A cold War era spy thriller from back when spying was a dangerous game. A thought provoking piece that expertly describes the people, places and situations in the Middle East and captures the characters of expats in a realistic way.

A nicely devised plot that keeps the reader guessing and ties up all the loose ends at the finale. ( )

My thanks to the Author publisher's and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this to read and honestly review.
This is a well written book with superb characterisation throughout. Set in the sixties it's very nostalgic for those of us of a certain age, and there is real feel for the times. Atmospheric clever descriptive a spy story come thriller, with plenty of surprises that kept this reader guessing throughout, always interesting and intriguing.
Recommended. ( )

The narrative of Our Man In Kuwait is mostly set in Ahmadi, the oil town constructed by the Kuwait Oil Company in 1946 to house expats and oil workers. “The Ahmadi roads were laid out in an orderly US grid system orientated east west and north south. They carried numeric names such as 11st Street, 2nd Street and so on.”
Gordon Carlisle is the protagonist. A Brit who is lured into working for MI6 during the period leading up to a potential invasion of Kuwait from Iraq in 1961. We follow his adventures as he weaves himself in and out of trouble following a spate of unexplained deaths, fires and abductions.
As a travel book, it’s a colourful portrayal of this tiny Middle Eastern country. The book evokes a great sense of the place, the sights and smells of the souk, a vivid description of a hawking expedition with visiting author and Naval Intelligence agent Ian Fleming, and café life in the old town. “Brigadier General Mustafa al-Ramiz al-Sabah sat enjoying the outside shade of the café on Abdulmunim Riyadh Street. The traffic streamed by, disturbing the peace. But inside the air was thick with tobacco smoke. Which was worse, he asked himself?’ You can almost hear the noise. ‘I don’t know of anywhere drivers honk their horns as much as here.’ It’s as if there is an obsession with noise. ‘You can change one horn for another, ‘his officer said. ‘He was an expert in such trivial motor matters.’
Balanced against that is the quietness of the empty desert and an Anglo-American society which collects around The Hubara Club under sun umbrellas. ‘The short walk in the overpowering heat to the upper pool terrace at the Hubara Club had been enough to leave Jan Beresford gasping for air,’ or prepared home-based black-tie dinner parties. ‘Overhead the stars shone brightly out of the velvet tropical sky over Ahmadi. Verandah lights glowed through gaps in the thatched fencing as he sped by.’
There’s also a love story running throughout to balance the spy intrigue and a cast of multi-dimensional characters who create their own entertainment around the Grundig radiogram with their Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes and pink gins.
Our Man in Kuwait is a nostalgic timepiece which does for Kuwait what Casablanca did for Morocco in terms of romantic appeal. There’s a realism about the writing which is based on true events. The story is set in 1960 when the oil-rich country was facing a possible invasion from Iraq, espionage was highly active in the post-War post-Colonial Middle East and the Arab League was Arab Leagues was expanding.
The plot twists and turns around identifying a Russian agent buried deep in the community. It doesn’t let up until the very end.
Our Man in Kuwait is a wonderful read, a brilliant story and a travel book with a difference. ( )

After the successful “The Karen Anderson” series Ms. Burfitt-Dons changed theme and has penned for us a thought-provoking espionage thriller where we are taken back to 1960 Kuwait when British expats worried about the imminent invasion from Soviet backed Iraq.

Ahmadi, Kuwait 1960

Gordon Carlisle lives in Ahmadi with his beautiful wife Anita. They have little to worry about other what to wear at the next dinner party...till the day a MI6 agent crosses their paths, then everything changed : a marriage breakdown and Anita becomes the prime suspect in a chain of deaths. Gordon tried to unravel this mess and he gets deeper and deeper. The drama takes off and we are in turns and twists galore throughout the story.

With a mix of a fertile imagination, this thriller based on true events has enough spies and double agents to keep us guessing who may be one or not, especially who is the elusive Agent Alex so many are referring to all through the book. I loved this part particularly: very intriguing and captivating.

The pacing at first is very slow but took off when one of the wives dies in a mysterious way and from then on never lets up. I was happy for this change that took place 1/3 into the drama. The first part was more introducing us to the players. I found this a bit long but no doubts necessary. No lack of players to follow and each have a particular role to play and they do so perfectly. So we need to pay attention to know who is who... All characters are well-drawn and have an authentic ring to them. I enjoyed the realistic dialogue and the style is very comfortable to read. Well-done.

Thank you, Louise for this ARC. ( )