Meet Paul Dark

My first novel, Free Agent, is published by Penguin in paperback in the United States today (with a jacket design by Gray318). It's the first in a trilogy of spy thrillers set in 1969 featuring British agent Paul Dark. The Guardian wrote that 'deep knowledge of espionage and classic spy novels informs this excellent debut', The Irish Independent called it 'an action-packed novel very much of the John le Carré school, with an intriguing and unusual premise', while The Daily Telegraph picked it as one of their Thrillers of the year for 2009, as well as one of their 50 Summer Reads. The hardback was also well received in the US, with The Chicago Sun-Times writing that the 'tightly coiled plot recalls the paranoia of Len Deighton's early works and the tension of Adam Hall's Quiller novels'. Publishers Weekly gave it the following starred review:

'Set in London and Nigeria during the latter’s 1969 civil war with flashbacks to the months after WWII, Duns’s terrific debut will draw inevitable comparisons to early John le Carré, though the lead character, turncoat British Secret Service agent Paul Dark, is a complete original... Seldom has a thriller plot taken more unseen turns as Paul searches for the truth about his past and the reality of his present. Readers will eagerly await the sequel.'

It was also favourably reviewed by The Austin American-Statesman, The Modesto Bee and BookPage, and praised by William Boyd, David Morrell, Eric Van Lustbader, Gayle Lynds, Christopher Reich, Charles Cumming and Jeff Abbott. The BBC have bought the television rights to the trilogy. The Penguin paperback is now available to buy at all good book stores, as the saying goes, and you can even sample it beforehand to see if it sounds like your glass of Becherovka, by reading the first chapter at Penguin's site here.