Dave’s Comments (group member since Feb 25, 2013)

Dave’s comments from the Espionage Aficionados group.

"That's actor Tom Bell portraying Feliks D. in the fine BBC minis-series, 'Reilly: Ace of Spies' starring Sam Neil." Now that's a letdown, Feliks. I thought I was corresponding with the man himself. "Reilly" is by far my favorite espionage-genre film. I think it's great from the use of Shostakovich for theme music to the set design to the characters and acting quality. Although Dzerzhinsky doesn't get much screen presence, to me he encapsulates the Bolsheviks' hopes and fears. I've been periodically rewatching the 11 episode series for about 20 years. But I only recently came across the feature length prequel (which i believe is referenced in episode 1) on utube. Another good espionage series on utube is "A Perfect Spy". I've also found Olivia Manning's two excellent, but non-espionge, "Fortunes of War" trilogies there.

Hi Christine, as an Ian Fleming fan who's interested in ww2, you might like 2 novels by Damian Stevenson. The title of each begins, The Ian Fleming Files, followed by separate subtitles. They are both set in the early forties, of course, feature a British agent named Ian Fleming who is the prototype for James Bond. They read pretty much as 007 stories would if they were set in that time frame: lots of sex, technology and alcohol. I read about half of one, and thought it was a little better than the James Bond stuff. The best part is that the Kindle versions are free if you have Amazon Prime or Unlimited

The above comment was directed towards Graeme. I'll be checking out the others soon. Right now I'm anxious to get back to The Soul of Viktor Tronko.

Nice website. Looking forward to your stories.

Thanks Feliks and Komet.

About Grant...I've read that, during the Mexican-American War, Winfield Scott effectively used intel collected by an organization he put together called the Mexican Spy Company. Also, that, on the War's northern front, Zachary Taylor ignored intel to the extent that it approached dereliction of duty. I recall from his Memoirs that Grant tended to learn from mistakes of his commanders and others.

IDK whether this is the place to post, but Amazon is selling a Kindle collection titled "8 Historical Spy Novels: Box Set [Kindle Edition]" for $.99. It contains books by William Le Queux, Allen Upward, Erskine Childers, C.N. Williamson, A.M. Williamson, Arnold Fredericks, Jacques Futrelle, Natalie Sumner Lincoln, and Robert Barr.

I participated in 4 or 5 group reads a couple of years ago. I enjoyed it, but found that monthly was too frequent for me. About a month before a read was to begin the moderator would request recommendations, select 10 or 12 recommended books and submit them to the group for a vote. About half of the group would typically participate.

The discussion leader, usually, but not always, the mod, would plan a reading schedule, typically 1/4 of the book per week. A discussion thread was then opened for each of the weeks. The leader would usually provide a little background (the sort of info available from wikipedia) and open the threads for discussion.

This format works pretty well for nonfiction and general fiction, but I suspect it wouldn't be too cool for spy stuff that depends heavily on measured disclosures of both plot and character. Perhaps a 1-2 month free-for-all read, followe by a month of wide open discussion would be more appropriate for our genre.

Btw, if the group read idea goes forward, I'd like to suggest we do an occaisional nonfiction read.

Feliks, I'm a negligible communicator, but I have enjoyed lurking among this group's pages. I consider the manageable volume a positive quality, accordingly I vote for no major change. But yesterday's exchange between yourself and Kent suggested the need for a specific venue for potential authors to learn what readers may want from them.

For example, I like a pretty complex plot with good character development, an equivocal tone, and minimal (at most) elements of romance and "action". I particularly like a read that involves me in one or more foreign culture(s), historic or contemporary. I'm resisting the temptation to cite specific authors or works, but Kent's background in MI and his experience in Asia suggests that he may produce the sort of work I would enjoy.

Sub-Saharan Africa is another venue that I think could be fascinating for a story. What could be more interesting than an intelligently written narrative involving life and adventure in Idi Ami's Uganda, Patrice Lumumba's Congo, or the contemporary situations in Nigeria.

It might be interesting for active or potential authors to have a site indicating readers' interests. Sorry for rambling, Dave