Another triumph for a master storyteller.

"The Poet's Game" opens in Moscow in 2018. Former CIA officer Alex Matthews, now a successful financier, has agreed to do a favour for his ex-boss, and is about to meet an asset who wants to defect. The meet goes wrong and it's clear to Matthews that the Russians knew all about the plan. Despite his reservations, he is drawn back into the shadowy world of espi0nage, as he tracks down a mole within the CIA.

As readers of previous Paul Vidich books would expect, this latest escapade moves along at a fair pace, packed with the sights and sounds of Moscow, and the tradecraft of modern-day spying. We are reminded that no-one ever really leaves behind the dark and dirty world of espionage, as Matthews has to make decisions that could bring to and end, the life he has rebuilt. The story features characters we might very well recognise from real life, and current events are nicely woven into the story. Almost prescient in places...

This is the first book in the Alex Matthews series, so we can look forward to more excitement. Highly recommended.

This book totally engrossed me and demonstrates exactly how and why Paul Vidich has become an elite and masterly writer of spy thrillers.

Set in 2018 the book features Alex Matthews, supposedly retired from the CIA who is reluctantly brought back into the fold from his role as a successful financier working in the Russian markets to exfiltrate one of his former spy’s - forenames Byron who has compromising information on the unnamed US president and also about the identity of a Russian spy working within the CIA.

Nothing is quite as it seems with the Russians always seemingly one step ahead.

Matthews returns to Moscow and is in imminent danger of arrest. The tensions build as the city is also the hero of the book with its locations beautifully described.

Matthews’s spy is also being sought by the Russians and there is a remarkable eye opening twist near the end when identities are finally revealed.

Matthews is a complex character struggling manfully to manage his double life as well as a complex and difficult family situation and I would hope that this will be simply the first of a wonderful new series.

Highly recommended.

You never really leave the spy game, but American Alex Matthews was hoping that the spy game had left him. When the CIA asks Alex for his help, he is at once torn between his loyalty to his country and his desire to continue rebuilding a fractured private life. Poignant at times, what I liked most about The Poet’s Game is that it never loses its focus. In portraying a contemporary view of Russia today, Vidich shows that the bear never hibernates.

A taut and intense novel with a narrative that burns fiercely.

I was granted a review copy of The Poet’s Game and am leaving this review voluntarily.