Published 16th November 2023 by Michael Joseph.
From the cover of the book:
Kola Peninsula, 1987. High in the Soviet Arctic, a tiny village houses an apocalyptic secret . . .When research zoologist Dr Amelia Blackburn ventures north to investigate the ravages of the Chernobyl reactor meltdown, she stumbles on the evidence of another sinister disaster on the Norway-Russia border - one that appears far from innocent. Mother Russia will stop at nothing to prevent this information from being revealed, putting Amelia and her team in grave danger from the moment they leave the site.
When the news reaches London, the eyes of British intelligence turn to the one man with the knowledge and skills to bring her back to safety - and find out what has really happened in the frozen North.
Major Tom Fox thought he'd put his intelligence career behind him, but wrapped in a custody battle for his young son, Charlie, a request from his high-ranking father-in-law forces his hand. When the reluctant spy reaches Russia, it quickly becomes clear that this is no ordinary mission.
As Fox and Amelia fight for their lives - and their country - in Russia, Charlie is lead into dangers of his own in England. Three lives are about to be embroiled in the darkest secrets of the Cold War conflict - and a plot that, if left unchecked, will echo through history . . .
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November, 1987. Kola Peninsular, Russia. A secret, underground Soviet research station on the Norway-Russian border is destroyed by an explosion. The Russian authorities are keen to deflect attention from what was going on beneath this frozen landscape, and will silence anyone that knows too much.
Scottish researcher Dr Amelia Blackburn just happens to be nearby with her Sami assistant, studying the effect of the previous year's Chernobyl meltdown on the wildlife in the Arctic tundra, and they head north to investigate the strange radiation signal they have detected. As soon as they reach the site of the explosion they realise this is a scene not meant for their eyes. Their lives are now under threat.
The odd goings on in the Arctic have not escaped the attention of British Intelligence, and they need to send someone to investigate. The man of choice is Major Tom Fox, who has previously crossed paths with the resourceful Dr Blackburn. However, Fox considers his spying days to be over, and his current personal situation is more than enough to occupy his time without stepping back into the life of an intelligence asset. Persuaded by his spymaster father-in-law that his co-operation will help him gain custody of his son Charlie, Fox reluctantly sets off on a mission that takes him from Norway to deep into Soviet territory... where he meets old friends and enemies. It soon becomes clear that this is a mission far more dangerous than anything he has experienced before.
The action cuts slickly between the helter-skelter chain of events of the mission Fox is manoeuvred into at a time when his world is falling apart (with gripping scenes from both Fox and Dr Blackburn's perspectives); the adventures of Fox's son Charlie in rural Hampshire while his father is away; and the murky shenanigans of an undercover operation involving Fox in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1971.
Through these diverse storylines Grimwood beautifully blends elements of cracking Cold War espionage tale, gritty domestic drama, and pitch perfect political thriller about the bloody conflict in Ireland during The Troubles. The 1987 plotlines fit together beautifully, building a picture of different aspects of the Kola Peninsular disaster from multiple sides of the political equation, throwing up the reality about tenuous alliances and fierce rivalries, and bringing in familiar faces from Tom Fox's previous missions - one of whom is Dr Blackburn herself. It is not easy to see quite how the Derry storyline fits into the overall scheme of things until well into the book, even though this part of the story is equally gripping, but have no fear, because the lovely twists that arise from this exploration of Fox's past are all too relevant further down the line.
As someone who has not read the previous books, it did take me a little time to get to grips with the many threads that carry through this story from Fox's earlier missions and the emotional turmoil of his personal life, but Grimwood gives you the bare bones you need to catch up enough for this not to be a major issue. The mission itself is nicely contained within these pages, although I have no doubt that much of what happens here will have consequences for future instalments in the series. There are certainly thrills and spills enough to make me really want to catch up with all the complicated backstory between the characters - something I will definitely be doing in the future.
Grimwood crafts a plot here that thrums with everything you could possibly want from an espionage thriller, and it stands up well amongst the heavyweights of the genre. Despite its status as an unabashed page-turner, there is also a pleasing amount of emotional heft to this novel - which Grimwood ramps up through Charlie's side of the tale. I really enjoyed how he runs the themes of marriages under strain, and father-son and sibling relationships through the story too.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book from cover and to cover, totally absorbed in Grimwood's writing, and cannot wait to go back and read the first two books, Moskva and Nightfall Berlin, which I have no doubt will be just as exciting as Arctic Sun.
Arctic Sun is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Michael Joseph for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.
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