Spies, kompromat, loose morals, tight plot. This is an outstanding political thriller and I"m now off to read all his others. Big recommend.

An excellent political thriller: full of twists, gripping, and featuring a clever and strong female charachter.
Plot development and storytelling are excellent
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Well, as if my heart rate wasn’t high enough after Hunted, I read The Shame Archive which did nothing to calm it – if anything I think it made it worse!

This is THE best book I’ve read this year (thus far, anyway) – it’s incredibly tense, reads authentically, and I swallowed it down in two huge greedy gulps. Yep, it’s utterly addictive.

Someone has got their grubby hands on what the Russians would call kompromat – compromising material that can be used to blackmail influential people, which was gathered in a special operation by MI6. (I thought this was possibly inspired by the real-life antics of J Edgar Hoover, the cross-dressing FBI boss who ruled it from its inception to the early 70s, when he died. He gathered so much dirt on well-known Americans, from film stars to politicians, that he was probably the most powerful man in America.) This MI6 material should never have got into the hands of anyone in the public domain – but a highly elusive character calling themselves Eclipse has it all, and is using it to demand large amounts of cryptocurrency from some of those who appear in the videos, photos and documents. If they don’t pay up, the material will be released to their families, friends, work colleagues, bosses – and if they’re high profile enough, to the media.

Our two main characters are Rebecca, who once worked as a high class call girl in a difficult period in her life. She was intending to give up that sort of work but on what she hoped to be her last job, at a New Year’s Party, something dreadful happened – she has flashbacks to a sexual assault, a knife, cleaning blood off her hands. Did she kill someone? And what about the policeman she spoke to? Why is there no record of that? She’s now living a totally different life, with a new surname – married to ambitious MP Robert Sinclair, with a daughter, and is the very picture of respectability. Then Eclipse gets in touch…

She’s a fabulous character, and Eclipse has clearly underestimated her. She’s ballsy, smart, tenacious, creative, and is determined not to bow to Eclipse’s demands – even if she will end up being ultimately exposed as once being a working girl. I found myself rooting for her all the way.

Our other main characters are Elliot Kane, and his partner Juliet Bell. He’s ex-MI6, and was well aware of much of this trove of material – because he and his ex-partner Christian were involved in gathering it, as well as other distasteful “black ops” at MI6. He now lives with ex-investigative journalist Juliet Bell and her son Mason, and together they run a private investigation agency, working mainly for corporate clients – essentially private spies, digging up dirt for whoever is willing to pay. It’s highly lucrative, and the skills the two of them have learned in their past careers dovetail perfectly. He’d met Rebecca, but hadn’t seen her since that fateful New Year party that saw the end of her career as a sex worker. He seems to be trying to redeem himself for his past misdeamonours for Queen and Country, being a great father figure to Juliet’s son, and helping her financially after her divorce cleans her out. He’s also highly likeable, and, unbeknownst to Rebecca, is on the trail of Eclipse too, with Juliet. She’s not unlike Rebecca – clever and versatile, using all her contacts to try to lure Eclipse into the open with the promise of telling his side of the story – for a large fee, naturally…

As the net tightens, it becomes apparent that Eclipse plans to flee the country with more kompromat with the intention of selling it to a hostile state. I’d figured out who he was – I think most will – but at this point it’s the thrill of the chase that’s really exciting, with the whole thing going right to the wire.

It’s marvelously entertaining, and there’s action right from the off, which continues throughout the novel – it’s like le Carré on speed. I’ll definitely be reading the rest of the Eliot Kane books, as well as his other series, featuring cop Nick Belsey.

crimeworm verdict: A top-notch thriller that will keep you glued to it until the very end. I guarantee it.

"The Shame Archive" is the first book I've read from this author, and it definitely won't be the last. I loved the vividness and suspense throughout the book. The narration is fast-paced, making it impossible to put down. It kept me curious enough to read just one more chapter. It is a must-read book for thriller lovers or someone new to this genre.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Group, UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For those who enjoy good, intelligent spy fiction Oliver Harris’ The Shame Archive, (Abacus, 4 June 2024), certainly delivers the goods.

This is the third in Harris’ series about MI6 agent Elliot Kane, who has now left the service and is running a private security business. He is called back into the agency when someone starts leaking details from MI6’s Shame Archive, which contains the misdeeds of politicians, royalty, business leaders and the service’s own personnel. There are seven decades’ worth of images and recordings, usually acquired for the sake of assessing risk, sometimes as a guard against betrayal, often engineered by MI6 for their own purposes. The leaked material causes havoc and personal disaster, but more importantly it places some of Britain’s foreign assets under great risk. It is up to Kane to try and find out who is leaking it and stop it.

This is a tough, gritty spy thriller with plenty of tension and a high level of cynicism. None of the characters are saints, although it is easy to feel sympathy for Rebecca Sinclair, the wife of a British MP who becomes caught up in the leak of the material. Rebecca’s dilemma gives the book some good early momentum while the other storylines are being established, and Kane’s involvement broadens the scope of the story. The intra and inter-agency rivalry is well done, and there is the usual wheeling and dealing behind the scenes. Harris is also very good at sketching the tense interfaces between the corporate, intelligence, media and police worlds. A complex, but enjoyable spy thriller plot.

