The Trinity Six
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Review
Praise for The Trinity Six:
‘An utterly absorbing and compelling novel. A brilliant re-imagining of events surrounding the notorious Cambridge spy-ring’ William Boyd, bestselling author of Restless
‘Sheer excitement’ Daily Telegraph
‘Often talked of as a potential heir to John le Carré, Cumming confirms here that he’s a reliably classy storyteller … an assured and richly enjoyable thriller’ Sunday Times
‘Delicate and supremely controlled, this is a spy story to be savoured, not rushed’ Daily Mail
‘None of the new generation of spy writers lives up to the standard set by Deighton, Forsyth and Le Carré. Enter Cumming, a long-awaited light at the end of a very long tunnel … This is today's spooks at their most ruthless, with Sam, a heroic if naive amateur sleuth, taking international hitmen and beautiful female agents in his stride to get to the truth. As good as Le Carré – praise indeed’ Guardian
Praise for Charles Cumming:
‘From the first page to the last it has the ring of absolute authenticity. Tautly written, cleverly plotted…it reminded me strongly of the early books of John le Carré’ Robert Harris
‘The master of the modern spy thriller’ Mail On Sunday
‘If Cumming keeps up this standard he deserves to become an institution in his own right’ The Times
Review
Praise for The Trinity Six: 'An utterly absorbing and compelling novel. A brilliant re-imagining of events surrounding the notorious Cambridge spy-ring' William Boyd, bestselling author of Restless 'Sheer excitement' Daily Telegraph 'Often talked of as a potential heir to John le Carre, Cumming confirms here that he's a reliably classy storyteller ! an assured and richly enjoyable thriller' Sunday Times 'Delicate and supremely controlled, this is a spy story to be savoured, not rushed' Daily Mail 'None of the new generation of spy writers lives up to the standard set by Deighton, Forsyth and Le Carre. Enter Cumming, a long-awaited light at the end of a very long tunnel ! This is today's spooks at their most ruthless, with Sam, a heroic if naive amateur sleuth, taking international hitmen and beautiful female agents in his stride to get to the truth. As good as Le Carre -- praise indeed' Guardian Praise for Charles Cumming: 'From the first page to the last it has the ring of absolute authenticity. Tautly written, cleverly plotted!it reminded me strongly of the early books of John le Carre' Robert Harris 'The master of the modern spy thriller' Mail On Sunday 'If Cumming keeps up this standard he deserves to become an institution in his own right' The Times
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
After a slow and at times confusing narrative in the opening chapters, Cumming starts to work his way through the gears in this engaging espionage thriller and the pace begins to pick up. About half-way through, the book just takes off - an astonishing burst of acceleration, as if it's suddenly writing itself (everything an author prays for). In brief, this is the story of a forty-something academic called Sam Gaddis who's in need of a lucrative publishing contract (loans, mortgage, messy divorce) and finds one of the intelligence world's best-kept secrets falling into his lap. There's nothing more potentially entertaining than an innocent stumbling around in the rarefied echelons of the intelligence community, and the author plays this card particularly well. Gaddis is a charming everyman and absolutely credible as the bumbling academic who finds himself caught up in a viper's nest of intrigue. This is a first-class read - sometimes a little laboured, sometimes a little too detailed - but stay with it and you're set for a dazzling ride. Comparisons are always made in these kinds of cold-war espionage thrillers by giving a nod to Deighton, Le Carré et al. In this case such comparisons are redundant. This writer is in a class of his own and getting better with every book.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I adored Typhoon and approached this with anticipation and trepidation. Would Cumming maintain the standard having set the bar so high?
I neadn't have worried, with 'The Cambridge Six' he knocks one right out of the park but does it differently. His previous novels have been about professional spies, even if some were debutaunts. This time around, we have an intelligent amateur as the principle protagonist and there is a strong 'Buchanesque' feel to the story as our hero searches for the truth and seaks to do the right thing.
I loved it to bits. It thrills, entertains and informs in equal portion and cements Charles Cumming as our top thriller writer. Brilliant, can't wait for his next outing!
I neadn't have worried, with 'The Cambridge Six' he knocks one right out of the park but does it differently. His previous novels have been about professional spies, even if some were debutaunts. This time around, we have an intelligent amateur as the principle protagonist and there is a strong 'Buchanesque' feel to the story as our hero searches for the truth and seaks to do the right thing.
