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Bravo on 'the Jackal'.
I read the first 'Bourne Identity' and found it decently executed for Ludlum, but only for the level at which Ludlum always works. He writes according to formula and this was not really anything much different. I read it, rolled my eyes, enjoyed the fast-pace; then tossed it aside and forgot all about it. Fortunately I had not read anything by him in a while; so the conventions he always relies on, were not too glaring. But if you read too many by him at once, you quickly tire. This book came out right before his whole style went really bad. You can see later down-the-road; utter codswallop like 'The Parsifal Mosaic'. Anyway no one was more surprised than me to see this title later get picked up for movie production. Sheeesh. Of all the outlandish....because when you stop to think about it; it's really one of his silliest plots. Amnesia? Come on...amnesia?!?!
I've had The Bourne Identity on my Kindle for 1+ years and find it's very poor in comparison with other thrillers of its type (as per Felix), plus the plot is inferior to Matt Damon's movie take. I think I'm 35% of the way through it, and just can't bring myself to finish it. It's a bad book.On the other hand, The Day of the Jackal was so good that I can remember staying up late as a teen to read it past lights-out.
For the oldies, try the next one up, The Odessa File and for a more contemporary (1994!) take try The Fist of God.
Folks really enjoying Slow Horses so far. It has good reviews in Guardian and Telegraph also. Listening to the audiobook (well narrated) but I think it deserves a re-read paper copy.Cheers
Mod
current reads: "Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television", & "The Society of the Spectacle"
Hi guys. I'm delving back into Deighton's Game, Set and Match trilogy with Mexico Set.
Mod
Me, I typically read six nonfic books to every 1 of fict...lots of sociology and history and political history. But after a long hiatus I am finally sampling another thriller.
Its from Adam Hall's 'Quiller' series. #7. "Kobra Manifesto". I'm glad I paced myself because I'm running out of my wish-list for the series. Only 1-11 look good to me; bearing that in mind I only have maybe 1 read left. "Peking Target". There's also "Warsaw Document" (#3) but I have absolutely zero interest in reading anything set in gol-dang Poland. Depressing locale. Meanwhile, 'Kobra Manifesto' goes to all my favorite cities: Rio, Hong Kong, Monte Carlo.
One of our group members has expressed interest in an Adam Hall thread. Now that I'm up to read #7 maybe it's time to do a thorough evaluation of Hall vs LeCarre, Deighton, and Fleming.
Feliks wrote: "Got a title from our group's genre looming up ahead on your 'to be read' slate? Action, adventure, espionage, intrigue, war, historical fiction, suspense? Let us know about it!"Feliks, what is your opinion of the Philip Kerr’s first three Bernie Gunther novels? (I stumbled upon the BERLIN NOIR trilogy containing March Violets; The Pale Criminal; A German Requiem and picked it up on the cheap)
Mod
I'm sure it's probably very good; just based on a glance. But I'll never get to it. First, I never have the time to 'take a gamble' on some newcomer. My opportunities for leisure-reads is so limited that I have to pick a sure-fire winner every time.
Then also, I get so frustrated with this era's "uneven publishing output". Too impatient to either wait for skilled authors to infrequently appear; or hunt them down myself. And the whole thing about 'self-pubbed' vs 'trad pubbed' and the brouhaha over fake reviews, viral promotions, ghost-writers, falsified reputations. Too risky to invest in.
Meanwhile, when I read from among titles published in the heyday of the pulp era--well, its similar to watching any classic movie (even a dowdy B-noir). No way to be disappointed. First, there's endless strings of solid reads; (pick ANY title from Philip Atlee, Don Hamilton, etc) and even if you chance upon one which isn't good--just examining the process and the context of how it was written is intriguing. I mean, look at the language, the mindset--fascinating in its own right. And, it's authentic. These authors are sometimes as intriguing as what they wrote.
Anyway I will take note of this man's name now that you've mentioned it to me and I will bear your esteem in mind when I see it bandied about. I'm glad you get good quality enjoyment out of a recent-release like this! Very glad to see a contemporary author carrying on the hard-boiled crime tradition.
" Very glad to see a contemporary author carrying on the hard-boiled crime tradition."agreed. huge film-noir fan and always up for the literary equivalent.
Mod
Scott wrote: "" Very glad to see a contemporary author carrying on the hard-boiled crime tradition."agreed. huge film-noir fan and always up for the literary equivalent."
try Tough Guys Don't Dance by Norman Mailer, the most suspenseful read for me in recent times. This overlooked book was filmed in the late 50's. I haven't tried to find it, but I bet it's a tough find.
Mod
My favourite Noir writer is Jim Thompson. His output is dark with a capital D and a real change up from samey police procedurals
I've just bought 'Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service' by Michael Bar-Zohar, Nissim Mishalhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
I'm very much looking forward to this. In the meantime, I'm thoroughly enjoying Ben Macintyre's, 'Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies'. Fancy using pigeons as double agents!
The Black Tulip: A Novel of War in Afghanistan, Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice, Lie Down with Lions, and not necessarily in that order...
Oh, and also want to see the German series called The Same Sky -- https://www.netflix.com/kz/title/8011...
I have A Legacy Of Spies in my hands! How lucky we are to still have this great author alive and continuing to produce wonderful gems like this.
Picked up in the bookstore today "The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel" by Uri Bar-Joseph. The title was enough to capture my interest.
