The Trinity Six

By: Charles Cumming

Narrated by: John Lee

A Washington Post Notable Fiction Book of the Year

The most closely guarded secret of the Cold War is about to be exposed—the identity of a SIXTH member of the infamous Cambridge spy ring. And people are killing for it, in Charles Cumming's bestselling thriller The Trinity Six.

London, 1992. Late one night, Edward Crane, 76, is declared dead at a London hospital. An obituary describes him only as a 'resourceful career diplomat'. But Crane was much more than that—and the circumstances surrounding his death are far from what they seem.

Fifteen years later, academic Sam Gaddis needs money. When a journalist friend asks for his help researching a possible sixth member of the notorious Trinity spy ring, Gaddis knows that she's onto a story that could turn his fortunes around. But within hours the journalist is dead, apparently from a heart attack.

Taking over her investigation, Gaddis trails a man who claims to know the truth about Edward Crane. Europe still echoes with decades of deadly disinformation on both sides of the Iron Curtain. And as Gaddis follows a series of leads across the continent, he approaches a shocking revelation—one which will rock the foundations of politics from London to Moscow…

"Cumming's novel is characterized by a gripping sense of realism. He displays a vast knowledge of spycraft and Cold War history, and the dense, three-dimensional world he crafts comes complete with seedy hotels and smoky nightclubs. The result is absolutely gripping. Taut, atmospheric and immersive—an instant classic." – Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on The Trinity Six

Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Thrillers.

©2011 Charles Cumming (P)2011 Macmillan

Critic reviews

“Brilliant…scene after scene crackles with excitement, tension, and suspense. The novel's ingenious plot is almost as complicated as real life…the book is all but impossible to put aside. Cumming joins Alan Furst, David Ignatius, and Olen Steinhauer among the most skillful current spy novelists, and he bears comparison with masters such as John le Carré and Graham Greene.” —The Washington Post

“Intelligent and briskly paced…comparisons to John le Carré and Len Deighton continue to gild [Cumming's] reputation as a premier writer of espionage thrillers.” —USA Today

“With its mix of old-school espionage and present-day duplicities, The Trinity Six is a smashing Cold War thriller for the twenty-first century.” —People

Great writing and intriguing story

If you like thrillers especially with historical context check this one out. Journalists do great jobs at these things and Cumming is in the league of Alex Berenson and David Ignatius.

The Cambridge Five. Need one say more...

I am only on chapter 16 and I felt must indeed post my joy in listening to the book. For you lovers of old-school spy novels that delve into the Cambridge Five and can appreciate a touch of the modern world, well, this book is for you. First-rate I say, with lots of puns and witty writing that puts one in the essence of the scene.
Realpolitik and Moscow rules. hehe. To be sure.

Just as good as Silva or Clancy

Where does The Trinity Six rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best spy novels I've read.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sam. No spy, but an excellent historian. Crane/Meed as well.

What about John Lee’s performance did you like?

He's excellent with different accents.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Not sure what kind of tagline I could come up with to be honest.

Any additional comments?

A must-have for any spy or thriller buff.

a bit disappointing, but...

I had been eagerly waiting the North American release of this book, and from the Britsh reviews, had been expecting a work of literary espionage as good as Greene or LeCarre at their best. It is good, a better than average spy novel of the traditional school, updated for today's world, but not THAT great.

I respect John Lee's narration talent, but I think he is definitely the wrong reader for this novel. It needs a "sutbler" touch. Lee can sometimes make bad prose palatable, but here (I think) he makes good prose choppy.

That said, if you enjoy novels by LeCarre, Greene, Steinhauer, or espionage without a superman protagonist pitted against a black-hatted villian, or even a fast-paced trot around Europe, this is definitely worth the credit. If you want another Ken Follet potboiler, you might want to skip this.

Maybe Cummings' next novel will be great.

A bit disappointing

This book was pretty good and it's on a subject that's a magnet for the spy groupies. But I can't give it the top rating because I expected more. I was looking forward to listening to it but it didn't live up to expectations. It wasn't great but it was worth the listen. The narration was fine.

Enjoyed this story

If you could sum up The Trinity Six in three words, what would they be?

unexpected masterpiece

Any additional comments?

I've discovered for myself this author and enjoyed the story a lot. It is contemporary, it is exceptionally well done, it kept me on edge, had unexpected twists, and nice ending. This is a story of a type of "fantastic history" where the author invents a story which actually did not happen, but it is in the background of real history which did happen and it lets us to get another look at the real events of the past. This is a masterpiece of this kind. I will now listen to everything which is written by C. Cumming.

Slow and plodding

Book just seemed to drag along, Probably represents the actual way these things develop, Just seemed we were never going to get through it.

Well done mystery/thriller tale

The Trinity Six offers a unique twist on the speculative historical fiction genre that has become increasingly popular. In this case, the story posits a previously unknown, "sixth" undercover agent that spied for the former Soviet Union. As a history professor becomes a budding secret agent, people around him start dying as he puts together a secret remnant of the Cold War. What drives the story is the fact that both sides are intent of preventing him from learning the truth.

The action is fast paced and the story rings with a sense of reality that makes the plot quite believable. Well written and well read.

Goes farther than expected

I put this off for a while because I thought that fiction could not do justice to the Philby Burgess conspiracy. But this is not really about the 50-years ago conspiracy. It's a contemporary spy chase yarn with an academic protagonist caught up in spy doings and killings, with pretty girls turning up. Putin is in it under another name. That made it lighter and not a bad way to spend time. The reader was good enough not to be noticeable.

Fun exciting intrigues perfectly narrated.

The book has everything you could want from a spy novel and is well worth a credit (or the 20 bucks).
The story line is entertaining and believable enough to transport you into the story and keep you up till late.
Although there are some definitely moments where you could get bored, John Lee as always is able to get you through those with the sheer pleasure of listening to his voice.
Overall this book is fun, exciting and very pleasant to listen to.