Judas 62
Judas 62 (Box 88 #2)
By: Charles Cumming
[Fulfilled ‘Book by an author with alliterated initials’ for Shelf Reflection’s 2023 Reading Challenge]
“There would be ‘collateral damage’ along the way and young Lachlan Kite would somehow have to get used to it.”
Judas 62 is the sequel to Box 88.
Another spy novel with Lachlan Kite at center stage.
In brief: it’s a story of revenge. The past— Kite’s exfiltration of a valuable scientist from Russia— meets the present— a mission to frame a Russian FSB officer who has put out a bounty on Kite’s head for the past grievances.
At just over 500 pages, this is a long read. It’s also complex/hard-to-follow because of the larger cast of characters, dual timelines, political nuances, and UK cultural references. As with Box 88, you will want to read this one in larger chunks or you will feel lost.
Note: There is a character index at the beginning of the book, but I found it burdensome to go back and forth while reading a digital version of the book so I had to rely on context clues and memory as to who was who and who was good or bad.
At least with this one, compared to Box 88, the timelines don’t change back and forth as often. The ‘past’ portion is told in a large chunk and describes the mission to exfiltrate a scientist from Russia. It is sandwiched on either side by the present day situation where Kite’s on Russia’s radar and in order to protect his family has to engage the enemy in an effort to trap and frame him and eliminate him from the equation.
This isn’t a mystery novel where you aren’t sure who the bad guy is. The reason you want to finish this book is to see if justice is served, if the mission succeeds.
To that effect, I wanted to and was interested in finishing the book.
However, it felt like it took some effort to get through it all. I’m not sure if I’ll continue this series because of the swearing, the widespread lust and sexual content, the length (including a lot of information or parts that seemed unnecessary), the confusion. I’ve yet to read one yet, but I think if I’m in the mood for a spy novel again I’ll probably read one of Daniel Silva’s books instead.
More Plot Details
The setting of this story is two-fold.
The past story- 1993- takes place in Russia.
The present story- 2020- takes place in Dubai.
1993: Lachlan fills in for an injured agent to pose as a teacher in Voronezh, Russia. This is his cover to connect with Yuri Aranov, a scientist with biochemical knowledge the US does not want getting into the wrong hands— a mission of defense rather than offense. The goal is to get Yuri out of the country.
But young Lockie is still sowing his wild oats and puts the mission in jeopardy. Add to that, his girlfriend, Martha, shows up and puts herself and the success of the mission in more danger.
Can Lockie get the asset out without anyone getting hurt?
2020: Box 88, the clandestine ‘non-government’ organization Lockie works for, discovers Lockie’s cover name from the 1993 mission has just been added to Russia’s hit list— the JUDAS list.
“JUDAS was a list of Russian intelligence officers, military personnel and scientists living in the West who had been targeted for reprisal assassinations by Moscow.”
[Judas was the list name, his alias was 62nd on the list, hence the title. Kudos on the title correlation with the first book.]
Why, after so many years, is the name now of interest? Is he, Martha, or his family in danger of Russian assassins like so many other names on the list who have recently been killed?
The primary Russian officer Lockie went up against in 1993 is currently in Dubai. Box 88 cooks up a plan to find out more information about what Russia does and doesn’t know about Lockie, the mission, and the organization. The mission doubles as a way to frame the Russian officer as revenge for some of the fallout of the 1993 mission.
Is their inside man into Russia trustworthy enough to help them accomplish such a tall task in a foreign country without being exposed? The plan involves a dangerous weapon and many things could go wrong.
COVID Inclusion
Cumming set part of this story in 2020 during the pandemic. If talk of temperature-taking, mask-wearing, social-distancing, limited-capacity restaurants, etc is a trigger for you— you might not want to read this one.
I’m not sure if I liked that or not. So far I’ve appreciated new books that ignore that part of life and keep settings free of that nonsense.
However, in some ways, I can see how including the Covid aspect was essential or relative to the story. For example, in a highly monitored city with CCTV cameras everywhere, face masks provided an inconspicuous/normal way for the agents to blend in undetected.
Also, it was a little bit interesting to think about how other countries handled Covid— at least if what was written here was true.
For example:
“in the height of the crisis in Bur Dubai and Deira, trucks had driven past every fifteen minutes ordering citizens by megaphone— in Arabic, English, and Filipino— to remain indoors.”
Apparently there was an app called the C19 DXB Covid app which was created in conjunction with the Dubai Health Authority in an effort to provide up-to-date information on statistics, symptoms, and support and stop ‘misinformation.’
One question though: it was written several times that temperatures were taken in order to enter certain establishments and I would just like to ponder how this was able to work properly when it was also reportedly really super duper hot there? My husband was in line for a restaurant in Iowa when it was hot and it caused his forehead to be too hot and showed as an elevated temperature preventing him from being able to go inside. He was not sick. How could they get accurate readings in Dubai??
