The Night Manager is a taut, sleekly produced mini-series airing on AMC Cable network. The series is based on a novel by John Le Carre.
With the end of the Cold War battle between the CIA, MI-6, and the Soviet KGB, spy novelists like Le Carre had to find new plot subjects such as terrorism, multi-national corporations, and international crime. The Night Manager deals with an undercover operation by a British intelligence agency to bring down a notorious arms smuggler. In the process, corruption and betrayal are uncovered at high levels within both MI-6 and the CIA.
Other Le Carre novels have pursued similar post-Cold War intrigue:
Our Kind of Traitor - A British couple on vacation become involved with a Russian crime oligarch who wishes to defect, which draws the involvement of British intelligence. The movie version of the novel will be released this August.
A Most Wanted Man - A grim, cynical drama set in Hamburg, Germany. A wanted Muslim terrorist pretending to be an ordinary immigrant is hunted by competing American, British, and German agencies. Unfortunately, Le Carre's ingrained anti-American streak is on its nastiest display here. The movie version is available on DVD.
Showing posts with label CIA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CIA. Show all posts
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Monday, November 26, 2012
Best Mystery and Crime Novels of 2012
2012 saw the release of some outstanding novels in the Mystery genre. Here are the picks by this Blog for best of the year:
The Leopard by Jo Nesbo - A chilling new entry in the series that features Oslo police detective Harry Hole. This one is a near-epic hunt for a serial killer who uses a fiendish device called the Leopold Apple on his victims. A gripping and psychologically complex narrative of Harry's obsessive pursuit of the killer. Jo Nesbo's novels are rich in character and twisted, big canvas plots. This crime thriller was the best read of the year.
The Black Box by Michael Connelly - LAPD detective Harry Bosch returns to investigate the cold case of a female journalist murdered twenty years before during the 1992 Rodney King trial riots in the city. As Bosch digs deeper into the death, seemingly mundane threads weave together to link to powerful people and a past war crime. A solid and methodical police procedural, with Michael Connelly writing at his satisfying best.
Defending Jacob by William Landay - Both a riveting legal mystery and a troubling picture of a family cracking apart under the stress of a murder indictment against one of its members. The teenage son of a Boston Assistant D.A. is arrested for the bloody murder of a classmate. Jacob insists he is innocent, but his worried parents face mounting doubts. The novel is a compelling, disturbing read with a hideous twist at the end. A can't-put-down plot and a tense moral puzzle. Outstanding.
The Expats by Chris Pavone - An intriguing tangle of deception and an innovative take on the espionage novel. A woman who is a retired CIA covert agent begins to suspect that her husband may be involved in a secret life of his own. When the couple comes under surveillance by someone, alarm bells begin to ring. The plot is full of unexpected twists as each layer of lies is peeled away both within the couple's marriage and their covert lives, which have been kept secret from each other. An unpredictable and thoroughly enjoyable spy thriller read.
Raylan by Elmore Leonard - Best outing in years for crime writer Leonard as he brings back his iconic character, fast-draw U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. Here Raylan is up against canny, treacherous offenders in backwoods Kentucky coal country. Full of the author's trademarks of dead-on dialogue, oddball criminal types, and quick, lethal violence. An entertaining treat for Elmore Leonard fans.
Honorable Mention - Broken Harbor by Tana French, The Fear Index by Robert Harris, Driven by James Sallis.
The Leopard by Jo Nesbo - A chilling new entry in the series that features Oslo police detective Harry Hole. This one is a near-epic hunt for a serial killer who uses a fiendish device called the Leopold Apple on his victims. A gripping and psychologically complex narrative of Harry's obsessive pursuit of the killer. Jo Nesbo's novels are rich in character and twisted, big canvas plots. This crime thriller was the best read of the year.
The Black Box by Michael Connelly - LAPD detective Harry Bosch returns to investigate the cold case of a female journalist murdered twenty years before during the 1992 Rodney King trial riots in the city. As Bosch digs deeper into the death, seemingly mundane threads weave together to link to powerful people and a past war crime. A solid and methodical police procedural, with Michael Connelly writing at his satisfying best.
Defending Jacob by William Landay - Both a riveting legal mystery and a troubling picture of a family cracking apart under the stress of a murder indictment against one of its members. The teenage son of a Boston Assistant D.A. is arrested for the bloody murder of a classmate. Jacob insists he is innocent, but his worried parents face mounting doubts. The novel is a compelling, disturbing read with a hideous twist at the end. A can't-put-down plot and a tense moral puzzle. Outstanding.
The Expats by Chris Pavone - An intriguing tangle of deception and an innovative take on the espionage novel. A woman who is a retired CIA covert agent begins to suspect that her husband may be involved in a secret life of his own. When the couple comes under surveillance by someone, alarm bells begin to ring. The plot is full of unexpected twists as each layer of lies is peeled away both within the couple's marriage and their covert lives, which have been kept secret from each other. An unpredictable and thoroughly enjoyable spy thriller read.
Raylan by Elmore Leonard - Best outing in years for crime writer Leonard as he brings back his iconic character, fast-draw U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. Here Raylan is up against canny, treacherous offenders in backwoods Kentucky coal country. Full of the author's trademarks of dead-on dialogue, oddball criminal types, and quick, lethal violence. An entertaining treat for Elmore Leonard fans.
Honorable Mention - Broken Harbor by Tana French, The Fear Index by Robert Harris, Driven by James Sallis.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
THE EXPATS An Intriguing Tangle of Deception
The new mystery The Expats by Chris Pavone is an intriguing and surprising tangle of a married couple's lies and deceptions in their jobs and with each other.
Kate Moore is a retired CIA agent whose husband, Dexter, never knew about the sometimes violent kind of work that she did. Dexter himself is a high-tech bank security consultant, or at least that's what Kate thinks he is. The couple has recently relocated to Luxembourg for Dexter's work, and joined the American expatriate community there.
But while Kate hides her own secrets, she begins to suspect that Dexter may be hiding things of his own. When a new couple, the Macleans, arrive and seem to be keeping Kate and Dexter under surveillance, alarm bells go off in Kate's head. Could the Macleans be there after her, or is it her husband?
The plot is full of unexpected twists as each layer of lies is peeled away one by one. The Expats is an inventive mystery set within the borders of a marriage and played out against an international backdrop.
BEACH RATING: 4 Palm Trees
Kate Moore is a retired CIA agent whose husband, Dexter, never knew about the sometimes violent kind of work that she did. Dexter himself is a high-tech bank security consultant, or at least that's what Kate thinks he is. The couple has recently relocated to Luxembourg for Dexter's work, and joined the American expatriate community there.
But while Kate hides her own secrets, she begins to suspect that Dexter may be hiding things of his own. When a new couple, the Macleans, arrive and seem to be keeping Kate and Dexter under surveillance, alarm bells go off in Kate's head. Could the Macleans be there after her, or is it her husband?
The plot is full of unexpected twists as each layer of lies is peeled away one by one. The Expats is an inventive mystery set within the borders of a marriage and played out against an international backdrop.
BEACH RATING: 4 Palm Trees
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
