EVERY TRAITOR WAS ONCE TRUSTED....
Jamie Tulloch and Sam Li never intended to be spies. Jamie, a former exec at a tech company, found himself caught up in a mission and discovered a taste for the secret world while Sam, a burnt-out corporate lawyer, was unexpectedly talent spotted by MI5. When both are plunged into covert training, they find themselves pitted against each other for their final evaluation - Exercise Red Poacher.
Every year, MI6 trainees must evade capture, infiltrate sensitive sites and report back with the right intel, while their peers at MI5 try to stop them. But things take a sinister turn when they witness the apparent murder of one of their fellow recruits. Is it all part of the exercise? Or is someone trying to weaponise this game of spies into something far more deadly?
Quick order links for Solitary Agents
- Order from your local independent bookshop via Bookshop.org (affiliate link)
- Bookshop.org eBook (affiliate)
- Order from Waterstones (affiliate)
- Order from Blackwell's (free international shipping)
- Order from Amazon UK - hardback (affiliate link)
- Order from Amazon UK - eBook (affiliate link)
- Signed first edition hardback from Goldsboro Books
Praise for 'Solitary Agents'
- Longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize in 2026.
- Writing in The Express, Matt Nixson said 'The ever-inventive Goodman is one of our finest new spy writers and Solitary Agents is perfect for fans of Mick Herron, David McCloskey and Alex Gerlis.'
- Solitary Agents was longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize in July 2026.
- Writing in the Sunday Times, John Dugdale called this book an 'adroitly orchestrated... multi-stranded narrative' and an 'exhilarating blend of psychological probing and... terrific action scenes'.
- The Daily Mail called Solitary Agents 'the most exciting new spy series since Slow Horses: get on board'.
- Alastair Mabbot in The Herald enjoyed the action and twists of the story, saying 'Goodman stays fully on top of the story, dramatically escalating the stakes and recording the security services’ responses to every twist.'
- Jeremy Black in The Critic called Solitary Agents 'an accomplished thriller' and said 'the story is successfully inserted into modern power-politics and both drama and pace build very well.'
- Chris Connor at Crime Fiction Lover said that 'Goodman truly is one of the most exciting new voices in espionage fiction' and that 'as with all good spy fiction, the tradecraft is central to what works and Goodman has proven across the course of the two novels, he is more than capable of delivering believable terminology and espionage techniques.'