Contact Zero

This book turned out to be nice surprise. Being a Robert Littell fan, the author has done a nice job of capturing the "spy" atmosphere that many cannot. This book is about several newly installed MI:5 field operatives who have attempts made on their lives. They flock together after the attempts and try to test the validity of the rumor of Contact Zero, a place of refuge for disassociated spies. As they follow the clandestine clues to potentially reach Contact Zero, their trust in the rumor and in each other begins to wane. Interesting book that for the most parts keeps a pretty quick tempo, not always an task for a spy novel.

Drawing on the style shown with a great deal of tension and panache in his BBC series, Wolstencroft stuffs a lot of tradecraft, geography, and deception into a fast-paced story of young agents left out to dry. Set up by a cynical chief (K.B.), these "lilly whites" on the run have been turned out to help London find the Shangri-La for secret agents gone bad or supposedly dead. Just where do agents gone bad go to escape further scrutiny? K.B. has a plan to find out, even if it means killing ten innocent agents. The four focal lillies are young, very smart, well-educated, very British, oversexed, and a bit too full of themselves as they have to quickly convert from trying to save the world through their trade to saving their own skins throug their tradecraft. There's enough technology, local color, and double dealing to move the story along, although the numerous flashbacks at times hinders the fast pace.

You're young and embarking on a career as a spy for Her Majesty's government. And then in a single instant your entire life falls into a rat hole. You run, cast off by your government. There is no place to go, no place to turn . . . except, maybe, what might be a myth: Contact Zero, a refuge for spies thrown away by their governments. Thus begins the saga of Ben Sinclair, Jamie Gallagher, Nat Turner and Lucy Matthews, the four survivors of the last class of MI6. The other six of their class they learn have all been murdered. These are the survivors. They find each other and begin their hunt for the fabled sanctuary. But one of them carries a secret. Back in London, K.B. and the Chief track the unfolding of Operation Greco which they secretly hope will put an end to their long held fears and hopefully all those who know the source of those fears. In "Good News, Bad News", David Wolstencroft demonstrated a flair for wry humor, complex plots, fast action and absorbing characters. He doesn't quite match that standard in "Contact Zero," but the shortcomings can be measured in millimeters. "Contact Zero" moves fast. The plot sometimes strains credulity, but never enough to be disturbing. A couple of the characters don't ring true, but again the deficiencies are swept along with the action. The action is where it's at. The four survivors feel their way across murky clues, odd characters, close escapes and their own weaknesses. As the climax nears, the tension grows as we learn the real reasons for the murders of the fledgling spies and the true goal of Operation Greco. Every page gives way to the next: it's difficult to stop turning them for mundane considerations like work and sleep. "Contact Zero" is not a perfect thriller. Some of the jump-cuts are just a bit too much TV like. A few of the characters, as noted, are weak. But overall, Wolstencroft has turned in a second thriller quite nearly as enjoyable as his first and that's quite and accomplishment, as well as a treat for the reader. Jerry

David Wolstencroft is rapidly establishing himself as one of the new major players in the thriller genre. He is the creator of the British television series "Spooks" (seen in the United States on the A & E network under the name "MI5"), which is in the midst of its fourth season in Britain; published a brilliant novel last year entitled GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS; and is now repeating the latter feat with CONTACT ZERO, his latest --- and better --- work. CONTACT ZERO is one of those books that gets under your skin and crawls all around you every minute you're reading it, a story you can't put down not only because you can't wait to see what happens next but also because you can't wait to find out what is really, really going on. CONTACT ZERO centers primarily, though not entirely, on Ben Locke, a recent graduate of the MI6 School of Spycraft. Locke is on assignment when he is framed, Hitchcockian style, for a crime he did not commit. He quickly finds out that most of the other members of his graduating class have been framed in mid-assignment as well and in fact have been murdered. The only exceptions are Ben and two others, Nat Turner and Lucy Matthews, alive and on the run. The three share an uneasy and at times painful past, the memories of which they are forced to set aside in order to focus on the future. Cut off and abandoned by their superiors, their only hope is a legendary, and probably illusory, entity known in the spy craft mythos as contact zero --- a hope of last resort, when all one knows is wrong and the world stands against you. The trio --- and one other --- set forth on a journey that takes them literally around the world, a journey fraught with danger and mistrust, where they have to follow their instincts as to when to rely on one another and when to rely on themselves. Think of Dirty Harry being led by his nose around San Francisco, running from pay phone to pay phone, and you'll get a faint glimmer of what Wolstencroft puts the fledgling agents through. He does a masterful job of rendering his complex plot line understandable, exciting, and very, very readable, all the while maneuvering everything toward a highly satisfying conclusion. Wolstencroft demonstrates that he has talent and ambition in equal and complimentary parts. And --- not to give anything away, of course --- I have the feeling he is merely getting warmed up. Highly recommended. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

In Peru, Ben Sinclair looks forward to his first posting after graduating with nine others from British espionage school. However, his assignment falls apart almost immediately when he is accused by the local police of smuggling. He escapes capture, but is stunned when his call to his handler Mum is met with zero help. The embassy reacts the same way although to both parties he insists he was framed. Ben makes an appeal to his classmates, but only Lucy responds. She informs him that seven of them are dead murdered on the same day around the globe; only they and Nat still live. The trio tries to unite to stay alive as agents try to kill them. There only hope of survival resides in discovering and perhaps destroying their only possible haven mythological Contact Zero, but the probability of achieving this appears impossible but is even made more difficult by the threesome not trusting one another. This action packed thriller starts with an assault in Thailand on one of the seven and never slows down until the final confrontation with zero options left for the runaways. Readers will be hooked trying to learn why seven homicides and three attempted murders occurred to the espionage school graduating class. The survival capers of the beleaguered trio take front stage in a thrill a page tale that keeps the adrenaline of readers anticipating what happens next at the pinnacle of excitement. Harriet Klausner