When we first met Simon Sharman in Charles Beaumont’s explosive debut, A Spy Alone, he was a former MI6 officer employed at a private British intelligence service. Working in tandem with an Oxford academic named Sarah du Cane, who was influential at 10 Downing Street, he exposed a high-level network of Russian influencers in the corridors of Whitehall. But his and Sarah’s efforts led to little change, with the two most powerful of the agents they unmasked remaining in place, beneficiaries of the old boys’ network’s corruption and abhorrence of scandal. Now, in the sequel, A Spy at War, Simon is on his own early in 2022, traveling in Ukraine with false papers. He’s in search of the GRU hitman who murdered his partner in Prague weeks earlier. And that quest will soon thrust him into the carnage of the Russian invasion. This is spy fiction at its best.
This intelligence veteran writes with authority
Charles Beaumont is a veteran of the intelligence game. His writing reeks of authenticity, filled with descriptions of contemporary spycraft and an insider’s knowledge of world affairs. In A Spy at War, he writes with authority about corruption in Ukraine, the fragmentation and inefficiency of the Russian army, and the operation of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency. You’re unlikely to find a more compelling account of the run-up to the Russian invasion and its early months in the titanic struggle for control of the town of Bakhmut.
A Spy at War (Oxford Spy Ring #2) by Charles Beaumont (2025) 388 pages ★★★★☆
The principal characters show this novel’s scope
A Spy at War takes place during the first half-year of the war in Ukraine. As the scene shifts from Prague to Kyiv to London and to Bakhmut, Beaumont’s story brings to light a diverse cast of characters. The most prominent of these are the following:
- Simon Sharman, still reeling from the mixed results of his investigation back home. He has ventured to Kyiv on the trail of a GRU assassin. There, his quest will take him to the front line of the Ukraine-Russia war in Bakhmut.
- Professor Sarah du Cane, an Oxford don who is Britain’s supreme authority on Russia. She advises the Prime Minister.
- Evie Howard, an able young woman who briefly worked in Prague with Simon.
- Chovka Buchayev, a Chechen fighter-turned-assassin for the GRU. He is in Ukraine working for the Russian operative who is organizing a fifth column within UKraine’s government to seize power on the eve of the invasion.
- Rudi von Pannwitz, a well-connected German nobleman. He is Simon’s source of information about Russian operations in Ukraine.
- Kamran Patel and Rory Gough, the two ultra-right-wing Russian influencers exposed by Simon and Sarah’s investigation. Professor Patel now serves as Britain’s National Security Adviser. Gough is a billionaire businessman with powerful friends in Whitehall.
- Jonathan Vosper (Lord Pelham), known to friends and colleagues as Jonty, who is one of the most influential behind-the-scenes figures in British politics.
Summary of the story
Once again I’ve turned to Claude-AI for a summary of the novel, which is far better done than anything I could write. It follows verbatim, altered only in that I’ve deleted the links to Claude’s sources and inserted subheads to break up the text.
The second book in a trilogy
A Spy at War is the second novel in Charles Beaumont’s Oxford Spy Ring series, following his acclaimed debut A Spy Alone. Published in March 2025, this espionage thriller draws on Beaumont’s experience as a former MI6 operative who worked undercover in war zones to create an authentic portrait of modern intelligence work.
Set in August 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the novel follows Simon Sharman pursuing the assassin of his former colleague across war-torn Ukraine. Simon, a former British intelligence officer now working in the private sector, has fled the UK after suspicious events involving a hedge fund manager (detailed in the first book). Operating under false identities—an Italian passport and Polish press credentials—Simon ventures into the conflict zone with a loosely defined mission to locate a brutal assassin responsible for his colleague’s death.
From the battlefield to the meeting rooms of Whitehall
The story unfolds across multiple settings, from the rubble-strewn streets of Bakhmut to the meeting rooms of Whitehall. In London, a Russian spy ring embedded within the British Establishment actively works to undermine Western support for Ukraine. The novel explores how Russian propaganda manipulates public and political opinion about Ukraine, depicting disinformation campaigns that spread through social media until lies become mistaken for reality.
The antagonist, Chovka, receives substantial characterization as a survivor rather than a hero who makes himself useful to those in power. The plot builds toward a tense confrontation forcing Simon to choose between extracting intelligence value from Chovka or surrendering to vengeance—a moral dilemma that distinguishes the novel from typical American thrillers.
Exploring the shadow war between Russia and the West
Beaumont incorporates dry British humor in his depictions of bureaucratic meetings where key figures like Sarah du Cane, an Oxford professor advising the British government, work to counter Russian manipulation. The narrative questions whether a lone intelligence operative can influence the outcome of a major conflict, exploring the shadow war between Russia and the West fought not just on battlefields but in the arena of global public opinion.
Written by someone with insider knowledge of intelligence operations, the novel has been praised for its authentic tradecraft, geopolitical insight, and unflinching portrayal of modern warfare’s complexities. The story ends on a cliffhanger, setting up the trilogy’s final installment while addressing Russia’s ongoing efforts to win through influence what it cannot achieve militarily.
About the author
Charles Beaumont is the pen name of a former MI6 officer. He may have studied history at Oxford in the mid-1990s. (At least someone who knows him says he did.) He served for “two decades across four continents in the pay of Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but eventually it ended and then came COVID. ” During his time in lockdown he wrote A Spy Alone, his debut in espionage fiction. There’s no photo of him available online.
For related reading
Previously I reviewed A Spy Alone – Oxford Spy Ring #1 (Was Cambridge alone? Or did Oxford have its spy ring, too?).
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- The 15 best espionage novels
- Good nonfiction books about espionage
- Best books about the CIA
- The best spy novelists writing today
- 10 top WWII books about espionage
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