Charlie Muffin (1977)

Aka Charlie M

‘A superior thriller which succeeds’ Daily Telegraph
‘A hairy tale, chillingly told, that makes Grade A entertainment’ Publishers Weekly.

‘Like his name Charlie Muffin is an oddity. An over-tired, over-drawn, over-hung middle aged anachronism. A survivor he says. An irritant, he accepts. Enjoys even. To the baronet Army Colonel and his clean sweep university graduates, Mancunian-accented Charlie with his crumpled suits and leaking Hush Puppies is the final inherited embarrassment from a disgraced Department they are commited to revitalise. Who better to sacrifice in the capture of Alexi Berenkov, the KGB general who masterminds from behind the counter of his London wine importers’ business the Soviet Union’s European spy net?
They forget, of course, that Charlie Muffin is a survivor. And when the university men begin bungling the most incredible diplomatic coup for three decades – the defection to Britain of General Valery Kalenin, the omnipotent genius of the KGB – Charlie survives relegation to a junior clerk’s desk in the secretary’s rest room. America bulldozes involvement, guaranteeing Kalenin’s financial future. In Moscow, Praesidium pressure upon the disillusioned spy chief to arrange the repatriation of the European controller becomes intolerable. Upon one man settle the hopes of East and West. Charlie Muffin. All Charlie hopes to do is survive. On his own terms, of course.’

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