There are a couple of sluggish patches, but these are easily forgotten as the tension builds to a good surprise and a wild, bloody chase through the streets of London. Highly recommended.

Harris’ dark spy thrillers are in the same league as Mick Herron’s Slow Horses books, and The Shame Archive is another very contemporary and gripping thriller from an author who deserves greater recognition.

I seem in the minority has to be said but I couldn’t get i to this at all,it is one of my fav genres so more than wanted to love it but found it hard to follow re story and characters,it seemed to jump from one thing to another without explaination,apologies as said I really did want to enjoy it

The 3rd Elliot Kane espionage thriller and by some way the best of them so far as Oliver Harris delivers a thriller of some real style and substance.

This time around Kane is at home, No longer working for MI6. Settled and in some ways happy with journalist partner Juliet Bell. However happiness doesn’t last long in this superb and somewhat speculative thriller that feels like it could very real when information is released that could threaten the axis of every government in the world.

Fast paced, frenzied and plotted with supreme craft, Oliver Harris is at the very top of his game here, the pages genuinely fly as Kane propels his investigation forward until a huge shocking finale that rocks Kane to his core.

So much to like and my book of the year so far.

Oliver Harris writes a powerful and intense speculative thriller that focuses on the practice of intelligence agencies to collect the kind of information, videos, and photographs on individuals that raises issues of ethics and morality. Under the leadership of John Broughton of MI6, the agency initiated the beginnings of this with the aim of curtailing a foreign power carrying out assassinations on British soil, I am sure readers could probably guess who. However, this out of control practice continued unabated for decades. Elliot Kane, formerly MI6, now a private spy, is called to the brutal murder scene of 2 people, one of whom is Anthony Zachariah, a Russian recruited by him, who had tried to contact him recently, leaving him, his journalist partner, Juliet Bell and her son, Malcolm exposed and in danger.

Rebecca Sinclair is a woman with deeply buried personal secrets, she is currently a respectable woman, married to influential Tory MP Robert Sinclair, with a daughter, Iona. However, everything she has built and the future she thought was secure is now under threat. She gets an email from someone calling themselves Eclipse, who goes on to blackmail her, for an amount that is beyond her resources. He tells her he will put the videos and pictures in the public domain unless she pays up, but she is not the only victim, there is a string of deaths and suicides of prominent figures. Rebecca takes a trip into her past and her fractured unreliable memories to try and understand what is happening. Kane soon becomes aware of the catastrophic leaking on the dark web of the entire MI6 'shame archive' and the implications for him, and the vulnerable powerful and establishment figures MI6 had targeted at home and abroad.

This is a dark, exciting, tense and suspenseful nail biting thriller that held my attention as I raced through the pages until the identity of Eclipse is finally revealed in the surprising concluding finale. This is a salutory tale that recognises the real politik of nations and their intelligence agencies and the information and kind of material they may gather. Harris imagines the potential repercussions of the leaking of such incendiary material into the public arena in a manner that feels all too real. I can see this appealing to a wide range of readers. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Probably the best Elliot Kane thriller yet.

The third book in the Elliot Kane series opens with Rebecca Sinclair, wife of prominent MP Robert Sinclair, receiving an anonymous text message threatening "I know who you really are" and demanding money. To prove they're serious, the blackmailer sends her a series of compromising photographs, promising they will be released onto the internet if she doesn't comply. At the same time, we learn that Elliot Kane has now left the security services and has set up his own "consultancy" with former journalist, and lover Juliet Bell. He is called to a crime scene, to offer insight into the apparent suicide of a Russian oligarch, a former source of Kane's. What could have prompted him to kill himself?

And so the reader is swiftly drawn into a fast-moving and densely-plotted story, viewed from two separate perspectives. The two threads slowly dovetail, as Kane and Rebecca fight to prevent a potential disaster. We learn that a massive digital archive has been put up for sale on the dark web, and hundreds of public figures and intelligence sources are at risk of exposure. Embarrassing for some, but a death-warrant for others. As more and more information is leaked, the reaction of the public, the media and the security services leads to a massive meltdown. There are some excellent scenes throughout the book concerning the impact such revelations have on personal relationships.

This book is unlike the first two Kane novels, darker and more current than either. The author has clearly carried out a lot of research into both the technical details of cybercrime, as well as the ways in which the data is used and abused for criminal gain. He also provides insight into the ways in which governments and intelligence agencies gather, and store, massive amounts of private information, much of which is achieved illegally. The (fictional) archive contains more than seventy years worth of images and recordings, apparently procured to help MI5 identify potential security risks, and as we learn more about Kane's involvement, we see how the best of intentions can easily be twisted.

