Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. We are here to recap episode 8 the season finale of the show Down Cemetery Road. We talk all about this season ender. Bus frustrations! Multiple gun standoffs! Church fires! Plus we discuss all those endings, Chekhov's grenade and …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Down Cemetery Road Season 1 Episode 8 – Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. I've got a special Down Cemetery Road interview episode for you. I was lucky enough to get some time with both Fehinti Balogun who plays Amos and Darren Boyd who plays C. I thought both were really fascinating conversations …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Down Cemetery Road Interviews – Fehinti Balogun and Darren Boyd
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. We are here to recap episode 7 of the show Down Cemetery Road. I welcome Matthew Bradford back to the show. We talk about whether Amos is more Jason Bourne or Michael Meyers. Plus we discuss those great locations, …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Down Cemetery Road Season 1 Episode 7 – Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. We are here to recap episode 6 of the show Down Cemetery Road. We talk about the joys of train travel, boat travel and helicopter travel. Plus we discuss why this episode would not be sponsored by the Scottish …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Down Cemetery Road Season 1 Episode 6 – Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. The links to donate to Literally Healing are tinyurl.com/teame25 for the amazon wishlist of books and tinyurl.com/giveteame for a monetary donation. We are here to recap episode 5 of the show Down Cemetery Road. I’m joined by computer expert …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Down Cemetery Road Season 1 Episode 5 – Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. We are here to recap episode 4 of the show Down Cemetery Road. We talk about the pluses and minuses of juggling, whether Amos and Axel grew up as theater kids and proper neighbor etiquette. Plus we discuss nosey …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Down Cemetery Road Season 1 Episode 4 – Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. We are here to recap episode 3 of the show Down Cemetery Road. We talk about whether assassins make the best handymen, proper crime scene clean up and the best way to view CCTV. Plus we discuss dinners with …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Down Cemetery Road Season 1 Episode 3 – Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. This episode I have an interview with Nick Mohammed who plays Mayor Jaffrey on SLOW HORSES. We talk about his playing a politician on show and why we're interested in spies behaving badly. Plus what's it like joining the …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Nick Mohammed Interview and Season 5 wrap-up
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. We are here to recap all the action in the new series Down Cemetery Road based on the book by Mick Herron. I'm pleased to welcome back Keir Graff to talk all the action and changes from the book …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Down Cemetery Road Season 1 Episode 1 and 2 – Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. Welcome back as we look at season finale of season 5 of SLOW HORSES. I'm pleased to welcome back Matthew Bradford to the show for his traditional role of clean up man on the finale episode of the season. …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Season 5 Episode 6 – Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. This episode I have an interview with Hiba Bennani who plays Tara on SLOW HORSES. We talk about this season and the surprising turn we see in episode 5. Plus how she integrated into the cast and that nightclub …
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. Welcome back as we look at season 5 episode 5 of SLOW HORSES. I'm pleased to welcome author and podcaster Keir Graff to the show to talk through this penultimate episode of the season. We talk about track suits, …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Season 5 Episode 5 – Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. Welcome back as we look at season 5 episode 4 of SLOW HORSES. I'm pleased to welcome back author Frank Sennett to the show to break down everything we saw in this episode. We talk about a the proper …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Season 5 Episode 4 – Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. This episode I have an interview with James Callis who plays Claude Whelan on SLOW HORSES. We talk about this season and Claude's role as First Desk, Claude's wife and his inability to take control. We also get into …
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. Welcome back as we look at season 5 episode 3 of SLOW HORSES. I'm pleased to welcome back Gary to the show to break down everything we learned in this episode. We talk about a lockdown that isn’t COVID …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Season 5 Episode 3 – Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. This episode I have an interview with Ruth Bradley who plays Emma Flyte on SLOW HORSES. We talk about this season and Emma's relationship with Diana Taverner. Ruth talks about that epic fight from season four, acting with Christopher …
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. Welcome back as we look at season 5 episode 2 of SLOW HORSES. I'm pleased to welcome back Dr. Mary to the show to break down all the details of this episode. We talk about the Roddy's apartment, that …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Season 5 Episode 2 – Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. This episode I have an interview with Christopher Chung who plays Roddy Ho on SLOW HORSES. We talk about this season and how Roddy is living his best life. Christopher goes into how the collaboration with the many different …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Christopher Chung Interview
