Spies, Lies & Algorithms — Swiftly Paced & Elegantly Rendered …
This is a commentary of interesting authors in the spies genre. For a little while I was into Sci-fi authors [blog here, here and here] and now back into the world of espionage …
Started with Henning Mankel (“The Dean of Scandinavian Noir”) (blog here) and now I am discovering more authors … I have already completed the works of Micky Spillane (Mike Hammer), Raymond Chandler, John le Carré, Colin Dexter (Inspector Morse and Inspector Lewis BBC Series), Michael Connelly (Bosch series), Len Deighton, Colin Forbes, Ken Follett, Clive Cussler and the rest …
Am writing the blog as I am reading the books - check back for updates and interesting commentary …
More on EuroNoir [Here]
Olen Steinhauer
Interesting author — Start with “The Tourist” - (rumor has it that George Clooney’s production company has bought the movie rights), complete the Milo series and then “The Middle Man” …
- [7/20/20] I finished the Tourist Series, all 4 of them in around a week ! Good story arc - while the books were published in a span of 11 years (2009 to 2020) they read well back to back.
- Next in the stack is “The Middleman” and then “The Cairo Affair”.
- As I read the Middleman, it suddenly occurred to me that there is a level of comfortableness — probably an effect of the consistent writing style that is somewhat colloquial with very specific repeatable expected behaviors from the characters … which shows the clarity of the writer’s imagination and his attention to the details …
Looking forward to the Cairo Affair — “More than an espionage thriller, this is a complicated geo-political story … It’s also an ambitious undertaking for Steinhauer. While his Tourist series featured rogue CIA agent Milo Weaver, The Cairo Affair is a complex narrative, entwining the stories of multiple characters, … Pinballing across time and place, from Hungary to Libya, Yugoslavia to Egypt …
And, I got side tracked to reading Barry Eisler !
Barry Eisler
An author with a wide experience and the books reflect his conceptual breadth. Am focussing on the John Rain series, mainly due to the setting — Japan !
Very detailed - I even discovered an interesting single malt !
- [7/21/20] Finished “A Clean Kill in Tokyo”. Good story, this should be your 1st book … you won’t be disappointed. The Japanese backdrop is a welcome change from the anglo-centric books I have been reading lately …
Daniel Silva — “Swiftly Paced & Elegantly Rendered”
Another popular author with more than 20 books - all of them in the NY Times best seller list ! Yet to start … have to unwind my stack first and finish what I had started …
Or not ! Started reading Daniel’s books in the publication order on 7/25/20 and got hooked !
- The Killer Artist is his 1st book, very interesting.
- The English Assassin, his 2nd one is a classic. A good peak into the Swiss banking domain — “Breathtakingly orchestrated, The plot is rich, multilayered,…”
- The Confessor, is his 3rd book — about the pope and Vatican. “Accomplished … polished, entertaining and . . . . elegantly written powered by steady pacing, keen detail, and a strong, ironic finish.” (7/28/20 : This is where I am at …)
… More to come …
