In August 1953 Harry receives news that Sean has gone missing in troubled Iran after writing an exposé about government corruption. You feel the loss of the main character Harry Tower’s wife passing through details of their love story plus the anguish of losing not only the closeness Harry once had with his both his deceased wife but also his son Sean, to ultimately the horror that Sean’s disappeared in Tehran and Harry struggling to find him, a child he realizes he doesn’t know. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.

It will take him from the English suburbs to Berlin, the South of France to Los Angeles and the heart of a maelstrom. The spy thriller is often a runaway train of an adventure where agents need to think on their feet and improvise. The result is a violent chase stretching across three continents, where loyalties – between spies, partners, nations and lovers – become fatally divided. The story alternates between Tower running around Tehran with his son's girlfriend, talking to all kinds of shady characters -- French spies, Iranian gangsters, mysterious Americans, etc. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged.Thanks to Grove Atlantic, the author, and Goodreads for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. In the first part of the Hook, Line and Sinker trilogy, friends become enemies, pursuer becomes victim and no one – not even Bernard himself – is above suspicion. Told through the eyes of ordinary people in the air and on the ground – from a young pilot to the inhabitants of a small town in the Ruhr – Bomber is an unforgettable portrayal of individuals caught up in the wreckage of war. His son disappears while covering the news in Iran prior to the coup d’etat in 1953, in which Iran went from a democracy to a monarchy. It isn’t easy to warm up to Harry, in part because the background that shapes his characterization has made Harry insular and self-absorbed.

Things were always explained well enough that I could hang on to the gist, but I'm sure I lost many details due to my unfamiliarity. We learn his backstory and his struggles, particularly the suicide of his wife which led to the estrangement with his son. Without the discovery of an inexhaustible supply of oil in Iran, the British Empire would never have won two world wars.Harry secretly travels to Tehran to try and find his son and comes across Shahnaz, unaware his son was in any relationship. Bringing the Faith, Hope and Charity trilogy, and Bernard Samson’s story, to a stunning conclusion, this final volume brilliantly shows the human cost of the spying game.

A slow-burner at times, Tower is portrayed as a man conflicted as he travels across Iran with his son’s Iranian girlfriend, Shahnaz, herself the rebellious daughter of a general, steering him through bureaucratic and military obstacles. Or was the kidnapping part of a plan to lure Harry back to Iran, a plan that involves a suspected mole in SIS? I knew little about the 50s politics in the Middle East, particularly Iran, so the plot was new to me.

The book is quick and simple with a love interest, the sadness of Harry losing his wife and his son who blames Harry for the death of his mother which in turn makes for a difficult relationship between the two of them. The titular spy of the novel is Harry Towers, recently retired from MI5, a widower ready to put the past behind him. I read this shortly after reading the highly acclaimed John Le Carre novel "Tinker, Tailor Soldier, Spy" and it took me a while for me to separate this book from that one, particularly the main character Harry Tower who would fit right in the Le Carre novel.