logo
episode-header-image
Jul 1
54m 2s

Charles Cumming Talks ICARUS 17, BOX 88 ...

Shane Whaley
About this episode

In this episode of the Spybrary Spy Podcast, Shane Whaley is joined by fellow Spybrarian and Head of Boston Station, Joe Modzelewski, to welcome bestselling espionage author Charles Cumming back to the show.

Support us on Patreon for even more content.

Charles joins Spybrary to discuss his new Lachlan Kite thriller, ICARUS 17, released on 2 July in the UK and 7 July in the United States. Billed as a nail-biting new entry in the BOX 88 series, ICARUS 17 sees Kite pulled back into fieldwork when Martha Rain, a woman from his past, asks for his help in finding her missing son, Max.

Max and his girlfriend Yasmine have disappeared in Athens, but they are not simply missing. They are on the run, hunted by two rival agencies with orders to kill. The secret they are carrying could destabilise the Middle East for a generation, and if Kite fails to save them, the consequences will be catastrophic.

Alongside the new novel, Shane and Joe talk with Charles about his writing process, his approach to writing modern espionage fiction, and his experiences working in the writers' rooms of some of the spy television shows and films enjoyed by Spybrary listeners.

 

Up next
Aug 26
Sweden's Secret Cold War Spies: Dead Drops, Hidden Cells and the Stay Behinds
Cold War Spies Series with Shane Whaley For decades, Sweden presented itself as neutral and determined to remain outside the Cold War struggle between East and West. But behind that public image, the Swedish Stay Behind network was preparing for an altogether darker possibility: ... Show More
1h 9m
Aug 17
Simon Conway Returns with The British Agent and a Brand-New Spy
Simon Conway returns to Spybrary to discuss his latest espionage thriller, The British Agent — a contemporary, globe-spanning story involving missing British-made surface-to-air missiles, Ukraine, American extremist militias, political conspiracy, and an audacious plot targeting. ... Show More
26m 43s
Jul 21
Graham Greene: The Novelist Who Never Stopped Spying
The novelist Graham Greene ranks at number 6 on Tim Shipman's infamous Best Spy Writers list — and yet we haven't given him enough airtime on the podcast. Time to put that right. Graham Greene didn't just write about spies — spying was the family business. His uncle founded Naval ... Show More
48m 15s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2023
Episode 157 - DAVID BICKFORD - FROM LIFE AS A SPOOK TO WRITING A BOOK
Sonal talks to the former legal director of intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6, who is now turning his experience to write thrilling spy novels. This fascinating conversation covers his journey into the world of intelligence, some of his most memorable moments with the agencies, a ... Show More
19m 52s
Jun 2024
Joseph Kanon Conjures WWII Shanghai
Do you like a good spy novel? Do you love le Carré and Graham Greene? Then we hope, with great sincerity, that you are reading the work of Joseph Kanon. His latest, Shanghai, centers around the city’s lesser known freewheeling WWII history and some of the lawless people who escap ... Show More
34m 25s
Dec 2023
The Tablet Book Club – ‘A Faithful Spy’ with author Jimmy Burns and broadcaster Emily Buchanan
<p>Award-winning writer and former <em>Financial Times</em> journalist Jimmy Burns’ latest book <em>A Faithful Spy,</em> based on previously undisclosed personal private papers of former MI6 and MI5 officer, Walter Bell, gives a remarkable insight into the working of British Inte ... Show More
1h 4m
Jul 2025
67. The Great Betrayal: Defecting to Moscow (Ep 2)
How do you switch sides and become a spy for the KGB? When the FBI is tracking you, how do you escape the country? And what is life like for a traitor on the other side of the Iron Curtain? Join David McCloskey and Gordon Corera as they discuss the life of Edward Lee Howard, his ... Show More
50m 32s
Aug 2024
The Spy Who Defused the Missile Crisis | Unpacking the mind of a spy legend | 5
Few spies have motives as hard to decipher as those of Oleg Penkovsky. Was he a hero, an egotist or a madman? The Spy Who's Tristan Donovan sits down with Jack Basu-Mellish, host of the LSE Cold War Podcast, to discuss Penkovsky’s actions, plus the lessons to learn from the event ... Show More
38m 37s