Book Review - The fourth protocol

Yes, I did promise to review movies and video games too, but books have always been my first love. Today I wish to review a book, that is as old as I am. I came across this book about 10 years ago and was engrossed in it within moments of opening it. My copy was missing the first twenty or so pages, and yet, I felt the book was gripping.

 The Fourth protocol by Frederick Forsyth has been one of my favorite books for a long time. The title refers to the fourth protocol of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty(NNPT) of 1968. This protocol prohibits the delivery of nuclear weapons into any of these countries other than being dropped off aircrafts or on ballistic missiles. This also meant prohibition of assembling a nuclear device close to target before detonating it.
The book picks on real life treaties and workings of the government both within Russia and Britain. It also highlights the involvement of spies and secret service agents on both sides. The central plot of this novel is plan Aurora, hatched by the British master spy Kim Philby at the behest of the general secretary of the Soviet Union. Aurora is put into motion in order to ensure a labour party victory in the coming general elections in UK. Russian agent Valeri Petrofsky is undercover in England and collects all the parts of the nuclear device which are smuggled in as harmless packages. An unforseen incident with one of the couriers brings to light the plot and a search is on to find petrovsky and foil the plan.

At the beginning of the novel, a burglary happens in a senior civil servants house. A few top secret documents are also stolen along with other things. The notorious thief , Jim Rawlings has a patriotic side to him. He sends the documents to MI5 when John Preston investigates them. This leads to a discovery of spies in the guise of diplomats. During his investigations, John finds out about the smuggled parts of the nuclear device and tries to capture the perpetrators. It is upto John and his team to prevent the "accident" that could change the face of British politics forever and trigger a collapse of the Western alliance.

The fourth protocol is an eventful thriller involving espionage, deceit and treachery. Though the plot has many twists and turns, this book is not for those who love fast paced thrillers. The book involves a lot of descriptions on international relations, politics, covert operations and government administration. These do slow down the plot at certain times. The ten page report by philby might even put some to sleep. 
But, if you can brave these parts, this is a gripping spy thriller. The fourth protocol was also adapted into a movie of the same name starring Pierce Brosnan and Micheal Caine.