Box 88

Book Reviews

Nov 21

Box 88 (Lachlan Kite #1)
By: Charles Cumming

“They want something that couldn’t be found in his phone calls, his emails, his text messages… They want his memory.”

I have the habit of requesting books on NetGalley that turn out to be part of a series. And then I have to go and read the first book/s before I can read my new one!

This is no exception. Book 2 called Judas 62 just released at the end of September and I have it on my to-read list. So of course I had to read the first one!

This is a European spy novel.

Box 88 is the name of a secret intelligence organization that works with both the US and MI:6 in some capacity, but is mostly off-the-grid.

“‘Box 88 does the things [governments] don’t want us to do, that they don’t ask us to do, which they don’t realize need to be done.’”

But you know they’re good at their jobs because they can identify a wool tie in seconds and I find that very impressive, though mostly useless.

Fun spy fact: Ian Fleming named his James Bond character after an ornithologist (bird-watcher) named James Bond.

This book begins in 2020 with the capture of Lachlan Kite, a Box 88 operative, in order to get information about an incident that happened in 1989 (hello Walkmans and Gameboys!) during Kite’s very first intelligence gathering mission.

It goes back and forth between the two timelines as Kite ‘tells the story’ of what happened and we find out if Box 88 can rescue him before he is tortured and killed.

Also his wife, Isobel, is captured to use as leverage against Kite. But this was kinda weird because so much of his past revolved around his love for Martha Raine and as a reader I kept expecting them to reveal that Isobel wasn’t his wife but was another agent posing as his wife because you just didn’t really feel the love between them. You get the sense that maybe he still loves Martha years later.

Within the first four pages of the book there is a girl with the same name as my daughter who dies so I was like- the rest of this better be worth it.

I will say, it took awhile to get into this one. Maybe if I were more seasoned in espionage books I’d have gotten my bearings quicker but it took a bit. Even throughout the book, it’s not one you pick up and just read 5 or 10 pages here and there. You’ll want good chunks of time to read so really understand what’s going on.

It also doesn’t help that there are no indicators at the beginning of chapters when timelines switch. You can use context clues but it would have been nice to have that addressed each time it shifted.

Most of the book takes place in the 1989 timeline where Lachlan is about to graduate from his boarding school. Lachlan is taking a vacation with his best friend’s family. Box 88 is interested in investigating a family friend from Iran who is also staying with them. Lachlan is recruited to be their inside man.

As it becomes more clear that his friend’s father is also under investigation he struggles between helping Box 88 stop a potential terrorist attack and not wanting to betray his best friend.

I was confused a lot. I don’t really know much about Middle East politics or spy organizations so I wasn’t always following. Sometimes I would read something and think- ‘I’m pretty sure they’re dropping knowledge right now, but I’m not sure what my reaction is supposed to be!’

For example. I didn’t know there was MI:5 and MI:6. And I couldn’t tell you the difference between them. Which is somewhat relevant to the story. MI:5 is trying to figure out Box 88 while all the other stuff is going down.

But you’re in luck because I just googled it and the difference is MI:5 is the British security service while MI:6 is their foreign intelligence service. Which means MI:5 is domestic- tracking down spies in land while MI:6 is outward focused on gathering intelligence and spying. So. Now we know.

The potential attack on a New York subway was also a bit of a hazy aspect of the story. I feel like they didn’t flesh out that part of the plot very well.

There were also a lot of references to European or English (I don’t even know) TV shows or songs or other things and I had no idea what they were referring to. Most of the time those didn’t matter so I just carried on.

BUT I did get the reference to Anthony Blunt because I’ve been watching the Crown so that was a win.

Basically I was reading this book to find out which person was the bad guy and if they got caught.

I wouldn’t say it was my favorite book but it was alright. I’m still going to read the next book and see how that goes. If I’m still feeling lost, I may not continue the series.

But generally speaking I do enjoy spy thrillers and I hadn’t read one of those in awhile so it was good for something different.

Plus we still have things to find out about Kite’s past which I believe they’ll continue revealing in the next book.

If you like spy novels, I would definitely give it a try.

If you’re not really into espionage thrillers, I’m not sure this one will do much for you.

Terms I Learned:

“With precisely sweet Fanny Adams”- this generally means ‘something useless' or ‘nothing at all’ but the history of this term is rather gruesome. If you dare, read it HERE.
TK Maxx- Surprise! TJ Maxx has crossed the pond and switched out a letter as to avoid confusion with a British company called T. J. Hughes
skip- a large trash bin
aubergine- eggplant
bursary- a grant used to pay for clothing, books or other needs for school
crammer- a person who helps kids cram for their finals. Quite the job title.
anorak- hooded, waterproof coat
chancer- a scheming opportunist
carriageway- a one or two laned road; an undivided highway
bedsit- one room apartment, kind of like a studio
Pop trousers- they explained this in the book but I couldn’t find it where it was and I couldn’t find a good explanation on the google but it was something along the lines of pants that looked like what a celebrity wore maybe? I think it could catch on…
”Kieran turned the air blue”- a whole lotta swearing
bonhomie- cheerful friendliness
chemist- pharmacist
espadrilles- summer footwear (possibly of a certain brand.. idk)
jug of orange squash- an orange-flavoured drink made from fruit juice, sugar, and water… not orange juice apparently…