Fast paced and twisty page turner. The timeline jumps back and forth but I found that really worked for me. What I want from a spy fic novel is cleverness and Cumming delivered that in spades, while managing not to fall too much into boys’ own adventure territory. A good read.

As espionage novels go Box 88 is up there with the best. Past and present colliding make for a tense and compelling page turner. Characters which all have depth and layers which are peeled back as the story progresses. Fantastic read.

When Lockie a suspected spy involved in Box 88 is kidnapped by an Iranian it's a race against time to find him and his wife before they are killed, MI5 are following him so see the kidnapping and set things in motion before Box 88 step in to take over. Meanwhile the information the Iranians want are from a time when Lockie was at his friends summer house in France at the end of his A levels, can he convince them he's never been involved in the secret services and why do they want this information so many years later. All becomes clear as Lockie nears the end of his story.
I enjoyed large parts of this but it sometimes dragged and I skim read hence not 5 stars but was an interesting read

Charles Cumming is rapidly becoming my favourite writer of espionage novels and this is surely one of his best.

It grabs the reader's attention from the first page and tells a fascinating story a secret intelligence unit, Box 88 and how Lachlan Kite, an impressionable public schoolboy was recruited 30 years ago to help find the perpetrators of the Lockerbie disaster. The action swings from then to now and is relentlessly exciting and packed full of tradecraft.

Hopefully this will be the first of a series after the successful Thomas Kell books and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It is too often suggested that anyone writing in the spy genre is the new Le Carre. However, it’s a mantle that Charles Cummings could grasp with both hands.

Box 88 is a superb, twisty and clever page turner. Split across several timelines, we follow Lockie but, because of the situation he finds himself in, we are never wholly convinced of the reliability of his narration. It kept me up until very late!

I’ve read all of Charles Cummings other books and this is perhaps his best. It nicely sets up a new series, which will be one to look out for.

Many thanks to Harper Collins and Netgalley for an ARC

Past and present collide in this excellent spy thriller. In 2020 the mysterious Lachlan Kite is kidnapped after attending the funeral of his old school friend and threatened with torture if he des not reveal certain information.
As Lockie tries to save his life and that of his wife and unborn child who are also in danger, he reveals information about a Summer long ago when, as an 18 year old 6th form student, he was recruited by a top secret spy ring to find information about the Lockerbie bombing and those responsible.
The story slips backwards and forwards effortlessly between a Summer in the South of France after Lachlan’s A levels, when it seems Lockie began his espionage career and the present day where he has to use all his acquired knowledge to try and escape his enemy whilst protectIng his family and colleagues.
This is a great spy thriller- I loved reading about the innocent Lachlan in the 1980s, how he was recruited and how he managed to carry out his mission and then the current day Lockie who obviously stayed in the espionage business.
The characters were well described and the settings evocative, particularly the villa near Mougins where they are all staying. The old fashioned methods of planting bugs in a game boy and the use of a Walkman as a spying listening device reminded me how far technology has moved on in the space of a few years.
I enjoyed this well paced thriller and would certainly like to read more about Lachlan Kite and his organisation: a clue on the last page of the novel led me to believe there is indeed another book on the way.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.