Halting State, by Charles Stross

While not exactly 1984, Halting State is set in a near future where the public is under constant surveillance. Cameras are ubiquitous in society: every corner of every street, on all forms of public transit, and between cell phones, smart glasses and wearable cameras, on virtually every person as well. Massively multiplayer online games are as much a staple of life as television is today and allows scrutiny of online behavior, and the role of the police has largely been reduced to reviewing video surveillance to enforce the law. People not only accept this level of vigilance as a matter of course, but have become utterly dependent on it. Sounds like an ACLU nightmare, but an entirely believable future nonetheless.

The mystery is around a supposedly impossible crime: a bank in cyberspace has been robbed. During the investigation a larger conspiracy is uncovered that revolves around international espionage and a next-level breakthrough in cryptography. A fairly pedestrian story, but set in this pseudo-dystopian future it becomes fascinating—a can't-put-down novel.

First Sentence:

It's a grade four, dammit.

George Washington's Secret Six, by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger

This is a pretty interesting book about the Culper Spy Ring which was active in New York during the American Revolution. I didn't know much about the ring other than through pop culture references in Y: The Last Man and White Collar and quite enjoyed learning more about it, and the major impact on the war the spies brought about. The biggest (but not only) coup the ring accomplished was providing key intelligence that eventually prevented Benedict Arnold from turning West Point over to the British. Truly fascinating.

This is an easy read, with short chapters and just over 200 pages written at maybe a middle-school level. There is a lot of dialog here, capturing conversations between characters that couldn't possibly be known today, making this an odd blend of fiction and non-fiction. Overall this certainly gets a thumbs up as a basic introduction to the Culper Ring, and a good set of references in the back for digging in further.

First Sentence:

The execution of Nathan Hale on September 22, 1776, was the lowest point in a month of low points for General George Washington.

Jackdaws, by Ken Follett

Set in World War II in the week before D-Day, this is an uneven espionage story about an all-female group of Allied saboteurs. Only two characters—the main heroine, Flick, and the main villain, Dieter—get any degree of depth; the rest are cardboard cutouts that fill a role: the ditzy aristocrat, the gutsy gypsy, the perceptive boyfriend, the sadistic torturer, the dense Gestapo Major, and so on. The action takes place over ten days (minus a short afterward that gives the happy ending), and during that time Flick shows an unbelievable array of traits: loving, faithful wife that suddenly takes a new lover, heartless leader yet compassionate trainer, and stalwart soldier to cold-blooded executioner. A quick read and a rollicking story, but shallow characterization and an over-accelerated plot keep this from being memorable.

First Sentence:

One minute before the explosion, the square at Sainte-Cécile was at peace.

The Secret Agent, by Joseph Conrad

For a book considered to be one of the first and greatest espionage thrillers, it was murder getting to the end. The writing is stilted and overblown, and I often had to reread passages to make sense of them. "Mrs. Neale was the charwoman of Brett Street. Victim of her marriage with a debaucher joiner, she was oppressed by the needs of many infant children. Red-armed, and aproned in coarse sacking up to the arm-pits, she exhaled the anguish of the poor in a breath of soap-suds and rum, in the uproar of scrubbing, in the clatter of tin pails." Not an easy read.

The plot follows a somewhat incompetent agent provocateur that is playing both sides—talking to the police and working for an anarchist cell. He is forced into an act of insurrection that goes awry and tragedy strikes. I suspect that there are some insightful conclusions that can be drawn with modern terrorism and national security, but frankly I had such a difficult time getting through the superficial story that I was uninterested in looking any deeper. Disappointing.

First Sentence:

Mr. Verloc, going out in the morning, left his shop nominally in charge of his brother-in-law.

Agents of Treachery, edited by Otto Penzler

I like anthologies. Not being one of the many e-book enthusiasts, I usually have a book of short stories stashed in my truck so I have something to read when unexpectedly stuck somewhere. Agents of Treachery appealed to me because of both the subject matter (I love spy thrillers) and one of the authors is one of my favorites: Lee Child. Overall, this was a solid set of stories well worth my time.

While Child's name on the cover was a draw, his story Section 7(A) (Operational) was the weakest of the bunch. It concerned the formation of a black ops team, but came off as simply eight pages of character introductions. James Grady's Destiny City was better, showing how a terrorist cell is tracked in today's world. Andrew Klavan's Sleeping with My Assassin and David Morrell's The Interrogator were other highlights, but Joseph Finder's Neighbors was my favorite with an Arlington Road vibe. Good stuff.