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station”. Welcome back as we return to look at season 5 of SLOW HORSES. This season is an adaptation of the Mick Herron novel London Rules. I'm pleased to welcome back Scott Hardy from the SpyHards podcast to the show. …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Season 5 Episode 1 – Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". In this episode we discuss Mick Herron's second novel in the Oxford series, The Last Voice You Hear, with prolific author, Antony Johnston. We start with some spoiler free discussion of the book before getting into the novel's take …
Continue reading Barbican Station – The Last Voice You Hear by Mick Herron – Explored
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Donate to #TeamEvie and the Literally Healing program at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. Go to either TinyURL.com/giveTE for a monetary donation or TinyURL.com/TeamE24, pick a book and make sure to pick Team Evie as the shipping location. …
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Donate to #TeamEvie and the Literally Healing program at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. Go to either TinyURL.com/giveTE for a monetary donation or TinyURL.com/TeamE24, pick a book and make sure to pick Team Evie as the shipping location. …
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Donate to #TeamEvie and the Literally Healing program at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. Go to TinyURL.com/TeamE24, pick a book and make sure to pick Team Evie as the shipping location. I'll have more ways to donate soon, …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season 4 Finale Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Go on a tour of the real locations seen in SLOW HORSES. Go to https://www.squaremilesecrets.com/slow-horses and enter the coupon code SLOUGH for 20% off your tour. We are back to break down all the excitement of the season four …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season 4 Episode 5 Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Go on a tour of the real locations seen in SLOW HORSES. Go to https://www.squaremilesecrets.com/slow-horses and enter the coupon code SLOUGH for 20% off your tour. We are back to break down all the excitement of the season four …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season 4 Episode 4 Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Go on a tour of the real locations seen in SLOW HORSES. Go to https://www.squaremilesecrets.com/slow-horses and enter the coupon code SLOUGH for 20% off your tour. We are back to break down all the excitement of the season four …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season 4 Episode 3 Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". We are back with a special treat for all the SLOW HORSES fans - a interview with Gary Oldman about the latest season. We get into his showdown with David Cartwright that's been building since season one and how …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Gary Oldman on SLOW HORSES Season 4
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Go on a tour of the real locations seen in SLOW HORSES. Go to https://www.squaremilesecrets.com/slow-horses and enter the coupon code SLOUGH for 20% off your tour. We are back to break down all the excitement of the season four …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season 4 Episodes 1 and 2 Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Go on a tour of the real locations seen in SLOW HORSES. Go to https://www.squaremilesecrets.com/slow-horses and enter the coupon code SLOUGH for 20% off your tour. This episode is a review of the book Spook Street, which this season …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Preview – SPOOK STREET Review
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". This week we are back to talk about Mick Herron's latest book - The Secret Hours! I’m pleased to welcome The Sunday Times Senior Political Commentator Tim Shipman to the show. In the first half of the show we …
Continue reading Barbican Station – The Secret Hours by Mick Herron – Review with Tim Shipman
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Donate to Room to Read here or share the link - http://tinyurl.com/spiesread We're back to discuss the third season finale of the Apple TV Plus adaptation of Mick Herron's Slow Horses titled Footprints. This episode guest Matthew Bradford returns …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season Three Finale Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Donate to Room to Read here or share the link - http://tinyurl.com/spiesread We're back to discuss fifth episode of the third season of the Apple TV Plus adaptation of Mick Herron's Slow Horses titled Cleaning Up. This episode author …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season Three Episodes 5 Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Donate to Room to Read here or share the link - http://tinyurl.com/spiesread We're back to discuss fourth episode of the third season of the Apple TV Plus adaptation of Mick Herron's Slow Horses titled Uninvited Guests. We talk about …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season Three Episodes 4 Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Donate to Room to Read here or share the link - http://tinyurl.com/spiesread We're back to discuss third episode of the third season of the Apple TV Plus adaptation of Mick Herron's Slow Horses titled Negotiating with Tigers. We talk …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season Three Episodes 3 Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Donate to Room to Read here or share the link - http://tinyurl.com/spiesread We're back to discuss the premiere of the third season of the Apple TV Plus adaptation of Mick Herron's Slow Horses. We talk about the mini movie …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season Three Episodes 1 and 2 Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". The le Carré Cast - https://lecarrecast.com/ Frank Sennett joins the show to talk about political thrillers and Mick Herron and John le Carré. We talk about US versus UK spy novels, Matt Helm, and favorite Herron and le Carré …
