The Poet's Game: The first book in the Alex Matthews series

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'Vidich has firmly established himself in the very top flight of espionage writers, with a series of slow-burn character studies putting him in the line of le Carr' CrimeReads on Beirut Station

'Tense' and 'fast-moving' Kirkus on Beirut Station

'Confirms Vidich's status in the front rank of spy writers' Tim Shipman in The Sunday Times on Beirut Station

'We all have dreams and then we wake up.'

Alex Matthews thought he had left it all behind. His CIA career, the viper's den of bureaucracy at headquarters and the lies and stress of the cat and mouse game of double agents. But then the Director came asking for a favour.

Alex is a different man from when he had run Moscow station, where he recruited a network of 'poet spies' including the one he names BYRON. He has pieced his life back together after a tragic boating accident killed his wife and daughter but the scars remain. But Alex remains, in his mind, a patriot, and so he begrudgingly accepts the Director's request.

Something, though, is off about the whole operation from the start. The Russians seem one step ahead and the CIA suspects there is a traitor in the agency. Alex realizes that by getting back into the game he has risked everything he has worked for: his new marriage, his familys safety, his firm. As the noose tightens around Alex, and the FSB closes in, the operation becomes a hall of mirrors with no exits. To find redemption, Alex must uncover the secrets behind BYRON or lose everything.

The Poet's Game is a remarkably sophisticated, timely, and emotionally resonant portrait of a spy from a master of the genre.

Author Bio

Paul Vidich has had a distinguished career in music and media. Most recently, he served as Special Advisor to AOL and was Executive Vice President at the Warner Music Group. He serves on the Board of Directors of Poets & Writers and The New School for Social Research. Vidich is also an award-winning author of short fiction. His novels, An Honorable Man, The Good Assassin, The Coldest Warrior and The Mercenary, are available from No Exit Press.