Once Professor Aleksandra Ponomarenko had been George Cove’s tutor at Oxford. Today, it is twenty years since they last met, and she is telling him a life story – his own.
We never seem to learn the lessons of the past.
He knew already that one of the greatest human tragedies of the twentieth century, the nuclear incident at Chernobyl in 1986, was deliberate sabotage.
Now Aleksandra reveals that not only was his role pivotal in the catastrophe, but everything else that mattered in his life was orchestrated by the unseen hand of a man called Bill Familiant.
His education, his job, where he lived, how he lived, who he fell in love with, and who he lost were not his own.
As the Cold War became colder, Familiant, the British spymaster, was in fear of the increasing Russian hegemony in Eastern Europe. He developed a counterstrategy that would last at least a generation. To deliver his ambitious plan he needed to find agents who would grow into their role. But they could not know they had been selected for the purpose.
Until this meeting with Aleksandra, George had no idea he and Anna had been the chosen ones.
In their young adult years, when Familiant started pulling the strings, fate seemed particularly kind to them. However, their feelings and loyalties were being molded in preparation for active espionage in Poland and Ukraine. They were destined to be each other’s’ first real love.
With George and Anna as his spearhead, Familiant’s personal attack on the Red Enemy snowballed towards Chernobyl and the events that would haunt George forever.
George finally faces up to the truth about his past and addresses Familiant’s questionable morality and masterful manipulations. He gets the chance to build a new life – his own.
With a second chance, will he be more successful?
“When fate deals you a hand better than you could possibly imagine, should you trust it unquestioningly? If you do, will fate then find a way to claim back the fortunes it has bestowed on you?”
“This is a gripping novel of intrigue, power, and complex relationships. This poignant story tackles important issues about destiny, complicity, and personal identity and responsibility.”
“Just how complicit were the British in the nuclear catastrophe at Chernobyl?”
“A great read – a book with a clever and engaging plot. Hard to put down once you start. 5*”
“If you are trying to get a perspective on the current events in Ukraine this is the book you need to read. “
Available to be purchased on Amazon as both a paperback and eBook.
Amazon Breakthrough Novel of 2014
The Masterful Manipulation of George Cove, our first novel, was shortlisted into the final 300 of the ‘Amazon Breakthrough Novel of 2014’ in the general fiction category.
The Masterful Manipulation of George Cove is available to be purchased on Amazon as both a paperback and eBook.