Continue reading Secret And Beyond – Political Thrillers with Frank Sennett
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 …
Continue reading The Secret Hours – Cover and description revealed
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Donate to Room to Read here or share the link - http://tinyurl.com/spiesread We're back to discuss the finale of the second season of the Apple TV Plus adaptation of Mick Herron's Slow Horses - Old Scores. We talk about …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season Two Finale Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Donate to Room to Read here or share the link - http://tinyurl.com/spiesread We're back to discuss the fifth episode of the second season of the Apple TV Plus adaptation of Mick Herron's Slow Horses - Boardroom Games. We talk …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season Two Episode 5 Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Donate to Room to Read here or share the link - http://tinyurl.com/spiesread We're back to discuss the fourth episode of the second season of the Apple TV Plus adaptation of Mick Herron's Slow Horses - Ciacada. We talk about …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season Two Episode 4 Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Donate to Room to Read here or share the link - http://tinyurl.com/spiesread We're back to discuss the third episode of the second season of the Apple TV Plus adaptation of Mick Herron's Slow Horses. We talk about bike safety, …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season Two Episode 3 Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Donate to Room to Read here or share the link - http://tinyurl.com/spiesread We're back to discuss the first and second episodes of the second season of the Apple TV Plus adaptation of Mick Herron's Slow Horses. We talk about …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season Two Premiere Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". I talk with guest Matthew Bradford about Mick Herron's latest short story - Standing By The Wall. This story is a crucial follow up to both Slough House and Bad Actors and fans of River and Roddy won't want …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Standing By The Wall by Mick Herron Review and more
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". This week we are back to talk all things Bad Actors! I’m pleased to welcome Slate Book and Culture critic Laura Miller. In the first half of the show we stay spoiler free of Bad Actors as we talk …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Bad Actors by Mick Herron – Review with Laura Miller
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 …
Continue reading The Secret Hours – New Mick Herron book title revealed!
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". I talk with previous guests Matthew Bradford and Dr. Mary Quest about their guesses for what we might see in Mick Herron's next Slough House book - Bad Actors. My post on the top burning questions ahead of Bad …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Burning Questions ahead of Bad Actors
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". We talk about the sixth and final episode of the first season of the new Apple TV Plus adaptation of Slow Horses. In the first part we talk about impressions of the first few episodes before taking a break …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Season Finale Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Catch up on episode five before the sixth and final episode of the first season drops of the new Apple TV Plus adaption of Slow Horses. In the first part we talk about impressions of the first few episodes …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Fifth Episode Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Catch up on episode four before the fifth episode drops as we continue to discuss the new Apple TV Plus adaption of Slow Horses. In the first part we have some updates and impressions of the first few episodes …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Fourth Episode Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". Catch up on episode three before the forth episode drops as we continue to discuss the third episode of the new Apple TV Plus adaption of Slow Horses. In the first part we discuss impressions of the first couple …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Third Episode Recap
Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under "Barbican Station". In this episode we discuss the premiere of the new Apple TV Plus adaption of Slow Horses. The first part is spoiler free before we take a break and come back to talk in depth about the first and …
Continue reading Barbican Station – SLOW HORSES Premiere/Second Episode Recap
In this episode we discuss Mick Herron's novel Reconstruction. Although the book is a standalone, there are a striking number of connections to the Slough House series, both in cross over characters and stylistically. We talk generally about the book before diving into spoiler territory for what I consider essential reading for any Herron fan. …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Reconstruction by Mick Herron – Episode 13
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 …
Continue reading Conspirator by Humphrey Slater – The first Cold War novel?
