A Spy by Nature

A Spy by Nature
Charles Cumming

For all fans of TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY comes this masterclass in suspense about a spy caught up in his own web of deception…Alec Milius is young, smart and ambitious – with a talent for deception. When a chance encounter opens the door to a career with MI6, he is desperate to make his mark.But life as a spy begins to take a terrible toll on himself and those around him, and soon Alec is chasing not just success but survival. Forced to work alone, he spins a web of deceit that traps him centre stage in a game of global espionage.In this new job, the difference between truth and a lie can be a matter of life and death. And for Alec, it’s getting harder to tell them apart…A Spy By Nature is the bestselling novel with which Charles Cumming announced his arrival as heir apparent to masters like John le Carré and Len Deighton; compellingly told, utterly authentic and heart-racingly intense, it will grip you till the very last page.

Charles Cumming

A Spy By Nature

Copyright

HarperCollinsPublishers

1 London Bridge Street,

London, SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by Penguin Books Ltd. 2001

Copyright © Charles Cumming 2001

Extract from The Sportswriter copyright © Richard Ford.

Published in Great Britain by Harvill Press 1986

Extract from The Uses of Enchantment copyright © Bruno Bettelheim.

Published in Great Britain by Thames & Hudson 1976

Extract from Rabbit Redux copyright © John Updike.

Published in Great Britain by André Deutsch 1972

‘Fake Plastic Trees’ Words and Music by Thom Yorke, Edward O’Brien, Colin Greenwood, Jonathan Greenwood and Philip Selway © 1994 Warner/Chappell Music Ltd., London W6 8BS.

Reproduced by permission of International Music Publications Ltd.

Charles Cumming asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007416912

Ebook Edition © 2017 ISBN: 9780007416905

Version: 2017-06-27

Dedication

For Melissa

Epigraph

I remember, in fact, the Lebanese woman I knew at Berkshire College saying to me, after I told her how much I loved her: ‘I’ll always tell you the truth, unless of course I’m lying to you.’

Richard Ford, The Sportswriter

Contents

Cover (#ulink_f1ec946f-218a-5401-a97c-445eada22564)

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Epigraph

Author’s Note

Part One

1995

One

An Exploratory Conversation

Two

Official Secrets

Three

Tuesday, 4 July

Four

Positive Vetting

Five

Day One/Morning