The Parallax View
The Thieves of Time sequence · Book 3
London & Cambridge, 1976 — archives, doubleness, and what is not said.
In the divided Europe of the mid 1970s, Steve Percival is trying to rebuild his life.
Working quietly as a sub-editor on a struggling rock magazine, he is drawn back into the shadowy world of British intelligence when a woman from his past reappears in London. She is seeking a future at Cambridge—and perhaps something more from Steve. But behind her new identity lies a web of conflicting loyalties, academic ambition and Cold War deception.
As Steve moves between Soho pubs, Cambridge colleges and discreet government offices, he is caught between handlers, former lovers, brilliant scholars and people who may not be what they seem. Every conversation carries a second meaning. Every gesture may be a signal. Even intimacy becomes a form of surveillance.
The Parallax View is an atmospheric, character-driven espionage novel about memory, betrayal, desire and the unstable border between truth and performance. Written in an understated, literary style, it brings the smoky pubs, ancient colleges and anxious politics of the era vividly to life.