007 and Friends

Forever and a Day – Anthony Horowitz – (Harper)

I can’t imagine what a daunting task it must be to be tapped by any writer’s estate to pick up the mantle and continue the life of a signature character; the expectations of fans have to be off the charts. It happens with some regularity nowadays with cornerstone characters like Boston PI Spenser, CIA tough guys Mitch Rapp and Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne continuing to live on after the passing of their creators.

I can’t think of a more difficult task than continuing the life and adventures of legendary British spy, Agent 007, James Bond. Bond has been part of the literary and film lexicon since Ian Fleming debuted him in 1953’s Casino Royale. Since Fleming’s passing, no less than eleven writers have taken on the task of continuing the Bond saga, if you include a Bond biography and the series of so-called “Young Bond” books.

Bestselling author Anthony Horowitz is the latest to take on Bond – first with 2015’s Trigger Mortis and now with the audacious, prequel to Casino Royale – Forever and a Day. Horowitz skillfully sets the table and gives us the roots of not only Bond’s earning his license to kill, but also the source of his preference for bruised alcohol; shaken, not stirred.

Horowitz also had the benefit of some original material from Ian Fleming, which helps him ratchet up the excitement from what is a pretty straight forward storyline. As with most Bond stories, Horowitz succeeds by creating memorable characters that move through the Bond-sphere, including the femme-fatale, Sixtine. Horowitz is a master and Forever and a Day ranks among the year’s best.

The Moscow Sleepers – Stella Rimington – (Bloomsbury)

Not so much Bond here; strikes me a bit more from the world of John leCarre. Stella Rimington spent her professional career working for MI-5, the British internal security service. She worked the range from counter-espionage, subversion and terrorism; becoming the service’s first ever female director general.

It is from that base of experience that she builds her Liz Carlyle novel series and lends the stories a sense of realism. In her latest, The Moscow Sleepers, Rimington’s characters are realistically vivid to the point that I am certain her former colleagues must see more than small bits of themselves in her portrayals.

The international spy game is on full display, with a taste of intrigue on the side and with plots and conspiracies unfolding on both sides of the pond. Carlyle and her side kick Peggy Kinsolving pull on the loose threads to try to unravel a Russian plot to destabilize the German government with a rotating band of under-deep-cover operatives.

While it’s hard to communicate in the written word the intensity of say the “sleepers” on the TV program The Americans, Rimington does a nice job of imparting the hunt to track down the folks in play and give it a realistic feel.

The Spy Who Was Left Behind – Michael Pullara – (Scribner)

If you prefer your spy stories with more than just a dose of reality, with healthy pinch of murder mystery and a splash of tenacious, ballsy lawyer than, The Spy Who Was Left Behind, from Michael Pullara, the aforementioned testicular fortitude laden attorney, might be right up your alley.

To say that Pullara became obsessed with trying to track down the truth behind the 1993 murder of CIA branch chief Freddie Woodruff, in the crumbling former Soviet state of Georgia. At its heart this is a tale built on a frightening number of layers including the unraveling of the USSR, the U.S. trying to figure their place in the new world order, a ham fisted cover up and one man’s search for the truth.

With 20 years of material, countless interviews with KBG and CIA spies, government officials from both sides and even some newly uncovered witnesses, Pulara does a wonderful job of coherently working the story so it hangs together and moves forward at a steady pace – miraculous for a first time author.

Reads to Keep Summer Alive!

While the calendar and back to school sales make it clear that summer is on the wane, a stack of great reads gives me hope to keep summer alive.

Ice Station Nautilus - Rick Campbell (St. Martin’s Press)

The late great Tom Clancy put the submarine thriller on the fiction road map with the classic The Hunt for Red October. Stepping into the breach to take control of the sub-genre is retired Navy Commander Rick Campbell, who had over twenty years of submarine tours under his belt before he retired.

He follows up his earlier outings The Trident Deception and Empire Rising with his latest Ice Station Nautilus. This one was one of those reads that just hit the perfect groove for me; I have been fascinated with the whole frozen tundra military thing since I first watched Ice Station Zebra as a kid. Add to that Campbell’s been there done that writing style combined with his ability to set the hook on the thrills and this one ends up cool enough to bring a chill and a thrill to a ninety degree day.

Breaking Cover – Stella Rimington (Bloomsbury)

Okay, full confession up front; while I had come across Stella Rimington books in the past, I had never picked one up and did know what her background was. Much like legendary British espionage writer John le Carre, Rimington signed on with the British Security Service, MI5 and spent decades tackling counter-subversion, counter-espionage and counter terrorism before being named Director General in 1992.

So when it comes to been there, done that writing, I can’t think of too many folks with her list of qualifications. Breaking Cover is Rimington’s ninth Liz Carlyle novel, which finds the protagonist back at MI5 with an assignment that will allow her to recover and mourn the loss of her lover and colleague. That’s when the best laid plans get derailed and news that the Russians are trying to silence those critical of their incursions into Ukraine and Carlyle is launched headlong to the hunt for Russians spies.

Aside from the plausible storyline ripped from the headlines, Rimington ratchets up the authenticity as the story pounds along a steady pace. While I may be late to the game, Breaking Cover convinced me that this won’t be my last foray into the writing of Stella Rimington.

The Innocent Have Nothing to Fear – Stuart Stevens (Knopf)

I must be on a fiction authenticity streak here; Stuart Stevens, a guy who earned his keep running political campaigns draws on that experience for his second novel, The Innocent Have Nothing to Fear, in which protagonist J D Callahan finds himself hip deep in a political campaign and neck deep in family issues when his estranged brother crawls out of the woodwork and squarely back into his life at a critical juncture.

Stevens draws up an oddly familiar sounding challenger squaring off against his sitting Vice President candidate; an anti-immigrant, right-wing populist. While the novel may not be about the 2016 Presidential race, Stevens serves up a well balanced mix of caustic commentary, insider knowledge, and often surprising sense of humor that makes this one worthy of your buying vote. Based on the fact that one of Stevens most recent political forays was to guide the Mitt Romney campaign, put up against his skills with a pen, he might want to ponder a permanent move away from politics.