What do you think?
Rate this book
The Cassandra Complex: A gripping new cat and mouse Spy Thriller
A divided Europe. A terrifying threat.
Head of Russia desk in British Intelligence, John Henderson, is convinced the Russians have launched Operation Overture, a deadly cold war-era plan to plunge the West into chaos. That somewhere on British soil is a Russian sleeper receiving the Soviet Union's missing suitcase nuclear bombs in preparation for a series of devastating attacks across the vulnerable continent.
But his cries fall on deaf ears. To his superiors Henderson is a fantasist and Overture his fantasy. More pressing is uncovering the high-ranking mole Moscow Centre placed inside MI6 years before.
Now the clock is ticking on a seemingly impossible international manhunt to prevent the elusive assassin from wreaking his murderous destruction.
It's man against man, East against West, just like the old days...
The trouble is this time is it's unclear where each man's loyalties truly lie...
Head of Russia desk in British Intelligence, John Henderson, is convinced the Russians have launched Operation Overture, a deadly cold war-era plan to plunge the West into chaos. That somewhere on British soil is a Russian sleeper receiving the Soviet Union's missing suitcase nuclear bombs in preparation for a series of devastating attacks across the vulnerable continent.
But his cries fall on deaf ears. To his superiors Henderson is a fantasist and Overture his fantasy. More pressing is uncovering the high-ranking mole Moscow Centre placed inside MI6 years before.
Now the clock is ticking on a seemingly impossible international manhunt to prevent the elusive assassin from wreaking his murderous destruction.
It's man against man, East against West, just like the old days...
The trouble is this time is it's unclear where each man's loyalties truly lie...
304 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 11, 2022
8 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Frazer Douglas
9 books21 followersFrazer Douglas is an English novelist whose debut thriller, The Cassandra Complex, was published in 2022. After many years spent in both Europe and the U.S.A working as an actor, audiobook narrator and journalist, Frazer now lives in the Cotswolds, U.K.
He is currently working on his second novel, due for release in 2025.
@mrfrazerdouglas
www.frazerdouglas.com
He is currently working on his second novel, due for release in 2025.
@mrfrazerdouglas
www.frazerdouglas.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 19, 2023
A five-star rating system does not allow me to give this book the 45% rating that I think it deserves. I wanted to like it more than I did. I did not notice until I had purchased it that it was self-published as I usually avoid such books on the basis that if a third party has published it, there is a greater likelihood of it being good.
It is a Cold War style thriller set contemporaneously and its plot is of the "race against time" variety. It *is* readable and quickly too, but has several issues that detract from what it might have been. Firstly, it is 25% too long, belaboring scenes, slowing the plot and diluting its "ticking clock" tension. It contains multiple typos and the occasional grammatical error, inexcusable in this day of Grammarly, Microsoft Editor and the like. The description of action sequences is often muddled and difficult to follow. The "is there a mole?" sub-plot is too obvious to generate genuine tension. There are multiple unnecessary explanations of what things are as though the author wanted to demonstrate his research, again at the expense of narrative pace. Lastly (and to avoid spoiling anything for potential future readers I shall be non-specific) the deus ex machina that resolves the plot weak.
Readable but disappointing.
It is a Cold War style thriller set contemporaneously and its plot is of the "race against time" variety. It *is* readable and quickly too, but has several issues that detract from what it might have been. Firstly, it is 25% too long, belaboring scenes, slowing the plot and diluting its "ticking clock" tension. It contains multiple typos and the occasional grammatical error, inexcusable in this day of Grammarly, Microsoft Editor and the like. The description of action sequences is often muddled and difficult to follow. The "is there a mole?" sub-plot is too obvious to generate genuine tension. There are multiple unnecessary explanations of what things are as though the author wanted to demonstrate his research, again at the expense of narrative pace. Lastly (and to avoid spoiling anything for potential future readers I shall be non-specific) the deus ex machina that resolves the plot weak.
Readable but disappointing.
September 19, 2022
The Day of the Jackal meets Active Measures
A deadly sleeper agent. Three nuclear devices, threatening thousands of lives. Only one British agent with doubtful loyalties can foil the plot…
What an enthralling debut! Frazer Douglas weaves an immersive tangle of plots and subplots into a thrillingly compelling and astonishingly complex story. The attention to detail and amount of research are mesmerising, especially when your read of the book happens to coincide with your first visit to London.
I can’t wait for the sequel, which just has to happen!
A deadly sleeper agent. Three nuclear devices, threatening thousands of lives. Only one British agent with doubtful loyalties can foil the plot…
What an enthralling debut! Frazer Douglas weaves an immersive tangle of plots and subplots into a thrillingly compelling and astonishingly complex story. The attention to detail and amount of research are mesmerising, especially when your read of the book happens to coincide with your first visit to London.
I can’t wait for the sequel, which just has to happen!
March 13, 2023
There’s no perfect novel, in my view, so for me 5 stars say that I truly and thoroughly enjoyed a novel rather than that it was flawless. As for the points in this book I feel could have been done better: There were a number of typos; the course of events I occasionally found somewhat complicated and difficult to follow; I think minor characters were at times described in unnecessary detail.
I view these more as editing issues than story flaws, and despite them, I found myself so caught up in the tension and suspense that it was always with reluctance that I closed the book to attend to non-novel reading things such as getting off the train or going to sleep. This was like The Day of the Jackal meets Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, a blend of action-thriller with cerebral espionage. I look forward to this author’s next work.
I view these more as editing issues than story flaws, and despite them, I found myself so caught up in the tension and suspense that it was always with reluctance that I closed the book to attend to non-novel reading things such as getting off the train or going to sleep. This was like The Day of the Jackal meets Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, a blend of action-thriller with cerebral espionage. I look forward to this author’s next work.
January 29, 2024
Top notch spy thriller
This is a great read so much so that I have read it in a day. As in all good books from this genre you are never really sure who is on what side. Really really enjoyed this.
This is a great read so much so that I have read it in a day. As in all good books from this genre you are never really sure who is on what side. Really really enjoyed this.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews