The Old Enemy by Henry Porter

 

Ex-MI6 officer Paul Samson, the protagonist of the author’s previous two novels (Firefly & White Hot Silence) has been tasked with secretly guarding a gifted young woman, Zoe Freemantle. She’s an analyst working for an opaque international NGO and he is guarding her without her knowledge, volunteering in her workplace so as to be in close proximity to her and following her about the streets. One day, while tailing her, he’s attacked and it seems that he was the target, rather than the woman he is guarding. 

 

Meanwhile, his old MI6 mentor, Richard Harland, is assassinated while painting in Estonia. This despite the fact he has terminal cancer. And the billionaire philanthropist, Denis Hisami, is poisoned with a nerve agent while testifying before Congress. It quickly becomes apparent that all three events - the attack on Samson himself, the murder of Harland, and the poisoning of Hisami - are all linked.  Samson decides to find out what is going on and soon becomes embroiled in a labyrinthine plot where nothing is as it seems. 

  

As mentioned, The Old Enemy is the third in the author’s Paul Samson series. While it can be read as a standalone, and it’s not imperative to have read either Firefly or White Hot Silence (the relevant information is drip-fed throughout the narrative of The Old Enemy so that those who haven’t read the previous titles can still follow the plot) it’s much more enjoyable if you have. Luckily, the previous two titles are very well-written, so this is no bad thing. 

  

These are very topical thrillers: Firefly focused on the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean, White Hot Silence focused on far-right groups across Europe and from where they get their funding, while The Old Enemy continues this focus and concentrates on Russian interference in the West’s political systems and Russian killings in the US and Europe. 

  

Like the previous titles, The Old Enemy is skilfully plotted. It’s a fantastic thriller and confirms Henry Porter as a spy novelist at the top of his game. It’s little wonder that the novel comes with a glowing endorsement from Charles Cummings (another leading spy-thriller author) and I can’t recommend this title enough. I have a strong feeling that there will be another Paul Sampson novel at some point, and I for one will certainly read it.