I loved it to bits. It thrills, entertains and informs in equal portion and cements Charles Cumming as our top thriller writer. Brilliant, can't wait for his next outing!
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a good enough read for a plane journey or if you are stuck at home with a cold, but, unlike the hype, it is certainly not John Le Carre Mark 2. It follows the fairly classic thriller pattern of an 'ordinary man' caught up in a web of intrigue (I suppose the archetype is John Buchan's 39 Steps) and like most such books that means that the initial set-up strains the credulity, rather. In this case the coincidence of Sam simultaneously being told by a journalist friend that she has unearthed details of the 'Sixth Man' and by a fan of his history books that she wants him to look at her late mother's papers about the KGB seems a bit unlikely. Also, I was not persuaded by Sam's motivation that he needs to pay an unexpected tax bill. How many academics, taxed on their normal salary but presumably paying further tax on the royalties from his academic writing, unknowingly rack up a £20K tax bill? That suggests astrononomical sales of such writing. Likewise, the assumption that if needs be he can knock out a besteller to raise some cash seems a bit unlikely. But it is necessary to the plot since otherwise Sam's willingness to get involved in the whole thing would be inexplicable.
Anyway, once these contortions have been made, the plot begins to rattle along with a fairly stock set of characters (maverick MI6 boss, menacing Russian hoods, trips to Berlin, Vienna and Budapest and so on) and there's enough suspense to keep you turning the pages. Characterization is a bit thin and some pieces of plotting don't seem to go anywhere (what was all the business about the watch smuggled from Budapest meant to be about?). So there is enough to pass your time, but it isn't a book that you would re-read.
There is also an enormous howler in that the author uses Trinity College, Cambridge and Trinity Hall, Cambridge interchangeably - which for a book entitled The Trinity Six seems particularly careless.
Anyway, once these contortions have been made, the plot begins to rattle along with a fairly stock set of characters (maverick MI6 boss, menacing Russian hoods, trips to Berlin, Vienna and Budapest and so on) and there's enough suspense to keep you turning the pages. Characterization is a bit thin and some pieces of plotting don't seem to go anywhere (what was all the business about the watch smuggled from Budapest meant to be about?). So there is enough to pass your time, but it isn't a book that you would re-read.
There is also an enormous howler in that the author uses Trinity College, Cambridge and Trinity Hall, Cambridge interchangeably - which for a book entitled The Trinity Six seems particularly careless.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Just like the 1970s
As the cover says if you like Le Carre you will like Cummings. This was brilliant and took me back to the heady days of the 1970s spy thrillers, but set today in the post cold war... Read more
Published 25 days ago by Mr. Peter J. Wade
Great plot in need of an editor.
I started reading Cumming's first book but became bored and didn't finish it. Picked this up in the hope he'd improved. Read more
Published 1 month ago by N. Graham
Cost of item
The book was advertised as having no postage and packing cost yet I see there is. Why is it that there is now this cost?
JGJ
JGJ
Published 1 month ago by John G. Jones
Tantilising glimpse
The start of the book is a little slow going and I didn't really get much of a handle on the characters, but it picked up and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey. Read more
Published 2 months ago by J. Lamb
Confusion, contradictions and deceit - an excellent novel of the...
'The dead man was not a dead man. He was alive but he was not alive. That was the situation.'
These are the opening sentences of The Trinity Six and they set the tone of... Read more
These are the opening sentences of The Trinity Six and they set the tone of... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mrs. K. A. P. Wright
Enjoyable but not great
This is one of those spy thrillers that you will read on the beach and then happily leave behind. I enjoyed the read but can't say much of it will stay with me. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Tim62
Not what it says on the tin
Like a number of reviewers, I am utterly perplexed by the 5-star ratings and the comparisons with Le Carre etc. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Clifford
Very enjoyable
I really enjoyed this book. A little tricky to start with perhaps but I thought it was a plausible concept with a conclusion that worked. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Cait
Disappointing conisdering his past work..
I have read all of the books from this author and this is by far the most dissapointing. His previous works were intelligent, page turning excellent narrative especially Typhoon... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Andrew Fyfe
Best Yet!
This has to be the best yet of Charles Cumming's novels. The suspense is such that it is very difficult to put down and leaves one salivating for the next chapter. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Traveller
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