Hammer to Fall

By John Lawton

Book Overview

British agent Joe Wilderness returns in "Lawton's ongoing recreation of Cold War chicanery . . . one of the great pleasures of modern spy fiction" (Mick Herron, award-winning author of the Slough House series).

It's London, the swinging sixties, and by all rights, MI6 spy Joe Wilderness should be having as good a time as James Bond. But alas, his postings are more grim than glamorous. In the wake of an embarrassing disaster for MI6 in a divided Berlin, Wilderness is reprimanded with a posting to remote northern Finland under the guise of a cultural exchange program to promote Britain abroad.

Bored by his work, with nothing to spy on, Wilderness strikes a deal with his old KGB pal Kostya to smuggle vodka into the USSR. But there is something fishy about why Kostya has suddenly turned up in Finland--and MI6 intelligence from London points to a connection with cobalt mining in the region, a critical component in the casing of the atomic bomb. Wilderness's posting is getting more interesting by the minute, but more dangerous too.

Moving from the no-man's-land of Cold War Finland to the wild days of the Prague Spring, and populated by old friends--including Inspector Troy--and old enemies alike, Hammer to Fall is a gripping tale of deception and skullduggery, of art and politics--a page-turning story of the always-riveting life of the British spy.

"Lawton scores another hit." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A jaw-dropping finale that will leave readers palpitating for more." --Booklist (starred review)

"A terrific thriller: fun, satisfying, and humane."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802148123
• ISBN13: 9780802148124
• Release Date: March 2020
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Read this series in order.

My very first John Lawton novel was Then We Take Berlin because I only bought the book because I associate the book's title to a Leonard Cohen song. As always with a Lawton novel I find myself laughing out loud with not only with the situations, but with the hidden historical/pop cultural references. I found myself very quickly taken in with the very first half of the book set in Finland; and then the discordantly abrupt shift to 1967-68 and Czechosolavkia and the "Prague Spring". The shift in place and time is nothing new in a Lawton novel, but for me, this felt like two different books and it took some time for me to adjust to it and gain my place again. Still, a very good read and I would expect nothing less from a John Lawton novel.