In this episode we give some updates on Barbican Station, the Slow Horses AppleTV+ show, Bad Actors - the eighth book in the series and give some hints of what to expect in Barbican Station "Season Two"! We'll be back in a couple weeks with a discussion on Mick Herron's short fiction collection - Dolphin …
I’m pleased to welcome guest writer Jeff Gelb to the site for this interview with author Robert Randisi. ROBERT RANDISI REFLECTS ON HIS NICK CARTER NOVELS By Jeff Gelb I was very fortunate to be a child of the 1960s. I grew up in the era when the Beatles changed the face of music forever, when the Marvel Universe …
Continue reading Robert Randisi on his Nick Carter novels – Interview
I’m pleased to welcome guest Dick Woodgate to the site for the below book review. ‘I don’t like killing, but I’m good at it.’A Kill in the Morning by Graeme Shimmin As opening lines go, it’s a good one by any standard. It’s memorable too – I read Graeme Shimmin’s novel, A Kill in the Morning a few years ago now, yet I didn’t need …
UPDATE: Both US and UK covers for Bad Actors have now been released. The book will be released via John Murrays new thriller imprint Baskerville. We see some slight adjustments from the style we've seen for the past several books. The US cover via Soho Press stays simliar to what we've seen previously. The book …
In this episode we take a look at the latest book with the slow horses, Slough House, with guest Professor Penny Fielding. We discuss what people will think of the books in 20 years, how this book is similar to Slow Horses and that ending. All that and more in this episode. Find Penny Fielding …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Slough House – Episode 11
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 …
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 …
Continue reading Mick Herron’s Slough House – What to read next?
We have some news about upcoming Mick Herron releases book releases. December 7th will live in infamy for being the date Mick Herron’s short story collection Dolphin Junction will be released, according to Amazon US and UK. The description says - CWA Gold and Steel Dagger-winner Mick Herron's short fiction, collected for the first time. …
In this episode we conclude our two parter with a look a the Slough House novella, The Catch, and the short story, The Last Dead Letter, with returning guest Matthew Bradford. We discuss whether whether Di Taverner is like Mission: Impossible's Jim Phelps, get into determinism vs. free will and what effect the TV show …
Continue reading Barbican Station – The Catch and The Last Dead Letter – Episode 10
In this episode we take a look at two of the Slough House novellas, The List and The Drop, with guest Matthew Bradford. We discuss whether there's a sadder sack than John Bachelor, what the worst thing Herron has done to one of his characters and Matthew shares a piece of Hollywood advice he got …
Continue reading Barbican Station – The List and The Drop – Episode 9
Listen to Barbican Station, our podcast dedicated to the slow horses, here or in all podcast apps. From the opening pages of Slow Horses, it's been something all spy fans have wondered. Where is Slough House located at? Herron gave a rather detailed description and from that and a little Google mapping, on my visit …
In this episode we change things up with a look at some burning questions ahead of the release of the seventh book in the series, Slough House, with guests Shane Whaley and Matthew Bradford. We discuss who's in our Dead Pool, who might rise from the dead and what the political situation of the Slough …
Continue reading Barbican Station – Slough House Burning Questions – Episode 8
Very minor spoilers below. What do you do when that thing from your past you’ve moved on from, or at least tried to bury deep inside, comes back? Do you embrace it? Reject it? Run from it as fast as possible? Perhaps all of the above and more. That’s part of what River and the …
In this episode I take a closer look at the sixth book in the Slough House series, Joe Country, with guest Shane Whaley of the Spybrary podcast. We discuss working conditions for mercenaries, Jackson Lamb's toenails, and most importantly, Wales! We also talk about Peter Johnson, or is that Boris Judd? Plus Shane gives us …
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 …
In this episode I take a closer look at the fifth book in the Slough House series, London Rules, with guest Ayo Onatade. We talk about British politicians, whether Slough House should switch to an open office plan, hackers with girlfriends, and the high death toll in Slough House. Plus a special treat, Ayo's recommendation …
