Tim Ayliffe's Killer Traitor Spy is a propulsive thriller that sails uncomfortably close to the truth

"Australia is facing an unprecedented challenge from espionage and foreign interference," he said, "and I'm not convinced we, as a nation, fully appreciate the damage it inflicts on Australia's security, democracy, sovereignty, economy and social fabric ...

"More Australians are being targeted for espionage and foreign interference than at any time in Australia's history ... I want to dispel any sense that espionage is some romantic Cold War notion. It's not; it is a real and present danger that demands we take security seriously."

Forget stories such as those written by legends such as John le Carre and Robert Ludlum, espionage is happening in neighbourhoods all over our country, right now.

"ASIO is busier than ever before," Burgess continued. "Busier than any time in our 74-year history. Busier than the Cold War; busier than 9/11; busier than the height of the caliphate."

It's no coincidence that author Tim Ayliffe has included a quote from Burgess as the preface for this latest novel, Killer Traitor Spy.

Ayliffe has been a journalist for 25 years and is currently the managing editor of television and video for ABC News. Killer Traitor Spy is his fourth novel pulled straight from the headlines, an unnerving story of espionage in today's world that is most likely too close to the truth for our liking.

Someone wants Russian millionaire Dmitry Lebedev dead. He's had a narrow escape when a sex worker was poisoned in his hotel room. He contacts his former CIA case officer Ronnie Johnson, offering to expose a traitor inside the Australian government in return for protection.

Journalist John Bailey is there, right on the story. His friendship with Johnson stretches back years but even now he's unsure who is on what side.

"Everything in the book has either happened, will happen or could happen," Ayliffe says.

"It's always deep rooted in the real world, Bailey and the characters are really the only fiction there."

MORE GREAT READS:

With this book, Ayliffe watched real-life events unfold around him as he was finishing the final drafts.

"Usually it's art imitating life, but with this one, I'd finished the first draft before the Russians started the war in Ukraine so I'd been thinking about Russia, about the what ifs, about their behaviour abroad and then it all escalated."

The book references many incidents from real life, including the Salisbury Novichok poisonings of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, and three civilians in 2018.

He also explores Havana Syndrome, which was first reported in 2016 by US and Canadian embassy staff in Cuba.

"There was an unexplained incident where staff experienced symptoms such as severe pain, ringing in the ears and vertigo," he says.

"They couldn't find a reason for it and they put it down to the use of microwave weapons of some kind. Then cases started popping up in China and India, even in Washington.

"Not that any weapons have been found and it all remains unexplained."

He also mentions the Night Wolves, a Russian motorcycle club with close links to the Kremlin. Russian president Vladimir Putin turns up at their rallies and rides. The Night Wolves also fought on the side of the Russian militants in the Ukraine. They have a chapter in Australia.

Ayliffe remains mindful of the fact that he writes fiction, that the lines are always going to be blurred.

"There are two things I set out to do with these books, first and foremost it's to entertain the readers.

"Secondly, it's to explore a big issue that's bubbling along in our world right now, I find through fiction you get to do that in a way that is, one, more fun, but you can dive more deeply into some of these ideas with fiction that you can't with non-fiction.

"With fiction you get to build the characters and build the scenarios in which things happened."

He loves being able to set his novels in Australia.

"Australia is such a good setting for these spy thrillers, we're so connected with the changing world, the geopolitics of what is going on, we're caught in the power struggle between the US and China, we're a Five Eyes intelligence partner as well. Australia is a much more engaged participant in these things than we'd like to think."

Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books write-ups and reviews. Bookmark the page so you can find our latest books content with ease.