A Spy by Nature

Starred review from May 14, 2007
L
oosely based on the author's real-life experience of having been recruited by the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) in 1995, Cumming's supremely intelligent and utterly readable debut will delight fans of such British masters of spy fiction as John le Carré, Robert Ludlum and Len Deighton. Alec Milius, a 24-year-old marketing consultant for a tiny London company that solicits business people in central and eastern Europe to advertise in a dubious publication called Central European Business Review
, welcomes the chance to join the SIS, which after an exhausting selection process places him as a support agent with a British oil company. Alec initially thrives in his new job, but as he becomes increasingly entangled in his mission, he begins to face unexpected dangers as well as the loss of his identity. Smartly paced and intricately plotted, Cumming's decidedly unglamorous look at industrial espionage provides plenty of elaborate deceits, double crosses and other trappings of a first-class spy thriller.

October 1, 2007
This incredibly atmospheric spy-thriller is read wonderfully by Vance. Cumming's debut-part fiction and part memoir-is beautifully realized by Vance, whose rich British accent seems perfectly suited for this appealing tale. With a variety of pitch-perfect dialects and accents, Vance brings a stark realism to the many mysterious characters that protagonist Alec Milius comes across in this sprawling account. Entrenched in the story, Vance captures Milius's hesitation and excitement upon being accepted in the secretive MI6 unit. There is something innately believable about Vance's Milius as well as just about every other character that pops up in this taut performance. Vance captures his audience's attention in a virtuoso one-man show that has all the power and variety of a big-budget theater production. He makes this intense story a memorable experience. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin's hardcover (Reviews, May 14).