Poet´s Game (2026)

“In The Poet's Game, Vidich confirms his place in the pantheon of the new generation of spy novelists. Once again, his elegant, finely developed characters add nuance and depth to a fast-paced story,” says the Financial Times. The Irish Times notes that Vidich details political gamesmanship with an exactitude in the tradition of John le Carré, whose influence he ably honours. “We all have dreams and then we wake up.” Alex Matthews thought he had left it all behind: his CIA career, the viper’s den of bureaucracy at headquarters, and the lies and stress of the cat-and-mouse game involving double agents. Then the Director comes asking for a favour. Alex is a different man from the one who ran the Moscow station, where he recruited a network of “poet spies”, including the one he named BYRON. He has pieced his life back together after a tragic boating accident killed his wife and daughter, but the scars remain. Still considering himself a patriot, Alex reluctantly accepts the Director’s request. Something is wrong with the operation from the start. The Russians seem to be one step ahead, and the CIA suspects there is a traitor in the agency. By returning to the game, Alex realizes that he has risked everything he has worked for: his new marriage, his family’s safety and his firm. As the noose tightens around him and the FSB closes in, the operation becomes a hall of mirrors with no exits. To find redemption, Alex must uncover the secrets behind BYRON or lose everything.