A Spy in the Blood

A legendary British spy comes out of retirement to rescue his missing daughter in this gripping contemporary spy thriller for fans of Slow Horses and Taken.

The Times Thriller of the Month, January 2026

'Paul Warner's impressive debut wins the reader's trust with its nuanced depiction of character, brisk handling of the action and sure grasp of the cost to spies of a life of deception and betrayal' - THE TIMES

'This is an impressive launch for what promises to be an exciting new series' - FINANCIAL TIMES

'Terrifying - if you have children you'll never see them the same way again' - RORY CLEMENTS

'An expertly thrown knife of a spy novel that slips the blade between your ribs when you least expect it' - DAVID GOODMAN, author of A RELUCTANT SPY
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Mark Wolfe was the greatest spy of his generation.
Now he's been put out to pasture.

Gone are the days of dead-drops beneath railway station clocks in foreign lands that no longer exist - of dry-cleaning, double agents and triple crosses. Now Mark's stuck behind a desk in Vauxhall Cross in charge of recruiting the next wave of spooks, his only excitement fending off advances from deep-pocketed private security companies.

Yet his discontent is just another secret to add to the pile. As far as his wife and children are concerned, Mark is a quiet, affable civil servant who has no idea how to use the TV remote.

So when he discovers his daughter, Jody, has an unhealthy obsession with joining MI6, Mark is caught off guard. The Service is keeping her recruitment a secret from him - but why?

Then Jody disappears during a mission. And with MI6 washing their hands of her, Mark is thrust back into a terrifying new world of modern espionage.

A truly epic espionage thriller, A Spy in the Blood takes you from modern day London to Afghanistan as a once-legendary spy confronts the complex horrors of modern tradecraft.