When John Le Carre, the former British intelligence officer and the world’s leading author of realistic spy fiction, died in December 2020, his last novel had been basically complete for some time. As his son, (who writes and publishes under the pen name Nick Harkaway) says in a heartfelt and touching nonfiction afterword, we can […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: Silverview"Unrestricted Access by James Rollins (Short Story Collection, 2020). A best-selling novelist, James Rollins has now come out with his first collection of short fiction and it’s a dandy. Here you will find 11 previously published short stories, brief nonfiction accounts on where each of these came from, plus 1 brand-new novella. I should note […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: Unrestricted Access"Whiskers in the Dark: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown (Talking Animals/Cozy Mystery, 2019). Rita Mae Brown and her feline companion/co-author have offered up another multi-era cozy featuring Mrs. Murphy, the wise crime-solving cat, her various non-human sidekicks and the assorted clueless humans they routinely assist. In this charming […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: Whiskers in the Dark"This one is the 6th or 7th of the author’s series of submarine-warfare-focused novels that revolve around ultra-skilled and heroic US Navy officer Jerry Mitchell. This one is set in the very near-future (2021) and, like many military thrillers, imagines a future ‘improvement’ on existing technology to create a more dangerous weapon that Mitchell and […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: Arctic Gambit"This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (SF Novella, 2019). This splendid novella brings together the special talents of the award-winning Amal El-Mohtar and Hugo-nominated Max Goldstone. Two factions, one high tech-centered and the other nature-based, wage a sprawling war for dominance through time itself. Despite their differing word-views, […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW:This Is How You Lose the Time War"Dying of the Light (Theatrical Action Film, 2014, 1 hours 34 minutes). This middling Nicholas Cage vehicle is a spy versus terrorist action flick. The twist, to the extent there is one, is that the principle antagonists are both terminally ill. Cage does a very respectable job playing “Evan Lake,” a veteran CIA agent who never […]
Read more "FILM REVIEW: Dying of the Light (2014)"Already 14 years since this came out? Wow. Anyway, even if you never saw this one you probably know about the real-life behind-the-scenes drama of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt beginning their relationship as an on-set affair. But let’s not focus on that, okay? Here and now, the movie is the thing. And what an odd, somewhat […]
Read more "FILM REVIEW: Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)"Spy Master by Brad Thor (Spy Thriller, 2018). Brad Thor, hailed as “the ultimate thriller writer,” again unleashes super-spy Scot Harvath amid frequent bouts of action/adventure/violence in his latest novel. While he’s considering a pullback from field work in favor of taking a desk job in the private intelligence outfit his now-senile mentor founded (and maybe […]
Read more "REVIEWED: Spy Master"The Ultimatum by Karen Robards (Crime/Adventure Novel, 2017). Bianca St. Ives leads a double life, heading up a more-or-less legit security consulting firm in Savannah, Georgia as a cover for the real ‘family business’ (as a super-slick international thief). She’s learned that trade from best–a legendary figure who she’s always thought of as her father. But […]
Read more "REVIEWED: The Ultimatum"The Ends of the Earth by Robert Goddard (Historical Espionage Novel, 2015/2017). Not to be confused with nautical historical adventure series by William Golding, this is the concluding volume of a spy/revenge/mystery trilogy set in the confused aftermath of World War I. James Maxted (Max to his friends) was an ace fighter pilot during the Great War. He […]
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