The Tears of Boabdil by Neil MacDonald
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Vince is an undercover agent for the Special Branch and when he creates his character and backstory, he throws himself into it completely and immerses himself into the other world he is trying to infiltrate and this time, he has to become an islamic convert and infiltrate a British Jihadi group. Vince starts his journey in a local, nondescript, corner shop where he goes to buy some essentials, bottled water and cigarettes, but when he sees the woman serving on the counter, she is beautiful, he cannot deny that, but he also senses that she is different to most women and also that this would not be their only meeting. He approaches the mosque for the first time as well, it is also a beautiful place, as he enters and follow the other worshippers, he completes the rituals and spots his targets doing the same, he observes them from a distance, he knows he needs to first be noticed, then to earn their respect and after that their trust, but Vince also knows he needs to do it slowly and carefully.

As the days pass and Vince is growing closer to his first check in with his handler, he develops a routine of breakfast, visiting the corner shop to interact with the woman there, to the mosque for prayers and visiting the stalls selling literature and in the market precinct on Fridays and Saturdays, being seen to be devout and seeking of knowledge, eventually the targets come over and talk to him, this is where Vince’s work really starts. Two of them talk about the information in the leaflet he is holding all the while listening to the third man talking to passers by and hears something of interest to file for later on about a study group. Vince is about to leave when he is given another leaflet about a protest happening the day after and he agrees to go and take part, this should help to gain their trust and it is what happens, he also has the opportunity to talk to the woman at the shop who introduces herself as Ayesha, it turns out she is the sister of the targets and is very intelligent and Vince decides that to befriend her could also help him to get in with the targets.

As he is walking home a few days later, he comes across a blast from his past who it turns out is his handler for this mission, although they don’t get along, they agree on a way for them to communicate and Vince goes on his way. As time passes and he slowly starts to gain the trust of the targets and their sister, things become more complicated when he starts to develop feelings for Ayesha, he uses her intelligence and discovered love of Moorish Spain to spin yet more tales and seduce her, however, is he becoming too close and losing himself in all the tales he is spinning, or will he be able to see past them to the reality and complete his mission? This is a thrilling deep dive into the life of an undercover agent as he struggles to discern reality from the tales he spins and you are spinning through it all with him until the conclusion is reached.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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