Charles Cumming Books

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Charles Cumming is a British author that writes spy novels. Born in 1971 in Ayr, Scotland, to Ian Cumming and Caroline Pilkington, he attended Ludgrove School and Eton College before pursuing English Literature at the University of Edinburgh.

He came to fame in 2001 when he wrote ‘A Spy By Nature,’ his first novel. The book introduced readers to Alec Milius, one of his most popular creations. The flawed loner made an impression on readers because he was more of an anti-hero than an ordinary protagonist.

Unlike some of his peers in the spy fiction genre, he had no interest in hiding his baser instincts. This made him a draw for audiences because he felt real.

While Alex has made various appearances in the author’s work, he is not the only significant protagonist in Charles Cumming’s bibliography. The author’s spy novels have been known to stray into political thriller territory. He went so far as to write a book that spotlighted the plight of Xinjiang’s Uygur Muslim population.

Cumming, whose novels have been translated into over a dozen languages, almost became a spy. He was 24 at the time. A family friend found his mother at the supermarket and asked her to push her son in the direction of the diplomatic service.

When he went to his mother’s house for dinner, he had no idea that Britain Intelligence had taken an interest in him. The interviews were every bit as grand as the la Carre fan expected.

He remembers going to an ornate Regency Building, signing a document, and sitting an exam with three other candidates. That room was as close as Cumming got to the spy game.

He tells everyone who asks that his dreams of a life in espionage ended that day. However, from what he has said, people have a hard time believing him. He understands their skepticism. A famous author from the spy fiction genre, Le Carre, told everyone that he wasn’t a spy.

Apparently, his involvement with the government was limited to his work as a Foreign Office Employee. But that was a lie. Cumming has denied claims that he’s anything like Le Carre. He may talk to spies on occasion, but he isn’t one of them.

Charles Cumming Books Into Movies

‘The Spy By Nature’ and ‘A Foreign Country’ have been optioned for possible film adaptations.

Best Charles Cumming Books

John le Carre is the author’s most significant influence. He also loves Ian Flemming, but he classifies the James Bond books as ‘Fantasy Escapism’ rather than an accurate representation of the tradecraft. Cumming’s best books include:

A Foreign Country: Amelia Levene would have ascended to the MI6 throne to become Europe’s most influential spy in six weeks. But something went wrong. Amelia was kidnapped from the streets of Paris.

This was just days after an elderly French couple was murdered in Egypt. MI6 had a crisis on its hands. It had to find Amelia before her kidnappers harmed her. More importantly, the organization had to rescue their new Chief without revealing to the public that she had disappeared.

To prevent the secret from falling into the wrong hands, MI6 turned to an agent outside their ranks, an operative not bound by the organization’s restrictions.

Thomas Kell and his former employers did not part on the best of terms. They had ejected him from MI6 a few months ago. But Kell’s career was far from over. He had an opportunity, one more chance to regain everything he had lost.

But finding Amelia was easier said than done. He had followed the available evidence to countries like France and Tunisia. However, rather than bringing the case to a tidy close, he had uncovered a shocking conspiracy.

The Trinity Six: Edward Crane died in 1992. As far as his obituary was concerned, he was just an ordinary career diplomat. Fifteen years later, a journalist approached Sam Gaddis with a proposal. She was on the trail of the sixth member of the Trinity Spy Ring.

Sam needed money, and he knew that the story had the potential to change his fortunes. But any enthusiasm the academic had for unraveling the identity of the sixth member faded when the journalist died just hours later.

When Does The Next Charles Cumming book come out?

Charles Cumming doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Kennedy 35 and was released on November, 7th 2023. It is the newest book in the Box 88 Series.

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