From Russia With Blood is an action-packed political thriller that, at times, could easily pass as an Ian Fleming novel. The book begins in Salisbury, England. In March 2018, two Russian state agents armed with the lethal poison Novichok went to the picturesque cathedral city to assassinate Sergei Skripal. The former Russian spy had previously served time for high treason in a Moscow prison and fled to the UK where he began working for M16 as a double agent.

Skripal escaped with his life. But the diplomatic sparring match that followed the Salisbury spy showdown saw relations between Russia and the West plummet. The British government accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of orchestrating a chemical attack on British soil that threatened the UK's sovereignty.

Putin hit back with typical contempt and chutzpah, announcing on Russian state television that "traitors will kick the bucket".

Dissenters of the Putin regime fleeing to the UK to clandestinely work for queen and country isn't exactly breaking news. Russian oligarchs and former intelligence workers are usually granted political asylum in the UK for two reasons: providing the British government with useful information or showing up with a healthy bank balance.

Blake provides some well-needed background information on this Russian exodus that coincided with Putin becoming president at the turn of the millennium. It enables the reader to join the dots to the story she eventually unleashes: it began as a co-authored Buzz Feed News story two years ago - documenting 14 suspicious deaths in the UK and one in the US where rumours of Russian meddling were never too far away. That most prominent figure on that murder mystery list is Boris Berezovsky.

The infamous Russian mathematician and billionaire was found dead in his Ascot home in March 2013 after a supposed suicide. Berezovsky's daughter - quoted here - claims the Kremlin had a direct involvement. Two British lawyers who once worked closely with Berezovsky - Stephen Moss and Stephen Curtis - were also found dead under questionable circumstances. These potential murder cases all have glaring links to Russia. But they have been purposely shut down, ignored or put aside for political reasons. Blake claims the evidence clearly points to a cover-up, where the British government is acting as a complicit and silent partner in Putin's secret war in the West.

The author cites two fundamental reasons for Britain's decision to look the other way and keep schtum: cash and geopolitics. The City of London needs the billions of pounds that pour into British banks from dodgy Russians oligarchs every year. Putin is also a useful pawn in the strategic game of geopolitics. Especially in the Middle East, where he often acts as a mediator between the West and Iran.

Understanding Putin's beef with Russian exiles living in the UK requires a certain amount of knowledge about the smash and grab post-Soviet era. Blake provides it in bullet form. Three drastic changes occurred during Russia's transition to capitalism during the 1990s: criminality rose, the rule of law hollowed out, and a limited number of individuals got stinking rich under very dodgy circumstances. A weak Russian state thus created a political vacuum where Putin rose to power. The fallout that followed was between the new president and certain individuals who wanted to knock him off his pedestal.

Most prominent among them was Alexander Litvinenko: the former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer was on MI6's payroll when he died by lethal poisoning in London in 2006. Litvinenko had been unearthing evidence linking Putin's name to Russian mafia gangs during the early 1990s. Information that was well documented in the Litvinenko public inquiry in 2015-16 - where Robert Owen concluded that Putin had "probably" been responsible for ordering Litvinenko's murder.

Blake claims Litvinenko's death was a watershed moment. Putin took a gamble that centred around a single question: could an assassination of a Russian traitor be carried out on British soil - in the full glare of the global media - with impunity? The answer was yes. Putin upped his game. And what started off as an internal Russian squabble amongst former comrades quickly escalated into a clandestine global killing spree.

Viewed through mainstream news bulletins, these Russian spy stories tend to only show one half of this complex narrative: Putin is running a mafia state and opposition questioning his authoritarian rule wind up in prison, in exile or dead. Whitehall PR spin doctors then water down the other side of this story.

A cartoon-like charade emerges. The British government plays the role of international moral guidance counsellor. Putin's murders on British soil are then condemned with dumbfounded outrage. And dramatic public pleas are made for the Russian president to cross westward to the road of righteousness: where truth, transparency and the rule of law will offer the eventual road to freedom.

Blake digs beneath the surface of this superficial moral political posturing to reveal the less glamorous and unflattering truth - Britain needs Russia more than Russia needs Britain: economically, strategically and politically. Making sure that link isn't broken means the British government is living a double life, where hypocrisy is the only game in town, the price of life is cheap - and keeping your mouth shut is the golden rule in a world where money, murder, power, and politics trumps morality every time.

Indo Review