To find an old friend, a past-his-prime spy steps into a war zone When Henry Edwards recruited him to work as an intelligence officer, Peter Marlow was young enough that espionage seemed romantic. They were in Cairo during the Suez Crisis, two young spies haunting dinner parties and back alleys in search of morsels of information that were never as important as they seemed. A decade later, espionage has lost its sheen, and Henry confesses to Peter that he's considering resignation. A few days later, he's gone.   Is Henry dead, or is he planning to defect? Either way, the service wants him buried. Peter is sent to Cairo in search of his old friend. But as war looms over Israel and the Arab states, and President Nasser's life comes under threat, Peter's task becomes more challenging than he would like. Espionage is a young man's game, and more than ever before, he feels close to the grave.   The Private Sector is the first book in the Peter Marlow Mystery series, which also includes The Sixth Directorate and The Valley of the Fox.