The Oligarch by Joseph Clyde, book review: Authentic spy yarn lacks Le Carré's touch

If the worlds of London's "new" Russians, MI5, international summit meetings and Vladimir Putin have ever impinged on yours, however peripherally, this is the thriller for you. And if they haven't, well, you can sit back in wonderment and enjoy this romp around a parallel universe that exists – I assure you, it does – not a million miles from our own. The author, Joseph Clyde, is actually the former diplomat, former MP and polyglot, George Walden, and serves up a treat of acute observation and dead-pan humour that testifies to a highly-informed eye. From the Chelsea flat, to the cars, to the restored trophy castle, from the hedonism to the paranoia – some warranted, much not – the atmospherics largely ring true.