I've never read any of Tom Bradby's thrillers, but I was interested to watch the new ITV series Secret Service, based on one of them which was published a few months before the pandemic. It's a contemporary story, and Tom Bradby is in the perfect position for authorial cameo appearances - he keeps popping up on the screen, reading news bulletins.
The basic scenario - which I would guess is updated from that in the novel - is that the Prime Minister, a centrist Labour politician, resigns after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The two cabinet ministers poised to do battle for the opportunity (or the misfortune?) of replacing him are Ryan Walker (Mark Stanley) and Imogen Conrad (Amaka Okafor). Both seem equally ruthless.
One of Conrad's closest advisers is Stuart Anderson (Rafe Spall), who is married to Kate Henderson (Gemma Arterton), who is head of the Russian desk in MI6. She's running an operation in Malta with an agent, and learns that the Russians have an agent in the government - seemingly one of the two front-runners to take over as PM.
It's a good premise, and perhaps doesn't require massive suspension of disbelief. There are quite a few familiar plot ingredients in the storyline, but the story moves along at a decent pace, and it's good to see actors like Alex Kingston and the ever-reliable Roger Allam in the supporting cast. It may not match the best of Le Carre or Deighton, and I did anticipate the final twist, but overall, I really did enjoy this one.
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