Comments
In the first book I was hoping to understand Lockie’s relationship triangle with Martha and Isobel more in the sequel. We get a little bit more information on Martha, but not really anything further on Isobel other than she and Lockie are estranged because of the events of book one.
It feels like a TV series where they make a character go travel somewhere because the actor is busy on another project and they have to figure out how to work around it.
Except this is a book not a movie and there are no character restraints.
So even though Cumming tells me that Lockie loves Isobel and his daughter and wants to reconcile, everything else in the book makes me feel like Lockie is still in love with Martha and is a bit of a womanizer.
The book sure makes it seem impossible for men to be faithful or able to reign in their lust.
“For Kite to think back to the man he had been in the summer of 1993 was to remember a different person: richer in feelings, hungry for experience and obsessed by the possibilities and complications of sex.”
There is enough talk of cricket in this book that I had to do some Google searching on how that is played. One of the characters scored 100 runs in cricket and I’m trying to figure out what that looks like. Lucky for me I have a friend from England that I’m going to go get all my more specific hypothetical questions answered!
I had to chuckle at this relatable tidbit: “a recycling bucket marked ‘supposedly saving the planet.’”
And this one: “He placed the card in the slot to activate the lights.” This was at his hotel. I have stayed at a hotel where the lights were activated in this manner. I am embarrassed to say how long it took us to figure that out. Nate Bargatze’s bit on the mystery of hotel lights really speaks to me.
Dubai is an intriguing setting to me. I’m not sure if I’ll ever go there but it seems like such an economic anomaly in that area of the world that I’m very curious about it. A ‘luxurious city’ is a strange thing for me to picture what that looks like and how it functions. But if it’s as hot as the characters say that it was, I’m not sure how enjoyable it would be there.
There was some bold political commentary thrown in this book that I’m not sure what to make of:
“‘Whole country go crazy, psychotic. Two cults. One the Trump cult, the other the cult of the self-righteous. You want to know the trouble with America? Bad schools… Bad schools and now brainwashing through media…’”
“‘… America is land of guns, land of fear, land of hate. Trump pulled back the scab and now we see the wound. We see how stupid they are, how angry…..’ ‘I think perhaps we hear too much about all that… Social media tends to amplify the noise, know what I mean?’”
“‘A president with three wives and a penchant for porn actresses can be proclaimed by his supporters as a man of God. That same president can accuse his opponent’s son of corruption while his own children enrich themselves in full view of the American people.’”
“‘Think of America. In all those places information is a problem. it’s not just a question of who controls it. It’s already out of control. It’s a question of whether people are smart enough to realise that they’re being manipulated. Film clips. News stories. Rumours. What looks like the truth and what looks like a lie?’”
As you can see, some interesting thoughts here. This wasn’t anything significant to the plot of the book, it was just side conversations between characters to fill pages, but it makes one wonder the author’s intent in putting them in there. Especially considering he is British.
I suppose during 2020, that would have realistically been a common topic of conversation around the world.
Learning Corner
More words and phrases that I learned while reading!
salubrious: healthy, beneficial
After Eight: a chocolate/mint Nestle candy bar (that I will never be trying)
Operation PAPERCLIP: a historical and secret operation after WWII in which the US relocated German scientists and engineers who had been under Nazi employment
be to the manor born: born of wealth/privilege
Factor-30: what Brits call sunscreen?
zebra crossing: crosswalk (I definitely had to reread this section because I was pretty sure there wouldn’t be zebra crossings like we have deer crossings…)
Recommendation
If you are just really into spy novels and language doesn’t bother you, then you’ll probably enjoy Cumming’s books. You can tell he does a lot of research and wants his books to be realistic.
If you’re a little pickier about your spy novels, I would perhaps suggest trying Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon series (which I haven’t personally read yet but have heard good things about).
For another exfiltration from Russia read The Eighth Sister.
For a scientist exfiltration from Nazi Berlin read An Affair of Spies.
Both of those I enjoyed more than this one.
Cumming’s stories have potential, but when it comes to the books in their entirety, they just fall a little short (and long) with what I am looking to read.
Plus the main character— Lachlan Kite— is just not really a character I feel invested in. Even if it’s not realistic, I prefer my spy heroes to be a little more mature and moral.
I think if this was a PG-13 movie, I would have enjoyed it a lot more than reading it as a book.
I am also not super well-versed when it comes to spy novels so perhaps my evaluation isn’t as full as it could be. That’s for you to decide.
[Content Advisory: 73 f- and 40 s-words; lots of talk of sex but no graphic scenes described; one short paragraph describing a disturbing video of assault and rape]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
This book released September, 2023. You can order a copy of this book using my affiliate link below.
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