The British Cross

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by Bill Granger

“Dev, help me.”

  And then he touched her.

  “I feel so cold,” she said. “I feel so cold.”

  Cold and cold, he thought, until you can feel nothing again.

  “I don’t want to leave you,” she sobbed against him. “I love you, I love you, but I’m so frightened.”

  Cold and cold, he thought, it would never end. Hell was not fire; hell was a frozen place. Hell was darkness and separation and emptiness.

  “I love you,” she said.

  “Rita,” he replied. They held each other then against the night that enveloped the mountain, that blackened the forest on the mountain until the shadow and substance of the woods were the same thing, that permeated the house, that was held back only by the flickering flames that gave them a momentary warmth before the cold enveloped them.

  About the Author

  An award-winning novelist and reporter, Bill Granger was raised in a working-class neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. He began his extraordinary career in 1963 when, while still in college, he joined the staff of United Press International. He later worked for the Chicago Tribune, writing about crime, cops, and politics, and covering such events as the race riots of the late 1960s and the 1968 Democratic Convention. In 1969, he joined the staff of the Chicago Sun-Times, where he won an Associated Press award for his story of a participant in the My Lai Massacre. He also wrote a series of stories on Northern Ireland for Newsday—and unwittingly added to a wealth of information and experiences that would form the foundations of future spy thrillers and mystery novels. By 1978, Bill Granger had contributed articles to Time, the New Republic, and other magazines; and become a daily columnist, television critic, and teacher of journalism at Columbia College in Chicago.

  He began his literary career in 1979 with Code Name November (originally published as The November Man), the book that became an international sensation and introduced the cool American spy who later gave rise to a whole series. His second novel, Public Murders, a Chicago police procedural, won the Edgar® Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1981.

  In all, Bill Granger published thirteen November Man novels, three nonfiction books, and nine novels. In 1980, he began weekly columns in the Chicago Tribune on everyday life (he was voted best Illinois columnist by UPI), which were collected in the book Chicago Pieces. His books have been translated into ten languages.

  Bill Granger passed away in 2012.

  Also by Bill Granger

  The November Man series

  Code Name November (previously published as The November Man)

  Schism

  The Shattered Eye

  The British Cross

  The Zurich Numbers

  Hemingway’s Notebook

  The November Man (previously published as There Are No Spies)

  The Infant of Prague

  Henry McGee Is Not Dead

  The Man Who Heard Too Much

  League of Terror

  The Last Good German

  Burning the Apostle

  Other Novels

  Drover

  Drover and the Zebras

  Public Murders

  Newspaper Murders

  Priestly Murders

  The El Murders

  Time for Frankie Coolin

  Sweeps

  Queen’s Crossing

  Nonfiction

  Chicago Pieces

  The Magic Feather

  Fighting Jane

  Lords of the Last Machine (with Lori Granger)

  PRAISE FOR BILL GRANGER AND THE NOVEMBER MAN SERIES

  THE NOVEMBER MAN

  “Chilling… seems to move with the speed of light.”

  —Pittsburgh Press

  “Should keep you reading to the end… an engrossing book about the world of computers, treachery, slow or sudden death, and ‘doing things wrong for all the right reasons.’”

  —Chicago Tribune

  “Crisp style, well-mannered prose, and inexorable tension characterize this worthy addition to the successful November Man series. Granger once again displays his winning talent for manipulating traditional elements of intrigue… highly recommended.”

  —Library Journal

  “Granger’s November Man series has been consistently entertaining and interesting, far surpassing much of the work done in the espionage genre. This addition to the list maintains that consistency… builds almost perfectly to an exciting finish… on the mark.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “First-rate… This gripping novel provides further proof that November Man has grown into one of the most complex fictional spies on the current scene.”

  —Booklist

  CODE NAME NOVEMBER

  “Mr. Granger has combined Ian Fleming, John le Carré, and Trevanian in a heady mix… He handles all the elements with real virtuosity.”

  —New York Times Book Review

  “Granger is one of our premier spy novelists. His Devereaux is the perfect spy for these less than perfect times.”

  —People

  “A novelist of superb talent who has mastered the genre and brought to it a distinctly American viewpoint.”

  —Chicago Sun-Times

  “A serious American writer of the first rank… Like Hemingway, Granger learned the technical aspects of his craft through newspaper work. The result is lean and uniquely American.”

  —National Review

  SCHISM

  “An intelligently crafted thriller… lean prose and intricate plotting.”

  —Los Angeles Times

  “The mysteries and motives here turn out to be suitably momentous… all of the characters are vulnerably likeable… solid entertainment.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  “True and dramatic and entertaining… Schism stands on its own.”

  —Chicago Tribune

  THE SHATTERED EYE

  “The Shattered Eye is a page-turner of the first order.”

  —Denver Post

  “It catches you on the first page and propels you through to the end at an accelerating speed.”

  —Chicago Tribune Book World

  THE BRITISH CROSS

  “Sharp and suspenseful… A fine piece of work.”

  —Chicago Sun-Times

  “Never lets readers relax. This one belongs on the top shelf.”

  —New York Daily News

  “Granger handles all the elements of real virtuosity.”

  —New York Times

  THE ZURICH NUMBERS

  “An invigorating thriller. Granger is a fine, serious storyteller… His simple, meaty prose is a perfect complement to the intricacies of the plot.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “An ingenious, imaginative plot… The November Man has a steely, indomitable quality that raises him to Bond’s superstar status.”

