2 Books Like Navalny

Published in 2022, this is not Harris's latest novel (that would be 2024's Precipice, which is also excellent). But it was the last one my father gave me, and the last one he read, before he died. He gave me Harris' first novel, Fatherland, when it came out in 1992, and ever since we exchanged copies and chatted about each new Harris book. Harris is a master craftsman of the historical novel, and Act of Oblivion is no exception. Both England and New England in the late-17th century are brought vividly (and terrifyingly) to life. The main character is fictional, but he is the only one who is—a very effective contrivance. So yes, this novel has some personal meaning to me, but I still think that objectively speaking this is historical fiction at its absolute best!

A frighteningly realistic spy story, set in modern Britain, with an ageing hero who has prostate problems, battling the prospect of an creeping privatisation of SIS, the British intelligence service that traces its heritage back to the 16th century days of Good Queen Bess. The tale in spiced with two elderly and one young woman are intelligent, likable and credible. The author, a well-known and well-travelled Scottish journalist who also served in the ranks of SIS, knows his territory, its people and its skills at betrayal.