The Cellist by Daniel Silva
I’ve been in a spy novel mood lately and, eventually, found myself circling back to the Gabriel Allon series. I read the first ten books years ago when I had something people call “free time.” I liked the idea of an art restorer as a spy and it was neat to see things from the perspective of the Mossad but like a lot of series, it lost its originality after a while and I put it aside. When researching which book to come back to, […]
London Match by Len Deighton
I’m glad I slept on this review. I confess to some disappointment when I finished it…that was the resolution? That was the best Deighton could do after an excellent two-book buildup? I expected a massive conflict and was sort of let down. But then I thought about the final conversation in the book, which I won’t use to spoil the plot but basically talks about the stagnancy of the spy game. You’re never really winning, per se, and you almost don’t know what constitutes winning. Occasionally, you […]
A Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe
I knew early on this was not going to be the book I expected and I mean that in a complimentary sense. I thought this would be a cozy-esque female housewife in the 50s using her wiles to navigate Manhattan cocktail parties and deduce who may or may not be a Soviet sympathizer. There’s nothing cozy about this, however. It’s a raw, intriguing look at the perils of motherhood for women in the 1950s, with a spy story tacked on in the background. The espionage […]
The Secret Hours by Mick Herron
I picked up this book because it wasn’t supposed to be connected to the Slow Horses series. But I’ve read in other places that it might be? I don’t know, use your own judgment if you want to avoid the most minute of spoilers. Some writers are like exercising: you just have to push through the initial strain in order to get the good stuff. I hate exercising but I can’t think of a better example. I’ve tried Slow Horses several times and I can’t focus on Herron’s style. […]
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
I’ve tried Rachel Kushner’s books before but they’re a little over my head. However, I’m on a spy kick and it just so happens that her new one is a critically acclaimed spy novel and, while knowing it would still be different from the usual pulpy thrill of typical espionage fare, I decided to try it. The cool thing about writing espionage is that we all desire to lead secret lives and espionage fiction allows us to explore that. The sad necessity of hiding human […]
A Shadow Intelligence by Oliver Harris
I was telling my wife this morning that the British write the best spy novels and it’s not even close. Le Carré. Deighton. Herron (I’ve never been able to connect with his but I’m trying desperately). And now, this guy Oliver Harris, who I had never even heard of until I read Max Read’s indispensable Substack. I was initially intrigued by a spy novel set in Kazakhstan. I like to read books where espionage takes place outside the glamor centers of Europe or the misunderstood […]
