan
did not live up to expectations
I was in the mood for a good spy thriller, this didn't do it for me. Thriller implies thrills, not many in this novel. Read more
Published on 4 Aug 2004 by "chrisg9"
THE LONELY SIDE OF THE STREET
As the two brothers Mark and Ben are shattered by the inexplicable murder of their father an extraordinary search begins to find his killer. Read more
Published on 24 July 2003 by Charles Ranald
Even better than A Spy By Nature
I enjoyed Charles Cumming's first book, A Spy By Nature, enormously, but The Hidden Man is even better. Read more
Published on 15 July 2003
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