GHOST STATION - comments at GoodReads

Not really a review as such, but a reader called Tracey has left the following comments:

This book was well written with engaging characters set in British Intelligence in the 70s. The Ghost Station refers to an abandoned underground station and the agents all have alias names taken from Jane Austen novels which amused me no end. She's not the first person I'd associate with spies! The agents in Ghost Station have to be flexible in their sexual orientation but becoming too attached to fellow agents is frowned upon. As you would expect, there's a lot of cloak and dagger stuff going on but it was all rather too mild for my taste. I really didn't form any kind of attachment to the characters, although they were pleasant enough. There are quite a few cultural references that may go over the heads of international readers depending on how familiar they are with Britain.

Not one I'm likely to read again.

I'm sorry about the last sentence, but can quite understand that it didn't exactly hit the spot where this reader was concerned. It's certainly not James Bond, it's far more about the personal cost of being an agent; in fact, 'the conflicting demands of love and duty' like it says in my bio. It all depends on what you're looking for in a book, I suppose; balancing the relationship-plot with the plot-plot is always a very tricky business!

Interviewed by Chris Quinton

This was fun, since Chris and I have been friends for a very large number of years. In fact, if it hadn't been for Chris I would never have got involved in writing for MANIFOLD PRESS in the first place. I'm not great at being interviewed - it doesn't come naturally - but mercifully Chris made the whole process completely painless. Also, any interview that features tea and shortbread biscuits is one to be enjoyed; Chris certainly worked out a long time ago that bribery and (preferably) corruption are usually successful in my case!