The Translator by Harriet Crowley
I would like to thank Bitter Lemon press and Random Things Tours for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher - Bitter Lemon Press
Published - Out Now
Price - £9.99 paperback £8.99 kindle ebook
A passionate love story, centred on a devastating Russian plot to sabotage the undersea communication cables linking the US to the UK. Clive Franklin, a Russian language expert in the Foreign Office, is summoned unexpectedly to Moscow to act as translator for the British Prime Minister. His life is upended when he discovers that his former lover, Marina Volina, is the interpreter to the Russian President. Together they will try to stop the attack that could paralyse communications and collapse the Western economy.
The Cold War thriller seemed to have gone away but these days international tensions perhaps are bringing it back with a vengeance. How will spying work in the 21st century? This is explored in Harriet Crawley’s thriller The Translator which looks at how language still plays a role in creating and avoiding key threats.
Clive Franklin just wants to climb a mountain and then get back to writing a book on the author Chekov but his employer the UK Government have desperate need of an translator as the man previously hired lies in a coma. Colin is flown with little preparation into a meeting between the UK prime Minister and Russian President. The usual games of diplomatic bravado are on show but Colin also finds out that his opposite number is Marina a woman whom Colin knew intimately on a previous rotation in Russia. The two are again drawn to each other and also find a serious threat from Russia is underway that could have drastic consequences for the UK and its allies.
An unusually cultural thriller that brings Moscow and Russian culture to life from love of sjhared liuterature to encounters at various ballets and receptuions. Colin is a more cerebal hero than action man and Marina is playing a dangerous game of keeping both sides happy. Decoding clues is a suitably reflective skill for Colin and marina and the threat that emerges is very much one of the 21st century where information is the most precious of commodities. I enjoyed the time taken on the two leads to flesh out their characters and pasts and the enemies are indeed pretty bad and dangerous guys to work out how to confront.
The one issue is how much can change in a publication cycle in the real world and some elements may seem a mix of prophetic and out of date against the 2017 setting this book imagines. Those who enjoy fast paced spy thrillers should have fun with this.
