Author to Author

In 1995, Charles Cumming was approached for recruitment by the United Kingdom's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). A Spy by Nature, his first espionage thriller, published in 2001, was partly based on his experiences with MI6. The novel's hero, Alex Milius, is a flawed loner in his early 20s who is recruited by MI5 to sell doctored research data on oil exploration in the Caspian Sea to the CIA. In August 2001, Charles moved to Madrid, and he published his second novel, The Hidden Man, in 2003, His second novel, telling the story of two brothers investigating the murder of their father, a former SIS officer, at the hands of the Russian mafia. The Hidden Man also examines the clandestine role played by SIS and the CIA during the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

Charles has emerged as, probably, Britain’s finest spy author, following in the footsteps of Ian Fleming, John Le Carre and Len Deighton and praised by the likes of Mick Herron, Ian Rankin and Ben McIntyre. He is also the winner of the coveted Crime Writers Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger.  His latest hugely best-selling series begins with Box 88 has the compelling hook line of “An organisation that doesn’t exist. A spy that can’t be caught….1989: The Cold War will soon be over, but for BOX 88, a top secret spying agency, the espionage game is heating up.  Kennedy 35, the next in the series, is out in October.  Join our premier spy writer Charles Cumming for a Goldster Author to Author Conversation with Humphrey Hawksley on Wednesday July 26th 2023 at the special time of 7pm.