In 1975 the author was the youngest ever officer to serve in the SIS. Not long after he finished his training, he was on surveillance duty one night, followed a big Russian Mercedes from the Soviet embassy, and witnessed a meeting between a (then) unknown elderly man and another man known to be a KGB agent. That man turned out to be Dr William Sutch, one of New Zealand's most eminent economists.
Four months later, after more surveillance and a major sting in the Aro Valley, Sutch was arrested and charged with passing information to the Russians. A spectacular trial ensued at which Sutch was acquitted. He died a year later. Thirty years on, fascination with the case and speculation about whether Sutch was a KGB mole endures.
ThIs book marks the first time an SIS officer has ever gone public. It's written in a fast-paced, humorous style, and is full of spycraft secrets. The author, after whom Operation Kitbag, the operation to track Sutch, was named, has had a colourful career and is now a policeman in Queensland. He details how he and his fellow surveillance officer came upon Sutch that night, how the SIS followed Sutch and the KGB over a period of months and how they got their man, only to lose the case against him in court. Wellington is the star of this book: a city of dark alleys, winding streets, shadowy rendezvous points, through which the Russians raced in their big European cars, followed by the SIS in hot pursuit.
