This epic spy thriller by Patrick Worrall is a must-read for all fans of John Le Carre.
We follow four protagonists: Yulia and Michael, two chess prodigies from either side of the Iron Curtain, Vassily who is Yulia's bodyguard whilst at the tournament but ultimately becomes one of KGB's greatest spy masters and finally Greta, a ruthless resistance fighter in her native Lithuania during the war who is now hunting down some of the most dangerous men in the world.
Fast-paced and intricate, Patrick Worrell allows each of his characters to develop skilfully and with depth, the motivations for some of the actions taken are murky at best but you as the reader are constantly impelled to read more.
Greta, in particular, is a fascinating character and although set in the sixties, her battle to carve out a place in the world as a Lithuanian rather than a Russian or member of the Soviet Union rings true in the context of today and the ongoing situation in the Ukraine.
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