The world is on the brink of nuclear confrontation. The Kremlin's desperate solution? Orpheus; an unstoppable magnetic plasma munition which guarantees total extinction for the leadership of any nation daring to attack Russia. The problem? The weapon isn't ready. The Director of the SVR, desperately trying to buy time for his scientists to complete the weapon, creates an audacious deception plan known as The Orpheus Gambit. This act of Maskirovka has a single purpose, to terrorise the West back to the negotiating table and prevent armageddon. Another problem? The West is deeply cynical of Russia's warnings and the SVR decide the only convincing way to sell the lie, is via a fake operation to recover the "stolen" Orpheus blueprints. A lie designed to be authenticated by blood, chaos and deliberately setting two opposing spies on a fatal collision course, The first is Declan Shaw, a brilliant but broken intelligence analyst for the deniable UK agency known only as Special Projects. He is a man literally haunted by the mistakes of his past. These have rendered him a morally injured, functional hermit. His isolation and loneliness make him a prime target for compromise.
The other is Anastasia Stepnova, the SVR's formidable 'Nightingale, ' who is sent to execute the fake honeytrap. But what begins as a ruthless operational assignment, quickly spirals into a desperate, high-stakes game of mutual recognition. Anya sees past Declan's cynicism, recognising the profound loneliness of his soul which mirrors her own. Declan finds that in her presence, the ghost that has haunted him for decades finally falls silent. When the two assets discover they are both sacrificial lambs in the Great Game, they form an impossible alliance and set out on a new mission: Survive.
When the opposing agencies realise their two most valuable assets have gone rogue, the strategic deception collapses into a desperate manhunt led by a vengeful and relentless Ukrainian operative. Declan and Anya are forced on the run, fighting for a future that their respective nations, and the obsessed predator from Anya's past, are determined to erase.
In this game, the safest place to hide is shoulder to shoulder with the enemy they sent to kill you.
A sophisticated, high-octane noir thriller, perfect for fans of John le Carré and deep, dark romantic suspense. The Orpheus Gambit is where Get Carter meets Blade Runner and Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy, in the rainy, blood stained underbelly of The Tyne Bridge.
