This fascinating and remarkable book, Spies and Scoundrels, consists of two highly imaginative novellas.
The first, Time to Say Goodbye, explores how England might look in 2026. Post pandemic with many unresolved problems remaining. Government finances are dire and the country is directionless and unstable. People have gone into voluntary lockdown to avoid the violence on the streets. The scene is set for a change of Government, with a radical plan. A scapegoat group in society is identified and vilified. History does indeed repeat itself.
Death’s Final Wicket is a spy thriller set in London, Oslo, Buenos Aires and Jerusalem. Bible Codes in the Torah (First five chapters of the Old Testament), supposedly point to various modern day events such as Hitler, Yasser Arafat and a nuclear war emanating from North Korea. Governments interpret these codes for their own ends. Meanwhile, a new terrorist organization, with its own plan, complicates matters. British Intelligence has the man with the right background to sort through the competing issues.
A.N. Drew is the pen name for Calasparra’s Andrew H Rea, an Anglican chaplain who has previously published his autobiography, Holy Inadequate, under his own name and Sacred Memoirs of a Retired Failure by A.N. Drew, a romantic novel about the challenges of retirement when coupled with bereavement. Andrew has lived in Spain since 2012.
