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Long before River of Darkness made Rennie Airth's name, he was writing tight intelligence thrillers drawn from his actual experience as a Reuters correspondent across Africa. Once A Spy is one of these early novels, and it has the quiet seriousness that distinguishes Airth from the more commercial spy writers of the period.
The plot involves an English freelance journalist drawn into a South African intelligence operation that he understands too well too late. The book is most effective in its quieter sections: the Johannesburg apartment scenes, the long road north toward the border, the conversations in which characters realize what side they are actually on. Airth writes the apartheid regime with the cold contempt it deserves and without ever losing sight of the individual costs.
The thriller machinery in the back half is solid rather than spectacular. The political seriousness elevates it.
Four stars. Worth tracking down for Airth fans who came to him through Madden. An honest piece of 80s political thriller writing.
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