For the first two decades in the reign of England’s notorious King Henry VIII a Catholic priest loomed large behind the throne. Named the king’s almoner in 1509, the year Henry’s father died, he ascended over the years from the priesthood to a cardinal’s hat as Henry named...
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When we think about the CIA, we tend to conjure up images of brush passes, dead drops, codes and ciphers, counter-surveilliance techniques, and so forth—all the trappings of spycraft we’ve picked up from the work of John le Carré, Graham Greene, Ian Fleming, and their latter-day descendants....
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Every year or two the novelist Joseph Finder releases a new spy thriller. Many of his books treat industrial espionage, others the more familiar themes of international intrigue. Now, in his 19th novel, The Oligarch’s Daughter, Finder returns to the high-stakes game pitting Russian...
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Joseph Wambaugh, who recently passed away at the age of 88, wrote both novels and nonfiction about police and crime in Los Angeles for more than 50 years. While still at work as an LAPD detective sergeant in 1971, he wrote his first novel, The New Centurions. Two years later I read The Onion...
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Since the publication of The Russian Debutante’s Handbook in 2002 and Absurdistan four years later, Gary Shteyngart has deployed satire and humor to illuminate the human condition in our times. He followed those two novels with his first venture into dystopia, Super Sad True Love Story. Now...
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Mysteries & Thrillers Tuesday includes my latest mystery and thriller book review,
with links to other science fiction content.
Nonfiction Wednesday includes my latest nonfiction book review,
with links to other nonfiction content.
The Weekly includes summaries and links to all the previous week’s three to five book reviews, including some that don’t appear in any of the other newsletters.
Mysteries & Thrillers Tuesday includes my latest mystery and thriller book review, with links to other science fiction content.
Nonfiction Wednesday includes my latest nonfiction book review, with links to other nonfiction content.
The Weekly includes summaries and links to all the previous week’s three to five book reviews, including some that don’t appear in any of the other newsletters.