The Blind Spy by Alex Dryden is about spies and their battles to gain supremacy.
The story starts with a young up and coming officer of the Russian Department S. He fathers a child, and, unwanted by the mother’s family, he takes the baby to an orphanage, but tells an his officer’s wife as he thinks she’ll be sympathetic and keep an eye on the boy.
Many years later, he’s a very successful officer in Dept S and has managed to recruit and train his son, though no one apparently know it’s his son. This young officer shows lots of promise and rises quickly through the ranks, even though he is blind.
On the other side, there is a commercial spy company called “Cougar” run by an egotistical but clever man. The CIA appears to rely on him and many of his staff come from the CIA and even go back to the CIA at a promoted level.
He has recruited a defected Russian spy called Anna. She insists on taking dangerous jobs in Ukraine and Russia even though there is a high price on her head.
I wasn’t sure about this book when I started it. The author’s style in my opinion was over the top – too many ‘big’ words and a lot more descriptive than really required at times. I found myself skip reading parts, as it really wasn’t relevant.
But he seemed to settle down about a third of the way in to the book and I started to enjoy it.
It gets quite complicated at times, not knowing who is on who’s side, with a couple of twists. But it’s fairly easy to follow. Though I do think the author loses the plot a couple of times with references that just aren’t followed up.
A decent enough read, but not the best spy thriller I’ve read.