First Sentence (from the Introduction):

The international thriller is one of the most successful literary genres in the world, its primary oractitioners becoming household names, insofar as any author's level of fame can compete with an entertainer, sports figure, or world-class criminal.

The Shadow Patrol, by Alex Berenson

Spies, drugs, and terrorists in a war torn Afghanistan. Not exactly original, and Berenson does nothing to make this his own. A plodding plot and uninspired characters makes this an extremely average book—more of a cartoon than a thriller. I found this book in the pocket of an airliner; it made for a passable read on the plane but I'm very glad I didn't pay for it.

First Sentence:

Growing up in the scrubland of west Texas, Ricky Fowler had done some stupid things.

Code to Zero, by Ken Follett

A man wakes up in Washington D.C. in a public toilet with no memory. He is dressed like a bum and smells like he's been on a bender. He doesn't know his name but discovers he is remarkably skillful at spy craft and staying alive while being chased. If this sounds a lot like The Bourne Identity then you are right—except for without the compelling characters and exciting plot. One dimensional and trite, this is a huge disappointment from a talented writer like Follett. Don't read this—go pick up his Pillars of the Earth instead.

First Sentence:

He woke up scared.

The Execution Channel, by Ken Macleod

In a world right around the corner from ours, our leaders have seemingly stopped the pretense of serving for the greater good and use lies and torture as a matter of course. The Internet is even more prevalent than today, with many WikiLeaks-style sites, some real and some designed for misinformation. There is a cable station on every network broadcasting executions 24 hours a day, both legitimizing and making normal death as an accepted form of governing. When Scotland experiences a nuclear bombing, who can you trust?

Part Nineteen Eighty-Four and part V for Vendetta, MacLeod tells of a dark future, but not an impossible one. While clearly anti-conservative, the author neatly sidesteps being pigeonholed as a leftist by having Gore win the 2000 election and launch a pre-emptive strike on Afghanistan (partly due to bad intelligence, but possibly also as a way of driving up oil prices to stave off global warming) causing Bin Laden to become a martyr and 9/11 becomes a response to Gore’s warfare rather than coming out of the clear blue sky. Regardless of the instigating actions, people cede more and more authority to government resulting in the beginnings of a police state—clearly an allegory for what is happening in our world today. This is an angry book warning of the dangers of our current course, but also tells an entertaining story along the way.

First Sentence:

The day it happened Travis drove north.

James Bond: The Union Trilogy, by Raymond Benson

I’d read a few of Benson’s James Bond novels before (most notably The Facts of Death where 007 visits Austin and has dinner at Chuy’s) so when I found this compilation of High Time to Kill, Doubleshot, and Never Dream of Dying on a bargain table, how could I resist? I do think Bond stories come off better on the big screen than on paper (unlike Ludlum), but these three form a loose trilogy that fit well together. The Union is a terrorist organization that MI6 fights throughout, taking the place of SMERSH and SPECTRE in the Fleming novels. Bond fights them with his usual humor and ruthlessness, teaming up with Rene Mathis and his father-in-law from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Marc-Ange Draco. The main antagonist was typically over the top, possessing a Daredevil-like ESP, but entertaining as only a Bond villain can be. Of course 007 prevails in the end, but not without leaving a trail of sex and death in his wake.

There is also a satisfying short story, “Blast From the Past” included in this book, telling the ultimate fate of Irma Bunt from the novels On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and You Only Live Twice. Often I think Bond is more effective when seen in a short story rather than a full novel, and this was no exception. I can’t shake the feeling I’d read this before somewhere, but still loved it.

First Sentence of High Time to Kill:

The barracuda surprised them by opening its jaws to an angle of ninety degrees, revealing the sharp rows of teeth that were capable of tearing out chunks of flesh in an instant.

First Sentence of Doubleshot:

The Convent’s Security Officer gasped when he saw what came up on the computer screen.

First Sentence of Never Dream of Dying:

A tiny bead of sweat appeared at the commandant’s right temple and lingered there, waiting for the moment when it would drop off and trickle down the man’s high, scarred cheekbone.

The Book of Fate, by Brad Meltzer

I am familiar with Meltzer from his work in comics such as Identity Crisis and Justice League and was looking forward to this. With the Masonic square and compass on the cover and the blurb on the back discussing a two-hundred-year-old secret I was expecting another DaVinci Code. I didn't get it. Don't get me wrong, this was a good story, but the Freemason angle didn't really factor into this—a bit of false advertising.

