Safe Return Doubtful

British Spy Literature published August 2025

I’ll begin by saying I’m a huge Boyd fan. I’ve read and enjoyed everything he has written.

I’m not sure though, there’s quite enough in the character of Gabriel Dax to sustain a trilogy, but this is entertaining enough.

In the second of the trilogy Dax is now a travel writer just completing a book on rivers which gives him something in common with Robert MacFarlane.. This is 1963, and he is again recruited by MI6 and sent to Guatemala to observe the charismatic ‘Padre Tiago,’ an activist ex-priest who may become president. As Dax arrives Tiago is assassinated and a coup breaks out. The plot gives Boyd the excuse of sending his protagonist around the world chasing various threads, though still able to rekindle his love interest with Faith Green. It seems he is being turned into some sort of James Bond character.

It’s far from being Boyd at his best, and it makes me wonder why the great writer is spending his time doing stuff like this. I guess he must enjoy it, or the cynic in me sniffs a film script..

My GoodReads score 4 / 5