The Spanish Game

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The Spanish Game is a spy novel by the British writer Charles Cumming , published in 2006 by Penguin Books in London. It is Cummings' third novel and tells the story of the main character of his debut A Spy by Nature , Alec Milius, six years after the events of the day.

content

action

The story is set in 2003. After several positions before that, Alec Milius has been in hiding in Spain for six years and works for a British private bank. His life is still ruled by paranoia and worry that MI5 or the CIA might find him. Even his friend Saul's visit makes him suspicious. A business assignment takes him to the Basque Country , where he also meets the former separatist leader Mikel Arenaza. Shortly afterwards it is considered missing. While the police and the separatist journalist Patxo Zulaika are looking for him, Alec is the only one who knows that Arenaza had a lover in Madrid, Rosaria Dieste. The man's disappearance does not let go of him and he begins to shadow her.

In between, attacks of distrust come over him again and again, be it against his lover Sofia or her husband and his superior, Julian Church. Rosiara meets a man under dubious circumstances and Alec is able to follow him to his hotel. However, further prosecution is not possible because Robert Kitson blocks his path, who introduces himself as a member of MI5. They have been overshadowing Rosaria's contact for a long time and want Alec as part of their local team despite previous disagreements. Alec is flattered. Shortly afterwards, Arenaza is found dead, and Alec meets Zulaika again at the scene. The latter explains to him that, in his opinion, the murder of Arenaza is part of a new dirty war that parts of the security forces of the Spanish state are waging against the ETA and the Basque nationalists. There's another fatality, kidnapping, and attempted murder. Shortly after the conversation, Alec is kidnapped, tortured and interrogated by Basque terrorists , but survives. When he tells Kitson about the events, the latter understands the political explosiveness. The Americans and the British can not cooperate closely with the Aznar government in the war on terror if it is organizing state terror at the same time . The corresponding ringleaders in the Ministry of the Interior should, if there is enough evidence, be used as an excuse.

Alec Carmen Arroyo, the secretary of State Secretary Javier de Francisco, is supposed to seduce in order to get information. The relationship with his lover Sofia is already shattered at this point, because he withholds the days of torture from her and it becomes clear to her that he has secrets from her. Despite moral concerns, Alec successfully seduces Carmen and receives the information he is looking for, the operation starts as planned and Interior Minister Maldonaldo and his State Secretary de Francisco flee the country over a "financial scandal". When Alec chooses Carmen again out of a guilty conscience, he identifies her as one of his tormentors from the earlier torture. He overpowers her and another ETA terrorist and flees. He realizes that a double game has been played. De Francisco and Maldonaldo had been ETA sleepers in disguise for decades; the victims of the “dirty war” were mostly old cadres who had renounced armed struggle and were therefore dispensable. Spanish democracy was supposed to be delegitimized by the exposure of the supposed terror and so breathed new life into the declining Basque nationalism. In the evening, Alec has dinner with Richard Lithiby, his former supervisor at MI5, because Kitson's report on his performance says he is supposed to be re-accepted into the organization.

However, Lithiby never appears. Instead, he receives a call from Katharine, the CIA agent whom he outwitted six years ago and whom he accuses of murdering his girlfriend at the time, Kate. He must learn that he has been deceived a second time. Kitson and his team don't work for MI5, they work for the CIA. They had shadowed Rosaria's contact because of other offenses and so accidentally found Alex again. His knowledge of the alleged dirty war fell so happily into their hands. By this time they already had evidence against Maldonaldo and de Francisco, his alleged relationship with Carmen was not necessary, much more the CIA secretly photographed them and sent the pictures to Sofia. The final destruction of his relationship was her revenge for the shame at the time. Alec realizes that they know nothing about the ETA sleepers and goes to the British embassy to pass on these findings.

worldview

The atmosphere of the book is marked by ubiquitous paranoia. Alec does not trust anyone and even sees the beginnings of a conspiracy against him behind mere coincidences, such as when Saul and Julien are present at the same prostitute. At the same time, almost all of the actors around him pursue hidden goals. Both the ETA cadres killing their own people and the CIA team masquerading as British to deceive Alec. Alec himself also deceives his lover Sofia several times. In the book, every form of trust is disappointed and no person can be certain about anything.

shape

The book is told from the perspective of Alec Milius, describing the events as well as the extensive doubts and concerns that accompany his actions.

reception

The Spanish Game has received extensive coverage in the English-language press. The British Observer notes that what sets Cummings staff apart from the spies of the 1960s is that Alec Milius looks much more adult and generally praises his storytelling. The Daily Telegraph (also Great Britain) calls the book "impressive and convincing" and judges that Cummings' skillful interweaving of real history and politics with a fictional story is excellent evidence of his skills.

literature

Text output

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Spanish Game (Alec Milius 2) | Books | Charles Cumming, author. Retrieved December 22, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Peter Guttridge: Crime round-up: March 12 . In: The Guardian . March 12, 2006, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed December 22, 2018]).
  3. ↑ An intricate web with a stunning twist . March 5, 2006, ISSN  0307-1235 ( telegraph.co.uk [accessed December 22, 2018]).