Continue reading Barbican Station – London Rules – Episode 6
In honor of the 10th anniversary of the release of Slow Horses in 2010 Soho Press has put out an updated edition of the paperback edition with new cover art, a new preface written by Mick Herron, a list of discussion questions and a short story previously unreleased in the United States. The cover art …
Over the course of the Slough House series, there have been a number of plot threads that have been left open for future stories. Below are some of the ones I’m most interested in seeing addressed. Warning - Spoilers ahead for all books in the series! Sid Baker - One of the most shocking reveals …
Continue reading Top 9 Burning Questions going in to Slough House
These were released a couple of months ago, but still worth highlighting. Book seven of the series is titled Slough House, I'm guessing to coordinate with the, now COVID delayed, TV series. No major redesign to the covers on offer. Publisher John Murray makes a minor adjustment by adding a splash of color to their …
I guest hosted a couple of recent episodes of the Spybrary podcast that I thought folks might want to check out.
I posted previously about the book description for the next book in Mick Herron's Slough House series and it looks like it might now have a title. According to Amazon and Barnes and Noble the next book is titled - Slough House. It's a title that's appropriately full circle from the first novel Slow Horses, …
Charles McCarry, who passed away this past February at the age of 88, wrote what might be the most intriguing and enjoyable spy novels ever in his first novel The Miernik Dossier. The 1973 book is in the epistolary format, told through 89 different documents that make up the file looking at the suspected Polish …
Continue reading The Miernik Dossier by Charles McCarry – Review
My regular posts have been a bit more sporadic of late as I've been working on a couple of special projects. First was hosting a two part podcast panel on Spybrary looking at Adam Hall's famous spy creation - Quiller. This resulted in a fair bit of research as I reread a bunch of the …
The Mick Herron news continues! On the heels of the announcement of a tv adaption of the Slough House series, Slow Horses, details of a new novella have been released. News first appeared on twitter and a full description of the book can now be found on Amazon. The Catch is described as follows - …
Continue reading The Catch by Mick Herron – a Slough House novella coming soon
Over time many authors have sung the praises of the Quiller books. I found authors as varied as a spy novelist who writes from a Christian perspective to a writer of Florida based pulp novels. I found quite a few examples of writers expressing their admiration online. Among them was Shane Black screenwriter of Lethal …
Night Heron by Adam Brookes is a spy novel with China as its focus. It manages to pull off the hat trick of teaching you something new, creating realistic characters and being a thrilling adventure. The story follows the stories of three people caught up in the web of modern espionage. The first is Peanut, …
Publishers are always looking to refresh the backlist of authors and sell more copies. In the 70’s the beautiful painted book covers went out of fashion and photo covers came into vogue. The UK publisher Fontana had paperback rights to many of the well known thriller writers of the time like Desmond Bagley, Alastair Maclean, …
I've read a few spy related books recently and thought I'd offer a quick round up of some recent releases. The Bayern Agenda - Dan Moren I've always thought that spies and scifi can be a good fit. By setting your book in the far future you can play with some of the spy tropes without …
I was recently asked to write about various filming locations used in film adaptions of John le Carré movies by Discovery, the in flight magazine for Cathay Pacific Airlines. It was fun to hit some of the highlights, even if I couldn't touch on of his film adaptations as well as see it translated into …
Continue reading Filming locations of John le Carré adaptations
In addition to spies, I'm very much a political junkie. For those who are aware of his work that should make it no surprise that the writer Ross Thomas is one of my favorite authors. Although he rose to prominence with a spy story - his first book The Cold War Swap which he banged …
Continue reading Ross Thomas rarities – Brown Paper and Some String and Spies, Thumbsuckers, Etc.
