Product Description

MI5 Intelligence Officer Liz Carlyle is summoned to a meeting with her boss Charles Wetherby, head of the Service's Counter-Espionage Branch. His counterpart over at MI6 has received alarming intelligence from a high-placed Syrian source. A Middle East peace conference is planned to take place at Gleneagles in Scotland and several heads of state will attend. The Syrians have learned that two individuals are mounting an operation to disrupt the peace conference in a way designed to be spectacular, laying the blame at Syria's door. The source claims that Syrian Intelligence will act against the pair, presumably by killing them. No one knows who they are or what they are planning to do. Are they working together? Who is controlling them? Or is the whole story a carefully laid trail of misinformation? It is Liz's job to find out. But, as she discovers, the threat is far greater than she or anyone else could have imagined. The future of the whole of the Middle East is at stake and the conference deadline is drawing ever closer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16315 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
'The details of how MI5 conducts its business are fascinating... Stella establishes a cracking pace and keeps you guessing right up until the end' --Sunday Express

'This is something rare: the spy novel that prizes authenticity over fabrication, that is true to the character and spirit of intelligence work' --Mail on Sunday

'Undeniably pacey' Guardian. 'A tense terrifying read we couldn't put down' Cosmopolitan. 'A wealth of persuasive detail, obviously drawn from first hand experience' Marie Claire. --Reviews

Marie Claire
A wealth of persuasive detail, obviously drawn from first hand experience

Cosmopolitan
A tense terrifying read we couldn't put down

Customer Reviews

Authentic and exciting
Dead Line is the fourth Stella Rimington novel centred on MI5 intelligence officer Liz Carlyle. However it can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel. I was somewhat disappointed by Rimington's last novel, Illegal Action, but with Dead Line she's back on form. This is a fast and enjoyable read.

The story centres on a plot to disrupt an upcoming Middle Eastern peace conference to be held at Gleneagles. It's an immediately intriguing storyline that quickly becomes complex, with many disparate threads and red herrings. Rimington juggles them all masterfully and keeps ratcheting up the tension.

A good thriller is made even better by Stella Rimington's first hand experience in the Secret Service, which gives the book a highly authentic feel. When she writes about an agent arranging a clandestine meeting with a contact, how MI5 conduct a surveillance operation or even the relationships between MI5, MI6 and the CIA, you know this is as close to reality as a novel is going to get. Indeed, these are some of the most fascinating parts of the book.

In the second half, Rimington's limitations as a writer become more evident. While her characters are well thought through, she has no ear for dialogue in casual conversations. (On the other hand, Carlyle does a beautiful job of very rationally putting a harassed and chauvinistic constable in his place, which made me see why Rimington was so successful in her own career). The ending is anti-climatic, with the villain being apprehended almost as an after-thought. It seems that Rimington is more interested in the process of investigation than the hands-on business of saving the day.

If you enjoy Stella Rimington's books, I highly recommend "Restless" by William Boyd. It's also a spy novel with a female protagonist and it's beautifully written.

Best of the Four
Having now read all four of Stella Rimington's books, I think this is far and away the best. It is very well written, pacey, and with a strong plot that had me racing through to the end -- there is lots of action.The characters are well drawn and Liz, the protagonist, has become an increasingly alluring heroine -- resolute yet human, clever but intuitive as well. The repeat appearances of Liz's sidekick Peggy and Liz's boss Charles Wetherby are starting to give an ensemble feel to the cast which I like, but there are some new figures -- an embittered CIA officer named Bokus; a Mossad veteran who's seen it all -- who are equally intriguing.

All in all, I thought this was a great read.

Highly realistic counter terrorism novel
Dead Line
When this book came up on my Amazon recommendations I was initially attracted by the cover, subsequently proving to be exactly as I imagine Liz Carlisle.

Deadline is my first Stella Rimington novel and I am impressed, the entire setting and characters within MI5 seem real (as they should from a former head of the service) and the plot development exudes authenticity.

Liz Carlyle is a great creation, single, relentlessly tenacious and with a rather suppressed feminine side trying to assert itself. My one query is are all Security Service personnel in real life absorbed in the prospect of relationships with their immediate colleagues?

However real life is not fiction, and as the series continues I think a little more hyping up of reality will be needed to sustain long term interest.

If you like slightly laid back counter terrorism fiction this is definitely for you.