Mod
I've just finished Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies by Ben Macintyre. What an astonishing story. Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
Next TBR is: Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service
I have a couple new on the Kindle that I'm looking forward to getting stuck into. I'm reading Incognito by Khaled Talib about the kidnapping of the Pope. Next up is John Dolan's Hungry Ghosts, the sequel to Everyone Burns in the 'Time, Blood and Karma' series. Jake Needham's Inspector Tay series kicks off with The Ambassador's Wife, showing modern Singapore in a less complimentary light than Westerners typically see.This week's new release of R. E. McDermott's culmination of the Disruption series, Promises to Keep had me jumping the queue above last night to get stuck in.
And there are a heap of John le Carré books I picked up cheap for my Kindle in the run up to the release of his new book. So George Smiley and I will be spending yet more time in bed this winter.
Mod
Peter, please no author promo posts outside of the discussion area we have reserved for that kind of thing.
Spy Out The Land by Jeremy Dunshttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Being South African, I'm especially keen to read this one. After the recent coup which wasn't a coup (!) in Zimbabwe it will be interesting to glance back at history there.
Been reading William T. Vollmann's historical fiction series "Seven Dreams", currently on "The Dying Grass". It makes for some Fascinating reading.
William T. VollmannAfter that I'll be reading, "Manituana", by Wu Ming. A historical fiction account of the early days of the Revolutionary War, mostly centered on the Mohawk Valley.
Wu Ming
Manituana is a good one, the only of their's I have on the Kindle is Altai, and it's I think the weakest one of the bunch of books they've written.
I recently finished two non-fiction espionage books that were as lively and gripping as the best spy novels.The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia (1990) by Peter Hopkirk is a vast and sweeping work covering the rivalry between Britain and Russia for power in Central Asia.
The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War (2018) by Ben Macintyre tells the story of Oleg Gordievsky, the MI6 mole inside the KGB at the height of the Cold War.
I also thought A Legacy of Spies (2017) by John le Carré was his best work in over two decades.
Started on this spy thriller short novel, only wished de Villiers earlier books were available for reading devices. The Madmen of Benghazi: A Malko Linge Novel
Gérard de Villiers
I've just started reading the amusingly writtenhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5....
It drew me in immediately. I'm looking forward to finding out more of Leo Marks' experience in SOE and whether he manages to shake up the system of codes.
Finished the Alan Trosper series by William Hood - enjoyed it. Similar to the Herbie Kruger series by Gardner.
Mod
I haven't read any espionage in a while, myself. Too many research tasks underway. My next one will probably be another Quiller by Adam Hall, I've been postponing this since it's probably the last one left available which suits my preference. I don't want to see the series 'get any older' (as I know it must, since there's nine titles left to go). As long as it's written in and for the 1960s, that's how I like it. The best era for thrillers.
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leCarre doesn't come into it but I will say that when you attempt something like this you really see how canny Follett is. His plots are so facile it's hard to skirt your way around them.
The price was right for this one, picked it up for the reading device:The Ministry of Fear
Graham Greene
John le Carré's latest novel, Agent Running in the Field is slated for publication this week.I thought A Legacy of Spies (2017) was his best work in over two decades, so I have some hopes for this one, although early reviews hint that he may have reverted to apoplectic rage at Trump and Brexit, as he did with Bush and 9/11.
At 88, he can't have too many novels left. We lost Charles McCarry in February at 88. The last of the Cold Warriors will all be crossing Checkpoint Charlie for the final time in the coming years.
Mod
What next, is he going to sink to metaphors like 'espionage agent = chemical agent"?
Alas, I thought that John le Carré's recently published Agent Running in the Field was an incredible stinker, his worst novel ever. As I feared, he has had another rage stroke and the novel is one long, heavy-handed diatribe against Brexit and Trump. My much more extensive review is here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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"Stillwell and the American Experience in China" by Barbara Tuchman...non-fiction...this American General taught himself Chinese in the 1930's and wearing common clothes got out in the hinterlands in China for months at a time and did his own intel gathering.
1. James Bond - I've read through the Ian Fleming series and now I'm going through the extended series that include authors John Gardner, Raymond Benson and Anthony Horowitz. 2. Evan Tanner - I am rereading the (somewhat) comic Iron Curtain adventures of Tanner (written by Lawrence Block). The series begins with The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep.
It looks like this thread is 'sleeping' :)I have a big collection of Agatha Christie stories, those are 23 thick books, with each book containing five stories (short stories and novels). Right now, I'm on book number 7.
Some years ago, I read the second and the third part of the Alfar Legends by Markus Heitz, but didn't have the first part. Now, so many years later I finally got the first book! So, I'm planning on reading those three again.
"Muzikale stijlgeschiedenis" by Wouter Steffelaar is also on my to-do list. It's a book about historical musicology in Dutch (I speak six tongues, Dutch is one of them).
Al
Espionage Aficionados
Books mentioned in this topic
Agent Running in the Field (other topics)The Secret Lovers (other topics)
A Legacy of Spies (other topics)
Agent Running in the Field (other topics)
The Ministry of Fear (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
John Le Carré (other topics)Charles McCarry (other topics)
Graham Greene (other topics)
Gérard de Villiers (other topics)
John Le Carré (other topics)
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https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3....
Also on my TBR list is: M: Maxwell Knight, MI5's Greatest Spymaster by Henry Hemming (he is one of the main characters in the Guy Winter Mysteries written by James Philip which I am narrating.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...-