Life of a Spy

Alex's father had been a spy, and his uncle who had raised him is a spy. His uncle, Ian Rider, trained Alex from a young age in the skills required to function as an effective operative, and this is why the story exists in the first place. However, the life of a spy is portrayed in a realistic manner, or at least as realistic as the reader suspects. Rather than being all glamour and excitement, the life includes crushing loneliness that leads to taking risks with having relationships, and that hardly ever turns out well. One participant in the relationship ends up dead, and as with Alex's parents, both at once in an explosion.

Due to Alex's family being so involved, he keeps finding himself doing covert operations against his initial will. Once the action starts, he has no time to ponder any of the...