The effect of the leaks, in terms of public and private reactions, those of governments at home and abroad, and the global implications for finance and diplomacy, while probably over-dramatized for the story, remind us of the Wikileaks scenario, and just how much our modern digital footprints reveal.

This is probably the finest Kane book so far - and although reading the previous two helps, it could easily be read as a stand-alone. Merging fact and fiction, it's a thought-provoking, tense thriller, which I'd heartily recommend to readers.

Rebecca Sinclair seems to have it all, her husband Rob is a cabinet member, they have a lovely eight-year-old daughter, a wonderful and charming home in the exclusive Chilterns. However, she wakes early one morning to a disconcerting text message, which says “I know who you really are” and later as second message, “I have pictures” which duly arrive. Rebecca’s story is the tip of the scandal iceberg as buried deep within MI6 are The Shame Archives known as Kompromat, which appear to have been hacked. All kinds of luminaries are caught in any number of compromising situations, for use if ever needed by the shadowy services. Now, there’s an urgency attached to finding out how the information has leaked, and who has hold of it. Time to call in Elliott Kane, ex MI6, and now a part owner of a private intelligence service, KX Global Insight. This gripping thriller is told by both Elliot and Rebecca. Who is behind this? Who are the mysterious hackers? The situation is dire and the floodgates are open.

First of all, I really like the dual perspectives. Initially we see Rebecca with the threats hanging over her, but she’s gutsy and not going to sit idly by and allow her life to implode. She uses her initiative, faces things head on in her own investigation. At the start of the novel, Kane’s personal life seems to be on the up with a new partner, the likeable ex-journalist, Juliet Bell, and he’s developing a good relationship with her son Mason. However, ex-MI6 agents can never rest on their laurels.

Oliver Harris is an outstanding writer in my opinion, creating high-quality, well thought out thrillers that are extremely hard to put down. They always feel authentic, credible and believable, and this is certainly true here, as it references true events, frequently very scary ones, which are woven effortlessly into Kane’s MI6 backstory. The clever plot is ever changing and fast moving, it’s exciting, full of danger, it’s claustrophobic at times, there’s a haunting sensation and has a chillingly, indifferent, ruthless, unseen protagonist whose intentions are initially unclear. It contains everything I love to read in a political thriller, shady organisations, agents wreaking, havoc for the political “gain “, corruption, and multiple secrets and lies. The plot elements are chock full of intrigue and this makes for enticing and enthralling reading. Tension and suspense are given in a story like this and it’s frequently the scarcely able to breathe kind. Some revelations pull you up sharply as the plot thickens and the mystery deepens, heading into even murkier territory as lives start to unravel. Who to trust is the million dollar conundrum. When the penny finally drops, thanks to a big hint from Elliot, so does my jaw, with a resounding thud. The ending is terrific, it’s really exciting and I hope there’s a next instalment and more Elliott Kane as he’s just the kind of central character that avid thriller fans like.

Overall, this is a cracking novel with rollercoaster plot and one that I can recommend to fans of the genre.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Little Brown Book Group for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Post to Goodreads and X on 21/5/24,

Post to Amazon and Waterstones on 4/6/24

Excellent - the best Kane novel yet - bang up to date, lots of action, mystery and conspiracy. Love the way that Eclipse's leaks start a cascade that causes the world to seem as if it's falling apart...and yet Kane has to get under the skin of what's happening and figure it all out before everything rebounds on him and he becomes the fall guy...terminally!

You can read this as a standalone, or, as part of the series - I thought Ascencion was great - this is even better.

Final veredict - if you like mystery/espionage/thriller books - put this at the top of your list - a "do not miss this book" recommendation from me

This was the first Elliot Kane spy thriller that I have read and it certainly won't be the last. Pacy, exciting, well written with a clever plot that drew me in from the very start. The story is told from two different perspectives, that of the investigator and the other from a blackmail party and the plot gets murkier and more deadly as the book progresses.

A thriller that really lives up to it's name, and a real pleasure to read.

Highly recommended.

This was everything that I love in a thriller. Espionage, murder, conspiracy, politics but also with a deeply human element thrown in.

I didn't actually know before requesting this book that it was the third in a series. I am not a fan of reading books out of sequence so I would have went back and read the first two however I needn't have worried, this can be read as a standalone however you would definitely enjoy it more with the backstory I'm sure.

Here, there has been an apparent hack on MI6 and the so-called 'Shame Archive' - a list of videos, pictures etc. which show prominent politicians, police officers and various others in compromising positions. When the videos start to leak out and blackmail ensues it falls to Elliot Kane, former MI6 employee (who appears to have an inside knowledge of this archive) to try and work out who is responsible for these leaks.

The novel is told from a dual perspective, Elliot, as he attempts to make sense of the leak, as well as Rebecca, now married to a prominent politician but previously a sex worker who appears in some of these pictures.

The dual perspective works really well here, it draws that line between the 'professional' with Elliot as well as the heartbreaking 'personal' story of Rebecca.

Really enjoyable read and a brilliant conclusion.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK, Abacus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review