The Hidden Hand cover art

The Hidden Hand

Manon Tyler Thrillers, Book 2

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The Hidden Hand

By: Stella Rimington
Narrated by: Penelope Rawlins
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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents The Hidden Hand by Stella Rimington, read by Penelope Rawlins.

A historic institution is hiding a very modern threat.

The student
Li Min, a Chinese student, is forced by her government to transfer from Harvard to Oxford University, where she is recruited to an elite Chinese study centre based out of St Felix’s College.

The scapegoat
Meanwhile, the centre’s newly recruited head stumbles on its more sinister purpose: recruiting Chinese and sympathetic British students to steal high-value research and intellectual property. Unsure who at the university he can trust, he turns to CIA agent Manon Tyler for help.

The spy who might be their only hope...
But as Li and another Chinese-American student are drawn deeper into a deadly game, will Manon be able to penetrate the heart of St Felix’s secrets in time to save them?

©2025 Stella Rimington (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Espionage Mystery Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths China Student

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All stars
Most relevant  
An up to date spy novel with AI Deepfake at its centre. Manon’s reappearance delights, but the narrator lets the book down. I nearly gave up after the narrator’s normal voice is replaced by dreadful accents, which change as the story proceeds. However, the story is such a good one, that my recommendation is to persist and enjoy the action in Oxford!

Another excellent outing for Manon

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Too bland and contrived plot. Plot and people involved to stereotypes. Shame l enjoyed her previous books l have listened to or read

Transparent

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It was realistic and well crafted, but not too violent. The characters were credible and well set in London and Oxford.

The storyline in London involving Chinese and American spies/embassies

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It’s a book I’d rather have read, but thought it a weak story with some glaring errors

The awful accents

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It turns out that running M15 is not, in itself, a free pass into espionage fiction.

Rimington has a leaden style, her characters are two-dimensional and her plot is unbelievably naive. If I didn't know better, I'd think she was deliberately hiding her intelligence background.

There are many former intelligence personnel who have produced first rate fiction: Graeme Greene, Le Carré, Freddie Forsyth, to name but three. Stella Rimington isn't one of them.

The climax of the story takes place between Oxford and London. But the MI5 team seems not to have any ops room coordination, no comms, just mobile phones, and the ANPR camera network seems to be inexplicably absent.

It all makes for a disappointing story that stretches credulity beyond snapping point.

AVOID!

More Blyton than Le Carré

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