Audiobook: Yesterday's Spy By Tom Bradby

Disclaimer: I bought this audiobook by accident, thinking I was getting Yesterday's Spy by Len Deighton and feeling like listening to something a bit James Bond-ish. 

Tom Bradby is a journalist and the presenter of ITV News at Ten here in the UK. He also has written a slew of novels, political/spy thrillers which seem to be very much in the commercial thriller vein of David Baldacci and Lee Child.

Yesterday's Spy (the Tom Bradby version) is read by George Weightman, a prodigious voice actor, and winner of the 2025 Audie award for Male Voice Over Artist of the Year. He is not only a competent actor, doing a fine job on this book, but his website is rather amusing.

I hadn't heard of Tom Bradby before my error, and after listening to Yesterday's Spy shall make no further effort to seek out his work. The book tries to be far too many things, and fails at most of them. Firstly it is an historic novel, taking place during the 1953 Iranian coup d'état. This is probably the best strand. Bradby obviously has a deep knowledge of both the politics and Iran of that era, if not he did a good job researching. The little details he drops in, and the complex political situation he conveys are both well done and very interesting.

Secondly the book tries to explore the trauma of a spy who has given everything for his country, including causing, or at least allowing, his wife to commit suicide and alienating his son, and yet now is being cut loose. This aspect was less well carried out. In fact it was pretty awful, the internal monologues were overwrought and laboured, diminishing any sense that the protagonist, Harry Tower, being a taciturn fellow who did what needed to be done (which is what I believe he was aiming for in other sections). We could have been drip fed his back story, as Harry slowly was forced to face his own past. But no, it was all laid out from the beginning and then regularly brought up to be suffered through again and again. It did have the result of making me feel sorry for therapists.

The last strand, and what we would expect to be the strongest given the marketing, is that of a adrenaline-fuelled, thrill-a-minute, espionage. Poor writing can often be forgiven with a fast-paced plot (see Dan Brown...), but sadly Bradby fails here as well. There are moments were he genuinely builds some tension, but they are few and far between, and there is far to much padding to maintain any sense of wanting to find out what happens next. I lost the will to carry on with the book way before the half way mark, and it was only my Magnus Magnusson like doggedness that cause me to finish.

Over all this is saved from being my first one star review only by the interesting history, and the narration. ★☆☆☆☆