I'm always on the hunt for new bits of history or trivia about the Circus. I've made a new find and I think you'll find it to be quite the treat. I was digging through some archives at the library and found one of Control's commencement addresses to the graduates of the Sarrett training camp. …
In the history of spy novels, Mick Herron’s Slough House is becoming as memorable a location as le Carré’s spy headquarters the Circus. Compared to London Rules, which took off like an out of control car, Joe Country is a more sedate affair. In a narrative shift from previous books, the first pages reveal that not all of our slow horses will be returning to the stable, leaving a sense of impending doom hanging over all the characters.
The 2002 book Spy’s Fate is one of those novels you’d never discover unless you went into a bookstore. A recommendation by one of the staff and only stocked because of their passion for it, I picked it up on a whim after seeing it several times on visits to a local bookstore called The …
I highlighted the first lines from Eric Ambler and John le Carré novels awhile back and I thought it would be interesting to do something similar for Mick Herron. Will we see any changes or discover heretofore undiscovered trends? Hard as it was, I tried to stick with just the first sentence, although I couldn’t …
It's been over two years but I've laid hands on yet another abridged version of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. We've seen two previous abridged versions, one in a magazine called True and the next in Reader's Digest. Over three issues of Show - The Magazine of the Arts, October through December …
Wilkinson kicks off 2019 right with her excellent novel American Spy.
The Literary Review, a quarterly publication by Fairleigh Dickinson University, dedicated their Winter issue in 2015 to fiction and poems that the editors felt in some way invoked the writings of John le Carré. Minna Proctor, the issue’s editor, refers to the issue as an experiment, and as such, I'd mark it as an interesting …
Publishers are always looking to refresh the backlist of authors and sell more copies. In the 70’s the beautiful painted book covers went out of fashion and photo covers came into vogue. The UK publisher Fontana had paperback rights to many of the well known thriller writers of the time like Desmond Bagley, Alastair Maclean, …
In anticipation of Mick Herron’s US release of London Rules, the fifth book in his Slough House series, I did a re-read of his Slough House related work. Herron's short story/novella The Drop was released a few months after London Rules in the fall of 2018. Read more I've written on Herron and other Slough House …
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Matryoshka Dolls
Kate Atkinson’s latest book Transcription tells the story of fictional spy Juliet Armstrong. She’s an eighteen year old who is recruited to assist with an operation to track German spies in London during WW2. While a colleague reels them in from the apartment next door, she transcribes their recorded conversations. Atkinson jumps between three timelines …
In anticipation of Mick Herron’s US release of London Rules, the fifth book in his Slough House series, I did a re-read of the first four books. London Rules was published after the novel Spook Street. Find a glossary on Slough House terms here and the full list of pieces on the book series here. …
In anticipation of Mick Herron’s US release of London Rules, the fifth book in his Slough House series, I’m doing a re-read of the first four books. Spook Street appeared after the novel Real Tigers in 2017. Read more on other Slough House books here. "First law of Spook Street. Secrets don’t stay secret.” The …
Find even more on the slow horses and the Slough House series here. There is a lot going on in Mick Herron's Slough House books and following the tradition of John le Carré he's created his own spy jargon. As the series continues I thought having a cheat sheet might prove helpful for refreshing memories …
In anticipation of Mick Herron’s US release of London Rules, the fifth book in his Slough House series, I’m doing a re-read of the first four books. The Slough House book Real Tigers was released in 2016 and followed the short story The List and the novels Dead Lions and Nobody Walks. Read more on other …
The Throwaway by Michael Moreci is a spy thriller made for the moment. It’s a fast moving read that jumps right into the story and throws its lead into a situation that quickly spins wildly out of his control. Mark Strain is an on the make Washington D.C. lobbyist with a growing family who is …
