"Joanna Bourne Pushes Back the Boundaries of the Historical Spy Novel"
Reviewed by Monique Daoust
Posted November 15, 2014
Romance Historical
Camille Leyland, better known as Cami, has been found out
after 10 years of hiding in a quiet English village. She
is a Caché, a child trained as a decoder/codebreaker by
the French to infiltrate English society after the
Revolution and spy for France. One day, she receives a
letter that will change her life forever: the real
Camille is not dead, and Cami the impostor, is being
blackmailed into revealing secret codes if she wants to
keep her true identity secret.
Cami is not a traitor; on her way to leave a message to
the British Service offices, she is spotted by an old
Caché friend, Thomas Paxton or Pax. He needs to redeem
himself or else be forever branded as a traitor to
England. It so happens, they are not working against each
other but towards the same goal, finding the same man,
but for a somewhat different purpose.
ROGUE SPY is the latest instalment in the
Spymaster series, but can easily be read as a
standalone. ROGUE SPY is a timeless spy novel, where
shadows reign supreme, and Ms. Bourne's efficient,
straightforward prose effectively conveys the thorny in-
workings of a spy's life. The author has a true feel for
the neverending cat and mouse games and deceit; the
atmosphere is suitably dark but occasional splashes of
colour occur, where the author waxes lyrical; those
lighter moments when Cami and Pax reconnect and realise
their childhood friendship has become deeper.
I found it intriguing how Ms. Bourne successfully and
ingeniously transposed to the post French Revolution era
the concept of the insertion of moles for the purpose of
eventual spying, reminiscent of the Soviet era foreign
spying schools. ROGUE SPY has a very intricate plot,
where plot twists abound; the characters are multi-
faceted and fascinating, and as the story progresses,
even more sides of their already complex personalities
are revealed, as well as motivations for their actions.
The most seemingly innocuous discovery has reverberations
that have an impact that goes far beyond the original
mission. ROGUE SPY is a most captivating, and absorbing
spy novel.
SUMMARY
For years he’d lived a lie. It was time to tell the truth
.
. . even if it cost him the woman he loved. Ten years ago he was a boy, given the name Thomas Paxton
and
sent by Revolutionary France to infiltrate the British
Intelligence Service. Now his sense of honor brings him
back
to London, alone and unarmed, to confess. But instead of
facing the gallows, he’s given one last impossible
assignment to prove his loyalty. Lovely, lying, former French spy Camille Leyland is
dragged
from her safe rural obscurity by threats and blackmail.
Dusting off her spy skills, she sets out to track down a
ruthless French fanatic and rescue the innocent victim
he’s
holding—only to find an old colleague already on the
case.
Pax. Old friendship turns to new love, and as Pax and
Camille’s
dark secrets loom up from the past, Pax is left with a
choice—go rogue from the Service or lose Camille
forever...
Excerpt"A lot of water under a lot of bridges." "And some bridges burned forever." She sighed and stood
up, turning so she ended up facing him. Every instant of
that movement was graceful. Unstudied. She could have
been a leaf twirled in the wind. "This is like . . .
It's like when Alexander burned his ships on the shore so
his army couldn't run away. We have our backs to the
sea. Neither of us can retreat." "No retreat," he agreed. In a very few moments, one of
them would hurt the other. They shared that knowledge
without having to say it aloud. "I'm sorry it's come to this." She said. "I owe you so
much. I would have died of despair in those first days
in the Coach House if you hadn't been yelling at me." "I never yelled." "You became ironic. We were all in awe of you when you
were ironic." She leaned against the end of the pew.
Her cloak was weighted on the left side of the front.
That would be where she carried a small, reliable pistol.
She'd always loved pistols. It surprised him to find himself looking down at the top
of her head. He'd grown since he was fourteen. "I cared for you, Devoir, with my whole heart, as only a
child can care for another child." She spread her hands,
empty, palms up. "Yet here you are and here I am, very
close to enemies. I have a sudden urge to say something
significant about Fate and Inevitability." That sounded like the too-old, too-wise girl he'd known.
His Vérité still lived inside this sleek brown stranger
with the eloquent hands and the measuring eyes. It
wasn't only bones that stayed unchanged year after year. He wished he didn't have to arrest her.
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