In this crackerjack Cold War thriller, MI5 faces a deadly threat, one only Richard Knox can avert. But he only has six days and the clock is ticking fast.

How long can you survive in the shadows?

Richard Knox, freshly returned to active duty after a year out of the field, is ordered to uncover the invisible enemy that’s infiltrated the Service in his absence.

His quest takes him to Hong Kong, a city on the brink of chaos, where he discovers the lines between friend and foe have never been more blurred.

Who is behind the assault on MI5? How long have they been operating in the shadows? And what is their endgame?

Duty or honour. Which would you betray?

It's 1966. London is swinging, and the Cold War is spiralling.

Clear cut lines have faded to grey areas. Whispers of conspiracies are everywhere. Spies on both sides of the iron curtain are running in circles, chasing constant plots and counterplots. And MI5 agent Richard Knox is tired of all of it.

But when Abey Bennett, his CIA comrade in arms, appears in London with a ghost from Knox's past and a terrifying warning that could change the balance of power in the Cold War for good, he has to fight to save the future.

THE TIMES THRILLER OF THE MONTH

CHOICE MAGAZINE HARDBACK OF THE MONTH

It’s 1961 and the white heat of the Space Race is making the Cold War even colder.

Richard Knox is a secret agent in big trouble. He’s been hung out to dry by a traitor in MI5, and the only way to clear his name could destroy him.

Meanwhile in a secret Russian city, brilliant scientist Irina Valera makes a discovery that will change the world, and hand the KGB unimaginable power.

Desperate for a way back into MI5, Knox finds an unlikely ally in Abey Bennett, a CIA recruit who’s determined to prove herself whatever the cost…

As the age of global surveillance dawns, three powers will battle for dominance, and three people will fight to survive.

WINNER OF THE PEOPLE’S BOOK PRIZE!