The Maghreb Conspiracy

Michael Vaux, ex-journalist and occasional MI6 operative, is back. The reluctant hero of "The Wayward Spy" and "Operation Saladin "is about to find himself pulled back into the violent world of espionage and counterterrorism.

After a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda in the Muslim Maghreb terrorist group expresses a desire to defect, MI6 can't afford to ignore his request. The information he holds could help prevent future terrorist attacks.

An envoy is sent from Morocco to negotiate a deal with MI6. But on his return, while under the protection of novice agent Sebastian Micklethwait, the envoy is assassinated en route, and MI6 calls on Vaux to locate and secure the would-be defector.

Finding the al-Qaeda operative on the dusty Moroccan streets proves difficult, especially when Micklethwait is abducted outside a Tangier nightclub. Now Vaux has to find both men, with ever-increasing pressure from the home office and uncooperative CIA agents.

Vaux's search will culminate in a bloody confrontation-and have repercussions that could place MI6 security in grave peril.

A dizzying maze of shifting alliances and constant deceit, nothing is as it seems in "The Maghreb Conspiracy."