  —Kansas City Star

  HEMINGWAY’S NOTEBOOK

  “Granger writes like a shooting star. His plots and characters and dialogue are so good… It’s chilling stuff… a single page will grip the reader with an impact that other writers would use a chapter to pull off.”

  —Chicago Sun-Times

  “Fast-moving, action-packed, violent, and ultimately very satisfying.”

  —Christian Science Monitor

  “This lean, suspenseful tale, peopled with compelling characters, has a drive and signature all its own.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  THE INFANT OF PRAGUE

  “Fascinating… compelling… Devereaux, The November Man, is back, and we’re all a little richer for it.”

  —Chicago Tribune

  “The characters are lively; the plot is as rapidly and smoothly paced as it is complex; the humor arrives without warning, and Granger continues to juggle the pieces while producing a unique spy thriller.”

  —Richmond Times-Dispatch

  “Colorful… wonderfully complex… readers will delight in Granger’s deft unraveling of the skeins in this terrific page-
turner.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  HENRY MCGEE IS NOT DEAD

  “The plot moves smoothly… Granger writes crisply… Devereaux provides a satisfactory ending.”

  —San Antonio Express-News

  THE MAN WHO HEARD TOO MUCH

  “The action is swift and brutal… his sense of characters is powerful. As ever with Granger, the prose is the opposite of the bloodless stuff of techno-thrillers.”

  —Chicago Tribune

  “Granger’s plots can be as intricate as the best le Carré… Granger is a master of fooling the unwary reader.”

  —St. Louis Post-Dispatch

  “Bill Granger is a rarity among writers of serious novels. Each of his books seems better than before.”

  —Minneapolis Star-Tribune

  LEAGUE OF TERROR

  “Granger writes a very, very good espionage thriller.”

  —Los Angeles Times

  “Granger is a pro, with polished writing skills… [that] spur the reader on.”

  —Chicago Tribune

  “Snappily paced thriller… Staccato stylist Granger delivers easy-reading entertainment via plot and counterplot.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  THE LAST GOOD GERMAN

  “The Last Good German is the twelfth November Man novel, and may be one of the best… The characters are complex and the plot is an unusual wheels-within-wheels puzzle.”

  —Baltimore Sun

  BURNING THE APOSTLE

  “Granger’s icy Devereaux has entered into the halls of legendary thriller characters… electrifying… the narrative races along, snappily paced with wickedly effective dialogue. Devereaux remains the most believable character in current spy fiction.”

  —Tampa Tribune Times

  “With their eerily plausible plots and intriguingly complex protagonist, Granger’s November Man novels rank among the finest examples of espionage fiction.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  Don’t miss the other exciting books in the bestselling November Man series

  Code Name November (previously published as The November Man)

  Schism

  The Shattered Eye

  The British Cross

  The Zurich Numbers

  Hemingway’s Notebook

  The November Man (previously published as There Are No Spies)

  The Infant of Prague

  Henry McGee Is Not Dead

  The Man Who Heard Too Much

  League of Terror

  The Last Good German

  Burning the Apostle

  And look for the major motion picture The November Man, coming soon!

  Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Hachette Digital.

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  Sign Up

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  For more about this book and author, visit Bookish.com.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Welcome

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Author’s Note

  1. Helsinki

  2. Cheltenham, England

  3. Amsterdam

  4. London

  5. Dublin

  6. Helsinki

  7. Washington, D.C.

  8. Helsinki

  9. London

  10. Leningrad

  11. Dublin

  12. Helsinki

  13. London

  14. Dublin

  15. Leningrad

  16. Washington, D.C.

  17. Helsinki

  18. Amsterdam

  19. Helsinki

  20. Dublin

  21. Washington, D.C.

  22. Paris

  23. Helsinki

  24. London

  25. Helsinki

  26. Amsterdam

  27. Washington, D.C.

  28. Moscow

  29. Helsinki

  30. London

  31. Stockholm

  32. Moscow

  33. Washington, D.C.

  34. Dublin

  35. London

  36. Washington, D.C.

  37. Front Royal, Washington.

  About the Author

  Also by Bill Granger

  Praise for Bill Granger and the November Man Series

  Don’t Miss the Bestselling November Man Series

  Newsletters

  Copyright

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 1983 by Granger & Granger, Inc.

  Grateful acknowledgment is made to Michael B. Yeats, Anne Yeats, Macmillan London Limited and Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. for permission to reprint lines from “Sailing to Byzantium” from The Collected Poems of William Butler Yeats, copyright 1928 by Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., copyright © renewed 1956 by Georgie Yeats.

  Cover design by Elizabeth Connor

  Photo of woman © Maridav/Shutterstock

  Photo of Dublin © littleny/Shutterstock

  Cover copyright © 2014 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Grand Central Publishing

  Hachette Book Group

  237 Park Avenue

  New York, NY 10017

  hachettebookgroup.com

  twitter.com/grandcentralpub

  Originally published by Pocket Books, a Simon & Schuster division, by arrangement with Crown Publishers, Inc.

  First ebook edition: August 2014

  Grand Central Publishing is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The Grand Central Publishing name and logo is a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  ISBN 978-1-4555-3065-6

  E3

 

 

 


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