By George Smiley, as told to Chat GPT As a former spy, I know all too well the toll that stress and danger can take on one's health. In my line of work, I've had to deal with everything from betrayals and infidelities to high-stakes espionage and assassination attempts. But through it all, I've managed …
Category: MI6

The Secret Hours – Cover and description revealed
More information and a US cover for The Secret Hours have arrived. Here's the latest book description via Amazon - Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, an auditing of the British Secret Service “to investigate historical over-reaching.” Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 …
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The Secret Hours – New Mick Herron book title revealed!
Just as we are seeing the release of Herron’s holiday themed short story Standing by the Wall and with season two of SLOW HORSES right around the corner, we have a glimpse of Herron’s next book - The Secret Hours. Here’s the description from Amazon - Monochrome is a busted flush - an inquiry into …
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Conspirator by Humphrey Slater – The first Cold War novel?
I’ve always been fascinated with the history of the cold war spy novel. I had previously considered Atomsk, released in 1949 and written by Carmichael Smith, the first but it appears to only be the first US Cold War novel. The UK’s Humphrey Slater wrote Conspirator and beat Atomsk by a year. Conspirator follows a …
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Letters of le Carré – News
After being teased by Nick Harkaway, one of le Carré's sons, during book events surrounding the release of Silverview we now have additional details on a book of John le Carré/David Cornwell correspondence. The book, currently titled A Private Spy: The Letters of John le Carré, 1945-2020, has a UK release date of November 3rd, …

New le Carré in October 2021 – Silverview
Surprising news broke this morning that a final complete novel from John le Carré would be published in October titled Silverview. According to his agent Jonny Geller, via The Guardian, le Carré had been working on the novel on and off before The Pigeon Tunnel and had recently completed it, giving permission for its publication …

Mick Herron’s Slough House – What to read next?
I’ve recently been asked a couple of times for authors I would recommend to read after folks have finished all the Slough House novels and novellas. My first suggestion would be to make sure you’ve read some of Herron’s other novels, like Down Cemetery Road, Reconstruction, Nobody Walks and even This is What Happened. If …
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Quiller – The TV show
I’ve spread the word elsewhere but passing on the word to all you Quiller fans. Although it's been rumored to have been lost forever, a Michael Jayston fan has uploaded all thirteen episodes of the Quiller TV series to YouTube! The show has been slightly shrouded in mystery as it has been seen since it …

John le Carré passes away at age 89
This is a hard one. In a year that has seen many, many losses, for lovers of literature, the loss of David Cornwell aka John le Carré is a difficult one to handle. Jonny Geller, his agent and friend, posted this note as well as a note from le Carré's family. https://twitter.com/JonnyGeller/status/1338239733638508547 On a personal …

The Tempus Project by Antony Johnston – Review
Antony Johnston introduced us to his new spy, Brigitte Sharp, in The Exphoria Code. Sharp is an elite hacker who also has the special training that allows her to go into the field on special missions. The first book took his hero on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. Ups: She got to …
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