First off, I’m not going to keep you in suspense about my verdict. Michael Idov, the author of The Collaborators, the first book in a new thriller series, worked on a TV show that I watched and loved about ten years ago – Deutschland 83.
The Collaborators is his debut spy novel, and it’s just as good.
The Story
In short, a Russian blogger tries to flee, but his plane is diverted. While waiting in a Belarusan prison, he witnesses an execution before being released. The blogger doesn’t realise that one of his key sources is Ari Falk, a CIA operative. In the USA, Maya Chou discovers that her billionaire father has committed suicide. In separate, and then interweaving threads, Ari and Maya stumble into a global conspiracy that centres around a very serious theme: how did post-Soviet Russia go so wrong?
Well-Drawn Characters
The fact Ari and Maya characters are so well-drawn ensured I enjoyed the book. If it had been entirely plot-based (and there is a lot of plot), I might have struggled more, because although I love thrillers, I prefer them to be character-focused. Ari and Maya very much fall into the opposites attract trope, but Idov convincingly and very entertainingly follows their relationship-arc through.
The support cast are also well-sketched, although, perhaps because of the fast-paced nature of the plot and the relatively short nature of the book (approximately 270 pages), they are slightly thinner.
First in a Series
The Collaborators is the first in a series called The Cormorant Trilogy. I’ve read Book 2, and it continues the plot arc, and Ari Falk’s story, very well, and also introduces some great new characters.
Rating
In The Collaborators, Michael Idov has blended a range of espionage novels to form something new and very exciting, from Slow Horses to Robert Ludlum’s Bourne trilogy to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
The Collaborators is a terrific book: quick to read, thought-provoking, and at times very funny.
5/5
Links
For another first book in a thriller series, you could try Book 1 of my own Angel of the South.
Billie Brindley’s criminal empire is crumbling. Tom, the only man she trusts, has fled to the Isle of Man, of all places. If he knew the full story, he might have stuck around…
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