The biggest story of last year was the announcement that John le Carré had written a new Smiley novel. Fans of le Carré's all over the world were shocked. Le Carré had seemed to put a button on Smiley with The Secret Pilgrim so every fan is excited about the new novel. As a collector, …
Publishers are always looking to refresh the backlist of authors and sell more copies. In the 70’s the beautiful painted book covers went out of fashion and photo covers came into vogue. The UK publisher Fontana had paperback rights to many of the well known thriller writers of the time like Desmond Bagley, Alastair Maclean, …
Over the past several years author Mark Henshaw has quietly been putting out some of the best modern CIA based espionage novels. Henshaw (currently or formerly, it’s kind of hazy) worked for the CIA as an analyst. While other former Agency employees such as Jason Matthews have gotten the buzz, Henshaw's spy thrillers rival the …
One of my favorite podcasts of recent years was something called "The Riddle of the Sands Adventure Club." Hosted by Lloyd Shepherd and Tim Wright, the podcast and accompanying website did a deep dive into The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers, a book that is arguably the first modern spy novel and what I …
A look at Mick Herron's spy novel, Slow Horses
Publishers are always looking to refresh the backlist of authors and sell more copies. In the 70's the beautiful painted book covers went out of fashion and photo covers came into vogue. The UK publisher Fontana had paperback rights to many of the well known thriller writers of the time like Desmond Bagley, Alastair Maclean, …
Publishers are always looking to refresh the backlist of authors and sell more copies. In the 70's the beautiful painted book covers went out of fashion and photo covers came into vogue. The UK publisher Fontana had paperback rights to many of the well known thriller writers of the time like Desmond Bagley, Alistair MacLean, …
Publishers are always looking to refresh the backlist of authors and sell more copies. In the 70's the beautiful painted book covers went out of fashion and photo covers came into vogue. The UK publisher Fontana had paperback rights to many of the well known thriller writers of the time like Desmond Bagley, Alistair MacLean, …
Publishers are always looking to refresh the backlist of authors and sell more copies. In the 70's the beautiful painted book covers went out of fashion and photo covers came into vogue. The UK publisher Fontana had paperback rights to many of the well known thriller writers of the time like Desmond Bagley, Alastair Maclean, …
Ian Fleming didn't leave to the reader's imagination what James Bond liked to read. Aswritten by Edward Biddulph on the excellent James Bond site -Artistic License Renewed - we can see some of the books Bond perused while off duty. We're not as lucky with other famous fictional spies. That's the idea behind this occasional …
Continue reading Reading Recommendations for Spies – Charlie Muffin
Antony Johnston is best known for his varied work in the comics field. Over the course of his career he’s taken on just about every genre imaginable. With the recent successful adaptation of his and artist Sam Hart's graphic novel The Coldest City (as the movie Atomic Blonde) he’s become known more as a spy …
Publishers are always looking to refresh the backlist of authors and sell more copies. In the 70's the beautiful painted book covers went out of fashion and photo covers came into vogue. The UK publisher Fontana had paperback rights to many of the well known thriller writers of the time like Desmond Bagley, Alistair Maclean, …
More Harm Than Good is Andrew Grant's return to his David Trevellyan spy series after a two year hiatus. His previous novels in the series, Even and Die Twice, were excellent entries into the spy genre. In his latest, gone are the chapter opening observations on spycraft or Trevellyan's past, which I quite enjoyed for …
Finding books that John le Carré has recommended, contributed to or written introductions/forewords to has become something of a passion project for me. In the process of doing this research I came upon its flip side - the fake le Carré blurb scandal. Back in 1991 a writer named Derek Van Arman was involved in a …
I"m back with another addition to my growing list of books le Carré has recommended or blurbed. Catch up with my previous posts - Part one Part two Here are the new additions - The Reason Why by Cecil Woodham-Smith - JlC review - "I’m not sure why I returned to this classic account of one …
Last year I put together a short list of some of my favorite things from the past year. I’ve done it again and here they are in no particular order - A Divided Spy by Charles Cumming - This one is a little selfish. I won a auction to have my name appear in the …
