Book giveaway this week: A Foreign Country by Charles Cumming

[RachelMumsnet]

If you're looking for a gripping and suspenseful spy thriller to take on your hols, Charles Cumming's A Foreign Country is a great choice.

Amelia Lavene is about to take up her post as the first female head of M16 when she goes missing without trace. M16 is plunged into crisis and are desperately trying to figure out what's happened before the story is leaked. However, the crisis offers disgraced M16 Thomas Kell a chance of redemption and he embarks on a dangerous journey throughout France and North Africa to track her down.

A Foreign Country was winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2012 for Best Thriller of the Year and selected by Sunday Times and The Guardian as best thriller. Author Charles Cumming has written a special note to tell mumsnetters about the inspiration behind his novel. Read his note and apply for a free copy. If you're one of the lucky 50 do come back when you've read and discuss.

Finished it last night.

Have to say, it didn't grab me until towards the end. I thought it was quite slow to begin with. I thought the characters, on the other hand, were very well written and I did buy into them.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect but this was a pleasant surprise. A slow start which soon became page-turning, a good solid spy thriller without too much graphic violence and multi-faceted characters. I will be recommending to my Dad!

I thought the plot moved at a god pace and I was soon hooked into the story. It was well written and an engaging read. Thank you

Just started to read this, strange having a paperback in my hands, normally use mini iPad or kindle. I am enjoying it and I am really keen to finish it.

I really enjoyed reading this and found it a quick read too. As others have said, I found it a bit slow to begin with but tge last third was fast paced and kept me reading on way after I should have been sleeping! I've already passed the book on to my Dad who's into spy stories.

I didn't really enjoy this book sorry. As others have said it was a very slow start and I was 2/3rds of the way through before it picked up at all. I found the main characters a bit too cliched but then perhaps I have watched too many films with similar stories! It's a shame because I love a good thriller but this didn't do it for me.

I did give it another go and finished it quickly . It was (fortunately) an easy read and I did want to know how it ended but still didn't change my view that it's a boys book. I found it incredibly irritating that the male protaganist was constantly referred to by his (macho) surname but his female superior was referred to by her (girly) first name. I would have watched it on TV but it read too much like a script to me not a novel. Sorry, I did try!

I enjoyed reading this book.

I found it fairly light reading for a spy thriller. It started a bit slowly, but I wouldn't have described it as a very slow start. The storyline developed well and the characters seemed rounded.

There was a certain amount of gender stereotyping within the book, which I did find a tad annoying, but it did not ruin the book for me.

By the end I felt satisfied that all the aspects of the story had been answered, and it didn't leave me asking "but what about..."

I haven't finished this book. I tried and then tried again to get into it and just couldn't. It should have been a quick read as the writing seemed to flow well but I just couldn't make myself care about any of the characters or the outcome of the story. I was disappointed as it did sound intriguing.