A Cesspool of Spies

Linda Watkins’ A Cesspool of Spies is set in 1950 and in a world of political turmoil as the Cold War rages, Korea is invaded, and accusations of communist infiltration shake America. The story follows Simon Biggs, a working-class WWII Navy veteran, recruited into the nascent CIA in the late 1940s. After a grueling training period under the watchful (and sometimes sadistic) Major Brad Sullivan, Simon is shipped off to Istanbul, a hotbed of espionage, where he’s quickly forced into a real assassination – killing a Soviet asset with a garrote. As Simon navigates the murky ethics and psychological toll of spycraft, he’s drawn into increasingly dangerous assignments, including an operation involving a French defector and his femme fatale wife. Alongside his comrades and new love interest Jennie, Simon’s journey exposes the personal and moral costs of Cold War espionage. Can he accept his role as both protector and perpetrator in the shadowy world of intelligence?

Watkins' narrative is a tense, character-driven story anchored by Simon, whose working-class roots, war trauma, and family loyalty set him apart from the typical cold operative. Simon’s arc is shaped by both internal and external conflicts: the need to provide for his ailing father, his ambitions for law school, and his growing discomfort with the “dirty work” of espionage. Major Sullivan, both mentor and tormentor, is a sophisticated character haunted by his own demons, and his dynamic with Simon shifts between paternal concern and ruthless manipulation. Plot elements—such as the detailed training camp, the dehumanizing first kill, and the moral implications of assignments like the Gerard operation—highlight the psychological cost of spy work. The author uses shifting perspectives (Simon and Sullivan), recurring motifs of childhood trauma and lost innocence, and a historical lens that grounds the story in postwar uncertainty. The central conflict is not just man versus man, but man versus self, as Simon struggles to reconcile his sense of right and wrong with the necessities of survival and ambition in a world where, as le Carré says, “the monsters of our childhood do not fade away.” A Cesspool of Spies is intelligent, atmospheric, and balanced. I enjoyed the drama, the mounting tension, and the exquisite writing.