William Boyd – BooksPlease

Gabriel Dax, travel writer and accidental spy, is back in the shadows. Unable to resist the allure of his MI6 handler, Faith Green, he has returned to a life of secrets and subterfuge. Dax is sent to Guatemala under the guise of covering a tinderbox presidential election, where the ruthless decisions of the Mafia provoke pitch-black warfare in collusion with the CIA.

As political turmoil erupts, Gabriel’s reluctant involvement deepens. His escape plan leads him to West Berlin, where he uncovers a chilling realisation: there is a plot to assassinate magnetic young President John F. Kennedy. In a race against time, Gabriel must navigate deceit and danger, knowing that the stakes have never been higher . . .

My thoughts

I was really keen to read The Predicament William Boyd’s second book in his espionage trilogy about Gabriel Drax because I loved, the first book Gabriel Moon. A major strand in that book was the story of the tragedy surrounding his mother’s death when he was a young child. His subsequent separation from his older brother added to Gabriel’s disturbed state of mind and contributed to his reluctance to become a spy. In fact he was accidentally drawn into the world of espionage without making a conscious decision.

The Predicament begins in 1963, a few months after the events related in Gabriel’s Moon. However, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would because the novelty of a spy who doesn’t want to be a spy is no longer a novelty. Now, Gabriel knows he is being drawn back into the dangerous and shadowy world of espionage by his fascination/obsession with Faith Green, his MI6 handler, who effortlessly manipulates him. But is Faith beginning to show her true feelings for him, is it possible that she may even be in love with him, or is she just using sex to keep stringing him along?

It all seems a bit shallow and the characters are rather stereotypical, although it’s fast paced and easily readable. Gabriel is assigned to a joint MI6/CIA operation in Guatemala to interview Pedro Tiago an ex-priest thought to be the next elected President. When Tiago is assassinated Gabriel realises he has once again been manipulated and is in danger of losing his life. Then he is sent to Berlin to assist the CIA prevent the assassination of President Kennedy, an interesting episode that lacks tension as we know Kennedy wasn’t assassinated in Berlin.

The action does jump about, as in between these events he has meetings with Russian spies and realises he’s become a double agent and he is still having sessions with the psychoanalyst as in Gabriel’s Moon. In addition he is a successful travel writer and he continues to use his spying assignments as locations for his books, but his research seems rather superficial and he is accused of plagiarism. I felt it was all too much tongue in cheek. There are several loose ends, which I hope will be resolved in the final book.

My thanks to the publishers for a review copy via NetGalley.

I’ve been making good progress with my reading, but I’m way behind with writing about the books I’ve read. So it’s time to catch up with a few short posts.

My first one is the first book I read for the 20 Books of Summer Challenge – Gabriel’s Moon by William Boyd.

Description

Gabriel Dax is a young man haunted by the memories of a tragedy: every night, when sleep finally comes, he dreams about his childhood home in flames. His days are spent on the move as an acclaimed travel writer, capturing changing landscapes in the grip of the Cold War. When he’s offered the chance to interview a political figure, his ambition leads him unwittingly into the shadows of espionage.

As Gabriel’s reluctant initiation takes hold, he is drawn deeper into duplicity. Falling under the spell of Faith Green, an enigmatic and ruthless MI6 handler, he becomes ‘her spy’, unable to resist her demands. But amid the peril, paranoia and passion consuming Gabriel’s new covert life, it will be the revelations closer to home that change the rest of his story . . .

Gabriel’s Moon by William Boyd is his 18th book, but it’s the first book by him that I’ve read. I loved it right from the start. It’s well written, one of those books that makes me want to read on and on eager to know what happens next.

I wondered about the title – what is Gabriel’s Moon? The Prologue set in 1936 enlightened me straight away. When Gabriel was six years old his family home burnt down. He escaped, but his mother died in the fire, caused, so the fire brigade claimed, by the naked flame of the nightlight burning by his bed. It was a small candle covered by a glass dome that resembled the moon. His mother would light it as part of a bedtime ritual that was important to him, signifying order and calm. But, his mind has blanked out all his memories of that night, although he still has nightmares about the fire.

By the early 1960s Gabriel had become a successful travel writer and in 1960 he travelled to the newly independent Republic of the Congo to interview the Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba. And thus he is accidentally drawn into the intrigue surrounding Lumumba’s murder. And then Dax is drawn into the dangerous and shadowy world of espionage.

I loved it. It’s a gripping tale that kept me turning the pages as Gabriel travels from Africa to London, Cadiz and then Warsaw. At home he visits a psychoanalyst, hoping to discover the truth about the tragic events of his childhood. He is drawn deeper and deeper into ever more complex and dangerous situations, whilst in thrall to Faith Green, his MI6 handler, who effortlessly manipulates him.

Gabriel’s Moon is the first novel in a new espionage trilogy. The second book, The Predicament will be released on September 4. 2025 and I’m looking forward to reading more about Gabriel Dax.

Many thanks to the publishers for a review copy via NetGalley.