‘Illegal Action’ filled with twists, turns

  Stella Rimington knows the new era of espionage and terrorism. She is the former head of the British MI5 intelligence service and has drawn on her experience to write three fine novels.
  Her latest work, “Illegal Action,” measures up to her previous novels, “Secret Asset " and “At Risk.”
  MI5 officer Liz Carlyle, the main character in all three books, is reassigned from counterterrorism to counterespionage in Rimington’s latest work. She’s unhappy about her new assignment because thwarting terrorism is a far more important job in today’s world now that the Cold War is over
  But her latest case turns out to be relevant. She is given an undercover assignment to protect a Russian billionaire, Nikita Brunovsky, who is an enemy of his country’s leader, Vladimir Putin.
  Carlyle, is an intelligent, motivated agent, who has to navigate through the politics of her spy service and try to save Brunovsky.
  Rimington makes the reader feel Carlyle’s fear when she finds herself in danger. The author writes in clear prose and her tale never bogs down. The plot’s twists and turns are unpredictable but believable. Rimington is able to express the subtleties and quiet ruthlessness of British intelligence and tell an engrossing story without the digressions and overwriting that ruin many thrillers.