JUDAS 62

Thirty years after a deadly attempt to extract a Russian scientist to safety in Ukraine, master spy Lachlan Kite eludes an assassin in the streets of Dubai

After a lifetime working with BOX 88, the transatlantic counterintelligence agency so covert that not even the CIA knows of its existence, master spy Lachlan Kite has made plenty of enemies. And now, as the director of the outfit’s operations in the UK, one of those past enemies has him in their sights…

1993: Student Lachlan Kite is sent to post-Soviet Russia, a spy in the guise of a language teacher. Embedded in the town of Voronezh, Kite’s mission is to extract a chemical weapons scientist before the man’s groundbreaking research falls into the wrong hands and shuttle him across the border to freedom in Ukraine. But Kite’s mission soon goes wrong and he is left stranded in a hostile city with a former KGB officer on his trail.

2020: Thirty years after that dangerous mission, Kite discovers that its outcome put his name on the notorious “JUDAS” list—a record of enemies of Russia who have been targeted for assassination. Kite’s fight for survival takes him to Dubai, a city crawling with international intelligence officers, where he enters into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with the Russian secret state.

The newest installment in the saga of “a spy for the 21st century” (Daily Mail) combines two pulse-pounding narratives that show why Cumming is among the top tier of espionage authors examining the reality of spycraft in the post-Cold War era.

Cumming does a superb job creating portraits of people, eras, and places. This powerful spy thriller should win the talented author new fans.”
—Publishers Weekly ⭐ STARRED REVIEW

Combining dexterous plotting in the manner of Daniel Silva with full-throttle action and character building that whets our appetite to learn more about Kite and his colleagues, Cumming is in top form here.”
—Booklist ⭐ STARRED REVIEW

An engrossing cloak-and-dagger thriller that’s both chilling and convincing.”
—Kirkus

JUDAS 62 offers an engrossing, highly detailed excursion into spy life that crackles with tension, life-or-death problem-solving and plenty of international intrigue.”
—BookPage

Charles Cumming effectively ramps up suspense, in this hefty page-turner revelatory of modern espionage’s methods.”
—NY Journal of Books

A spy novel that reads like a high-octane thriller and succeeds on nearly every level.”
—Book Reporter

JUDAS 62 has all you could want from a tense, topical and intelligent spy thriller.”
—The Times Books of the Year

The storytelling is first-rate, with all the minutiae of spycraft, sense of place and memorable supporting characters you could wish for.”
―Sunday Times

The first Kite novel was excellent, but this is even better ― an elegant exposition of what being a spy in the field actually feels like and the fear it can instil in even the most hardened operator. Superbly constructed, it never hurries, but evokes the world of espionage in a way the late John le Carre would have much admired.”
―Daily Mail

Some of the best writing around on the intricacies of spycraft and the high price agents pay for doing their job.”
―Sun

Charles Cumming knows how to write a good spy novel.”
―The Herald

Charles Cumming is a British writer of spy fiction. He was educated at Eton College (1985–1989) and the University of Edinburgh (1990–1994), where he graduated with 1st Class Honors in English Literature. The Observer has described him as “the best of the new generation of British spy writers who are taking over where John le Carré and Len Deighton left off.”

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