CHARLIES APPRENTICE - Hardcover

Freemantle, Brian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0712645748 ISBN 13: 9780712645744

Publisher: Random House UK, 1993

Synopsis

Physical description; 435p. Summary; Charlie Muffin has lived through the Cold War, outlasted the Soviet Union, circumvented the most lethal schemes of the late, unlamented KGB and, of his own superiors...but maybe its time to put him out to pasture. Other Muffin thrillers include "The Runaround", "The Bearpit" and "The Button Man". Review: The newest Charlie Muffin title shows Freemantle at his best. In Comrade Charlie (1992) the British agent chose duty over love and left KGB flame Natalia waiting at the airport. She returns here to run a branch of the new Russian intelligence network and raise their daughter. Back in England Charlie is removed from active duty to train new spies. His first apprentice is arrested in Beijing (China's military intelligence having replaced the KGB as the men in black hats) while on an initial, deceptively simple assignment. Marred only by a slow opening, the novel features detailed, interesting characters (except for the Chinese), fascinating local color, and intricate plotting. Will Charlie rescue his hapless apprentice and restore himself in the eyes of his superiors? Will Natalia succeed in contacting Charlie to tell him he is a father? Freemantle is well on his way to earning a prominent place in the John le Carre school of spy fiction. (Kirkus Reviews) Subjects; Muffin, Charlie (Fictitious character) - Fiction. Intelligence service - Great Britain - Fiction. Beijing (China) - Fiction. English fiction. Espionage & spy thriller ; Crime & mystery. NON-CLASSIFIABLE. Genre; Fiction. Spy stories.

About this title

About the Author:

Brian Freemantle [b. 1936] is one of Britain's most acclaimed authors of spy fiction. His novels have sold over ten million copies worldwide. Born in Southampton, Freemantle entered his career as a journalist, and began writing espionage thrillers in the late 1960s. Charlie M (1977) introduced the world to Charlie Muffin and won Freemantle international recognition—he would go on to publish fourteen titles in the series. 

Freemantle has written dozens of other novels, including two featuring Sebastian Holmes, an illegitimate son of Sherlock Holmes, and the Cowley and Danilov series, about an American FBI agent and a Russian militia detective who work together to comabt organized crime in the post-Cold War world. Freemantle lives and works in London, England.

From Publishers Weekly:

British spy Charlie Muffin, the wonderfully unorthodox hero of several seriocomic adventures by Freemantle, has been put into semiretirement, reduced by his new superiors to training fledgling agents. Charlie adjusts as best he can, forming a personal attachment with his first apprentice, John Gower, and a platonic relationship with the new director's secretary. Meanwhile, in Russia, KGB agent Natalia Fedova, having realized that Charlie had saved her life and career by aborting her planned defection to the West a few years back, decides to track down the rumpled spy in order to let him know that she's borne him a daughter; at the same time, she must guard against the jealous manipulations of a subordinate who wants to destroy her. And in Beijing, a Jesuit who doubles as a British agent finds himself in increasing jeopardy of exposure but refuses to leave his post, prompting the London office to send the unseasoned Gower in to bring him home. When Gower is captured and imprisoned by the Chinese, Charlie must rescue him before an international incident erupts. As usual with Freemantle, secrets hide within secrets, and one way or another, Charlie will have his revenge on those he finds wanting. The delightful way in which that revenge dovetails with Natalia's own designs makes for a most satisfying conclusion, reached amid a flurry of surprises and revelations. Superior work from a master of the form.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House UK
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0712645748
• ISBN 13: 9780712645744
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352