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Red Star Rising by Brian Freemantle
When it comes to espionage fiction I am usually in the cold dark and gray camp. LeCarre (early not late), Deighton, etc. so Brian Freemantle’s Charlie Muffin seemed in my wheelhouse. Despite my...
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In the Mail: The Nearest Exit
The Nearest Exit by Olen Steinhauer From Publishers Weekly Milo Weaver, a former field agent with the CIA’s clandestine Department of Tourism, returns to action after a stint in prison for alleged...
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In the Mail: Agent X
Agent X by Noah Boyd From Booklist Steve Vail, once an ace FBI agent, now a bricklayer (The Bricklayer, 2009), arrives in Washington to take Kate Bannon, the bureau’s assistant director, to an embassy...
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Black Ghosts by Victor Ostrovsky
I used to read a lot of espionage fiction. At its best it has a nice blend of action and intrigue with character depth and complex plots. But I haven’t been reading much of it lately. When I was...
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You Know What’s Going On by Olen Steinhauer
Image via Wikipedia I was disheartened when Olen Steinhauer decided to shut down the group blog Contemporary Nomad at the end of last year. I was a big fan of the authors that posted and enjoyed both...
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An American Spy by Olen Steinhauer
With An American Spy Olen Steinhauer continues to explore both the mechanics of spy craft and the moral tension inherent in the trade using Milo Weaver as his lens. With this third volume in the...
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Olen Steinhauer on An American Spy and Post 9/11 Spy Fiction
Great timing for this weeks Coffee & Markets podcast. Pejman Yousefzadeh and I were joined by one of my favorite authors, Olen Steinhauer. We discussed his just released novel An American Spy,...
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Book Trailer: A Delicate Truth by John Le Carre
I confess I haven’t read a Le Carre book since, what, The Secret Pilgrim? But perhaps I should give him another try … A Delicate Truth John Le Carre Viking Adult Release date: May 7, 2013
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Steinhauer on le Carre
Olen Steinhauer on John le Carre’s A Delicate Truth: The spymaster-as-hero is gone, replaced by the whistle-blower, the outsider who retains enough of his heart to be appalled by the slaughter of...
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Modesty Blaise and The Impossible Virgin
10 of the Greatest Cold War Spy Novels from Flavorwire highlighted a book and series I had never heard of: The Impossible Virgin, Peter O’Donnell (1971) “In 1953, O’Donnell created his comic-strip...
View ArticleOlen Steinhauer on writing, inspiration and more
One of my favorite authors, Olen Steinhauer, has a book coming out in 2014, The Cairo Affair, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. In the mean time, listen to Olen discuss where he gets ideas, the...
View ArticleOn the Lisbon Disaster by Olen Steinhauer
Tension, bursts of action, complex attempts at the sorting of truth from lies and the inevitable resulting grays, questions about identity and the choices we make: classic Steinhauer really. Certainly...
View ArticleThe Cairo Affair by Olen Steinhauer
Steinhauer use an ensemble cast, and his more literary style, to create a unique espionage thriller with current events and Eastern Europe's dark history as the backdrop. … Read More →
View ArticleA Conversation with Olen Steinhauer – Part One
A conversation with Olen Steinhauer in which we discuss his latest book, the risk of bringing current events into a novel, the magic of fiction, his approach to writing, plot and character development,...
View ArticleA Conversation with Olen Steinhauer – Part Two
In the second part of our conversation Olen Steinhauer and I discuss the life of an expatriate and its impact on your perspective toward your own and other cultures, the future of publishing, and his...
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Get Them Reading
Fun flow chart for middle grade readers from HarperCollins. Full size is here.
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Theme OCD?
Did I just spend countless hours over the last few days futzing around with the themes on this site only to return to the theme I had been using for months? Yes …
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Death’s Doors by Lars Walker
I am a fan of Lars Walker's writing but I confess I really struggled with his latest novel. This dystopian fantasy felt didactic and preachy to me. Ultimately, it was interesting with some well done...
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The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde (audio)
It wasn't laugh out loud funny, at least to me, but it was witty and droll. With a number of interesting characters this first in a series was entertaining enough to make me want to continue on to book...
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Lean On Pete by Willy Vlautin
Perhaps that was the point, to highlight the constantly shifting and terrifying world of being young and homeless, or even young and without appropriate parental support. Forced to steal and hide and...
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