The plot is set in the world of post-office Presidential politics, and Meltzer clearly did his research. The details of how a former President lives and works had a very authentic feel; in an interview he tells of the access he was granted by Bush and Clinton to create this reality. It was a fascinating glimpse into this world that made me want to learn more about life-after-office. In any case, the story was pretty complicated, including a conspiracy, a guy once thought dead suddenly reappearing, a secret cabal of spies, and a plucky reporter. Like most frenetically paced novels, there are several plot holes and clues that fall into place a bit too easily, but there was enough action to keep it interesting. I thought the ending was somewhat predictable (although I admit I wasn't sure how the escaped lunatic thread was going to work out) but well worth the time.

First Sentence:

Six minutes from now, one of us would be dead.

Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy, by Lindsay Moran

This struck me as a candid, inside look at the CIA. The book is divided loosely into two parts, the first detailing the training of an agent and the second describing the author’s posting to central Europe. The over arching theme is one of regret: Moran is constantly having second thoughts about whatever she happens to be doing at the time. The blurb on the back cover calls this a “searing indictment of the CIA” but I don’t agree. I found this to be an honest portrayal of a woman that finds herself in the wrong profession. Yes, there is a heavy dose of disgruntlement with the excessive bureaucracy, but that is endemic of all government agencies—not just the CIA.

The difference between a memoir and an autobiography is how much of ones self goes into the writing. The intensely personal nature of this work puts it firmly in the memoir category.

First Sentence:

I am in a medical laboratory at the Central Intelligence Agency, waiting to pee in a cup.

Money for Nothing, by Donald E. Westlake

Second book in a row by Westlake that was ridiculous. This one features an unintentional spy, a guy that cashed checks which later blackmailed him into betraying his country. As unbelievable as that sounds, it gets worse. The victim goes along with the plot because he is afraid either 1. nobody will believe him, or 2. the $80,000 collected over seven years will make him look guilty. Never mind that the two reasons contradict each other. When given the chance to escape, he doesn’t take it because he’d rather stop the bad guys—even though he knows they intend to kill him when everything is over. Utterly silly. I don’t think I’ll be reading much by Westlake in the future.

First Sentence:

When the first check came in, Josh Redmont, who was then twenty-seven, had no idea what it was for.

The Bourne Legacy, by Eric Van Lustbader

I loved the original trilogy by Ludlum, so when I saw this I picked it up. While not as bad as the books that were released after he died, it wasn’t fantastic either. When a author scripts someone else’s characters, comparisons are always invited. Van Lustbader neatly avoids this by either killing off or sending into hiding the regulars we’ve met in the preceding books except for Jason Bourne himself. While understandable, it was a bummer—I liked many of those guys.

A central theme of all the Bourne books has been mistaken or missing identity, and this one follows suit. A bit clichéd here, though; Bourne is framed for murders he didn’t commit and then encounters another assassin who claims to be his son. There was no mystery or surprise about the filial revelation which took a lot of the fun out of it. Other minor identity questions pop up throughout as well; Bourne meets a couple of different people that he recognizes but due to his fragmented memory doesn’t know why. Of course, all is eventually explained and every mystery is tied up with a bow.

The plot was interesting, but had holes through which you could drive a truck. For instance, at one point Bourne had narrowly escaped detection and his pursuers were leaving the apartment building where he’d been hiding. Instead of waiting five minutes for them to drive off, he roars out of the garage on a motorcycle, is spotted, and the chase is on. This from someone that is usually smarter than everyone else on the planet? Hmmm. All in all, this read more like an action movie than a novel. It didn’t suck, but is wasn’t up to par with the other Bourne books.

First Sentence:

David Webb, professor of linguistics at Georgetown University, was buried beneath a stack of ungraded term papers.

The Bureau and the Mole, by David A Vise

This is a biography of two people: Robert Hanssen, a man that provided highly-classified secrets to the Russians for over 20 years, and Louis Freeh, the FBI Director that caught him. While a captivating story, I found it to be a fairly pedestrian read. It felt more like a novelization of a movie-of-the-week instead of an examination of what makes someone a traitor. The book was light on details, only scratching the surface of the interesting points of espionage: procedures and trade craft and the effects of the information sold. Instead, we get volumes of quotations from Hanssen’s pornography writings (including an entire appendix) that can only be considered gratuitous. It was pretty interesting, but I prefer more depth in a biography.

First Sentence:

Ever since his childhood days in the Norwood Park neighborhood of Chicago, Bob Hanssen had been something of a loner.