Moscow Exile (Joe Wilderness #4) by John Lawton

What happened to Joe Wilderness? Read on …

At the end of the third book in this series (‘Hammer to Fall’), Joe Holderness (known as Wilderness) was left on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall. Fortunately, he survived. The novel opens in 1969, when Joe did not appear at the Glienicke Bridge, and then shifts back to Washington towards the beginning of World War II. Charlotte, a British expatriate and related to Winston Churchill by marriage, has settled in Washington with her second husband. Charlie Leigh-Hunt, friend of Inspector Troy of Scotland Yard, is posted to Washington to replace Guy Burgess who has defected to the Russians. But Guy Burgess was not the only person working on behalf of the Russians.

Mr Lawton builds his story slowly and I needed to pay careful attention to try not to miss anything important. I was reading about Charlotte and Charlie, and wondering when Joe Wilderness would appear. And then, the action shifts to Russia and much of my curiosity was satisfied and most of my questions were answered. This is a rewarding read but I would recommend reading the series in order: character development and history are both important.

If you enjoy spy novels and have not yet read the Joe Wilderness series, I highly recommend it. And now I wonder what will happen next.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith