The Wayward Spy. Roger Croft. 2010. Cassio Books International. ISBN-10: 1450590209. 394 pps. $14.95 US/$15.70 CAN. Roger Croft starts his espionage novel in 1992 England. The main character, Michael Vaux is attempting to buy a bungalow on the same suburban street on which he grew up—hoping to retire peacefully, spending his golden years looking out at his backyard garden, and with a pleasant view of an English meadow beyond. Croft writes in a refreshingly methodical pace, which seems to have fallen out of vogue in spy novels. He is certainly closer to John Le Carré in style than Elmore Leonard. But it is difficult to see Richard Burton or Alec Guiness portraying the main character here, as in the movie adaptations of Le Carré's The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, or Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Our protagonist, Michael Vaux, is not a career intelligence officer. Rather, he's a retired journalist. Vaux, divorced, independent-minded and seemingly never without a drink in his hand, has done fairly well for himself. And though Vaux may have moments of melancholy, he's essentially stable, and bent on buying this elusive bungalow, which seems to inch away from him every time he gets closer. Vaux's domestic desires are used against him. Britain's spy service, M16, takes an interest in Vaux and leads him into an assignment—for Queen and country, he's assured—to re-establish contact with a school friend whom, is an arms purchaser for Syria. The book's plot is elaborate, and takes the reader down countless blind alleys. But Croft has put purposeful thought into his exposition, and the reader would be hard-pressed to see the outcome. Author Roger Croft, like protagonist Michael The Egyptian Gazette, in the 1960s. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/m6nn0 Tags: Roger Croft, Wayward Spy Section: Written Word
