Who’s Afraid of Little Old Argylle?

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Title: Argylle

Author: Elly Conway

Genre: Spy Thriller

Tropes: Orphan spy, double cross, rookie recruit; undercover, world stakes, transformations, secrets betrayal and double crosses.

Taylor Swift Song: Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?

Other Songs: Not Strong Enough – boygenuis, Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers

Adaptation: A film very loosely inspired by the book.

Series or Standalone: Hopefully a series.

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Mind over Heart. Flight vs Fight. Vulnerability and Strength. Honour vs Survival. Often we’re told we have to pick society’s and not our right answer to fit into certain boxes we’re given. But why can’t you be both or a whole bunch of things that never went together until you came along.

All this is part of the mental and physical conflicts of fictions daringly sweet new spy – Argylle. He was made an orphan just as he was entering adulthood. Aryglle struggles with the dark reality of who is parents really were compared to their upbringing of him as a child. He’s feels lost and broken as he is constantly trying to figure out his place in the world. For a moment, he finds contentment as a tour guide in Thailand with a best friend and a local bar. A spontaneous ingenious rescue of CIA agents leads to Aryglle being recruited by Chief Frances Coffey as a unconventional rookie spy for a unique specials ops team, in this thrilling, human and action packed fictitious tale of spies, betrayal and inner demons.

Aryglle is quickly sent on a crash course in spying 101. His hand to hand combat techniques learnt from his childhood international travels, his deep geographical and historical knowledge come in handy but his vulnerable past and compassion don’t meet the picture of the conventional spy. Coffey sees it as a plus, telling him to stay loyal to himself and the team, who are still hesitant to accept the rookie spy as one of their own.

A series of high stakes mission to beat a Russian born American raised fictional tycoon to ‘the amber room’, to prevent him from using it to win the presidential elections in Russia, must take priority for Aryglle and the team or the world order is in danger.

Does Aryglle have what it takes to be a spy and combat the past? Can he truly trust his fellow agents or is there something darker going on, beneath the foundations of his new life?

The psyche of Aryglle is an intriguing one, as he’s trying to balance two lives and two sides of himself. The lost compassionate moral compasses boy who’s curious to know all about himself, using his knowledge and physique to protect his vulnerable. And the newly recruited rookie spy who wants to save people and find a team or a place where he belongs.

It’s quite brutal and tense yet uniquely human and heart string pulling to see Aryglle trying to use his unique fighting skills and intelligence to master weaponry and undercover missions as he tries to bond with his new teammates, particularly headstrong loyal Wyatt, determined yet precise legacy agent Erin and bold sarcastic tech genius Carter.

Conway’s infectious edge of your seat spy thriller novel, is intricate, human and unpredictable in the best way. The brief interludes between Aryglle and occasionally Coffey, to the Russian tycoon and his accomplices is interesting as it gives us small hidden clues about the other characters and their missions without it being too obvious to figure out and spoiling the fun of discovery that we love in spy novels.

Every scene, every dialogue, every relationship and every mission (from balls in Morocco, Greek monasteries, French palaces, and mountains in Poland) has a purpose. It’s a fast paced action thriller for Aryglle, the team and their adversaries as they race against each other to recover the amber room. There are moments of discrete humour too like Aryglle and Wyatt’s rivalry, Aryglle connection to Erin and the banter with Carter.

It’s also a story about finding your place in the world, not letting the past or insecurities define you, and being yourself, seeing that you don’t have to be either a lover or a fighter, a thinker or a doer. You can be all those things and more.