Illegal Action

By: Stella Rimington

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Liz has been transferred to counter-espionage - the hub of MI5 operations during the Cold War, which has been scaled back as anti-terrorism has gained priority. But there’s plenty for her to do: there are more spies operating in London in the 21st century than there were during the height of East-West hostilities. Even the Russians still have a large contingent, although now they spy on the international financial community and on the wealthy ex-pat oligarchs who make England their domain.

In her new assignment, Liz quickly uncovers a plot to silence one of these Russians: Nikita Brunovsky, an increasingly vocal opponent of Vladimir Putin. The Foreign Office is adamant about forestalling a crime that could become a full-blown international incident, but there’s not a single clue as to how the assassination will be carried out - and Liz is solely responsible for averting disaster. So she goes undercover, attaching herself to Brunovsky’s retinue: racing against the clock to determine who betrayed him and suddenly facing a wholly unexpected second task - unmasking a Russian operative working undercover alongside her.

Dame Stella has once again distilled her experience as the first woman Director General of MI5 into a spy novel of arresting psychological complexity and unflagging suspense.

©2007 Stella Rimington (P)2008 Books on Tape

More fun with Liz

Another interesting thriller from Stella Rimington. In this one Liz has moved jobs to another section but many of the same work colleagues remain in her sphere. This one has Russian and Irish connections. Fascinating and complex.

illegal action

There were to many names with frivolous story lines. the only thing that kept me listening was brilliant performance of Roslyn Landor. The story was lame and uninteresting.

Dissapointing

The beginning and middle were OK. Narration was good. The main character and story started with a lot of promise but turned into a real "eye-roller" at the end. Things became very illogical and contrived. If the British secret agents and their supporting teams were this stupid in real life, the UK would be in big trouble!

Good grief! How does this book have over 4 stars?!

For someone who is put forth as a sharp-minded, insightful, no-nonsense government agent, Liz Carlyle -- in this book at least -- is astoundingly thick, obtuse, lacking in common sense and devoid of the most rudimentary of investigative and agent-like skills. And i found myself very disappointed, since the story and characters are interesting enough that this could have been a really enjoyable novel. There's only so much incredulous head-shaking, willing-suspension-of-disbelief i can do before my head just snaps off!

Very disappointed

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I don't really know. Things moved at a snail's pace; too many characters were introduced too quickly; supposed main character was not the focus; conversations between characters were boring and recounted in too much detail. I kept waiting for it to pick up. A lot like waiting for paint to dry. Avoid. I've had to stop listening. Couldn't take it any more and fell like I wasted my credit.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I would like to say another espionage novel but after this one I feel wary.

How could the performance have been better?

I found the different voices the actor affected just too off-putting; too unnatural. Like nails on chalkboard. She should have chosen more subdued voices and not felt the need to differentiate the characters so dramatically through accent and voice.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not so much. The one thing I'd say is that it is probably based in real knowledge of the spy trade given whom the author is -- but that's not enough to sustain a reader.