The Translator by Harriet Crawley

 

The Translator by Harriet Crawley.

Published 23rd March by Bitter Lemon Press.

From the cover of the book:

A highly topical thriller about a Russian plot to cut the undersea communication cables linking the US to the UK. Also, a passionate love story between two people determined to stop this cataclysmic act.

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 turned on its head when, after more than a decade, he discovers that his former lover, Marina Volina, is now the interpreter to the Russian President. 

At the embassy, Clive learns of a Russian plot to cut the undersea cables linking the US to the UK which would paralyse communications and collapse the Western economy. Marina stuns Clive with the news that she’s ready to help stop the attack, betraying her country for a new identity and a new life. Clive becomes the go-between, relaying Marina’s intelligence to MI6 back in London. 

What are the odds that two lovers, running the Moscow marathon with the FSB on their backs, can save Western Europe from economic meltdown?

***********

Clive Franklin loves all things Russian. He thinks and speaks the language like a native, but there is no doubt that the demands of his career as a translator for the Foreign Office are taking their toll. He is enjoying a well-earned sabbatical when a call from the Prime Minster's office brings him back to reality with a bump. His services are needed urgently for a trip to Moscow to act as translator for the new firebrand PM, Martha Maitland, as she undertakes tricky talks with the Russian president Nikolai Serov. Clive can hardly refuse.

Clive is delighted to be back in Moscow, and finds himself looking forward to the challenge of testing his language skills once more, despite the difficulties of a country where the beady eye of the FSB is constantly turned in your direction. But when the talks begin he is sent reeling by the presence of a woman he has not seen for ten years, who is now acting as interpreter for the President Servov - his former lover, Marina Volina.

Marina is part of Serov's inner circle, but she is embittered by the strain of living on a knife-edge and the impact it has had on her personal life. Clive's appearance stirs feelings she thought were long buried, and through him she sees a possibility that she might escape the position she is in. When Marina discovers a devious plot to target the undersea cables that link the USA and the UK, she confides to Clive that is is willing to betray her country by discovering all she can about the plans, in return for a new identity.

As the situation becomes ever more complex, Clive finds himself embroiled in a dangerous intelligence operation with the woman he loves. Can they gather the information they need to stop the plot before it is too late?

The Translator is just my kind of Russian spy thriller. Harriet Crawley enfolds you a very timely espionage story that highlights everything about the current complexities of the political situation between Russia and the West, while evoking all those Cold War vibes that I adore.

Crawley's Russia is one that finds itself torn between its long-standing Soviet ambitions and the temptations of the modern age, where corruption vies constantly with ideology. At the centre of the story, we have two characters in Clive and Marina who are not spies, and yet the nature of their jobs brings them into contact with the constant push and pull of the intelligence whirlwind that operates around them as they go about their work, and Crawley uses this to perfection to craft a story full of glorious underlying tension.

There are delicious characters on all sides, and the threads of their individual stories weave beautifully throughout to make an authentic spy thriller with lashings of emotional depth. Clive and Marina's relationships shed light on so many aspects of the mass of contradictions that make up modern Russia, from the cynical machinations of the corridors of the Kremlin, through the rise of the oligarchs, and right down to the political unrest on the streets. President Serov makes an intriguing Putin-esque figurehead, and the personalities in his inner-circle provide fodder for some excellent story-lines, especially the chilling General Varlamov with his personal and professional agendas.

Crawley deftly plays off the influences of the old world and the modern age against each other in this story. She lavishes you with references to art, literature and music, and also brings you bang up to date with themes of state-of-the-art technology, which makes this story delightfully many-layered. There are darker emotions and intrigues galore to keep you on the edge of your seat, but also rich threads of love, passion, romance, loyalty and friendship that tie you completely to the fate of the protagonists and their endeavours.

This book has everything I want in a political thriller, with a twist that comes from looking at this through the eyes of two translators. This throws up some really thought-provoking issues around language and interpretation that I have not considered before - not only around the speed that translators of speech have to work at, but how their choice of words can influence the meaning of very tricky situations. One to ponder!

The Translator has all the hallmarks of the first part in a new series, and there is a lovely hook into a possible sequel that I really want to read. This is a classy novel, and I like Crawley's style very much. I look forward to reading more of her work. 

The Translator is available to buy now in hardcover and ebook formats.

Thank you to Bitter Lemon Press for sending me a hardcover copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Harriet Crawley has been a journalist, writer, and art dealer, worked in television and radio, and stood for the Westminster and European Parliaments. For almost twenty years Harriet had one foot in Moscow where she launched a technical publishing business for a Russian oil and gas company. She speaks five languages and this is her fifth book.