Description

The title is an echo of Graham Greene, for the book takes the spy genre as Greene developed it, and recasts it in a contemporary scenario, with a very independent woman as the protagonist and narrator. The setting is in the near future, when Scotland has left the UK and has developed, in effect, into a one-party state. The Party needs the revenue from Shetland's oilfields to keep the country from fiscal disaster - and to keep itself in power. When a Free Shetland movement gains momentum, the Scottish Intelligence Services must sabotage it, and Carol Rutherford, the narrator, is the person sent to Lerwick to achieve this. Rutherford is ambitious; she wants power because she would like to play interesting games with interesting people. She is also outside the normal value system, because she is prepared to use any means to climb to the top of the intelligence services. But other people can play games too...