It's the ultimate question for any spy fan. If you were a spy which kind of spy would you be? I've seen a bunch of quizzes for the movies but I thought I'd throw together this one for all the book spy fans. Are you a Smiley, Lemas, Bond or someone else? Give it a …
This is another in my posts on spy tourism. Read other posts in the series here. Located in London, I had marginal expectations for the London Film Museum’s Bond in Motion exhibit. I'm not any sort of huge car guy and as this is an exhibit looking at Bond vehicles, how much am I really …
Ian Fleming didn't leave to the reader's imagination what James Bond liked to read. As written by Edward Biddulph on the excellent James Bond site - Artistic License Renewed - we can see some of the books Bond perused while off duty. We're not as lucky with other famous fictional spies. That's the idea behind …
Continue reading Reading recommendations for spies – Quiller
If you are a spy fan and you are in London, odds are you will want to take a spy tour. I was able to take advantage of many of the ones I found during my recent trip there and wanted to offer a list of the various options. I didn't take a bad one, …
Following up on my previous post about locations in London made famous by John le Carré as haunts of George Smiley, I'm posting some other spots where fictional spies hung out. You can find all of these and more on my fictional spies Google map. Update: Author Mick Herron has confirmed via email that this …
In honor of publication week for A Legacy of Spies I've collected a "best of" list of some of my le Carré posts. I also recommend reading Matthew Bradford's great series of posts looking back at the Smiley series book by book. First, here's my spoiler free review of the new book, A Legacy of …
Over the past few years I've become much more knowledgeable on book collecting then I ever thought I would. As I've fallen down the rabbit hole of collecting books, I've picked up a few tricks and secrets I thought I'd pass along. Please use them for good and not evil. Tip # 1 - Choose …
Wow. After over twenty five years we have a new Smiley book. Something I never thought I'd see happen, has happened. Was it worth going back to the well? I think so. Before we get too far, it's best to set expectations. In truth, A Legacy of Spies is about Peter Guillam, not Smiley. It’s …
Continue reading Non spoiler review: A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré
The Charlie Muffin spy series by a Brian Freemantle is among one of the most underrated spy series. Running sixteen novels over the course of forty years it's followed the trials and tribulations of the working class Muffin as well as the state of Russia from the height of its power in the Cold War …
The first rule of Spy Club. Don't talk about Spy Club. 12 men received the invitation. On an unseasonably cool afternoon at the end of June they made their way across England to a back room of the Savoy Hotel. They came singly or in pairs, pushing through the wooden revolving doors and strolling anonymously …
I've written previously about how much I enjoy Adam Hall's Quiller. In The Berlin Memorandum, released in 1965 and retitled to The Quiller Memorandum in the US. Today I'd like to highlight a few of the signed copies of Quiller books I own. The first edition of the The Berlin Memorandum has a flat red dust …
A few weeks back I wrote about books that John Le Carré has either introduced or recommended. I've found even more Le Carré books that either have a JlC written introduction, blurb or essay. He also recently revealed the three books he had recently been reading. The Rape of a Nation by Marcus Bleasdale - …
For even more of my posts on John le Carré, click here. I recently read A Small Town in Germany by John le Carré and loved it. It's surprisingly maligned by most critics and fans but it’s very readable. The book follows Alan Turner, the Foreign Office cleanup man, as he's sent to the …
Continue reading A Small Town in Germany by John le Carré – An appreciation and rarity
Just before the release of The Honourable Schoolboy, Time published a cover story profile of John Le Carré. If you're too lazy or busy to read Adam Sisman's recent doorstopper of a biography, the Time profile is a very good shortcut. The work of Stefan Kanfer, Dean Fischer and Anne Hopkins, it's a very nice …
My love of spy fiction isn't constrained to prose. There are several graphic novels with an espionage theme that have been able to hold their own with the best of spy novelists. Antony Johnston's duo The Coldest City and The Coldest Winter are two of them. I’ve been a reader of Antony Johnston’s work for …
We finish our discussion with Robert Lance Snyder in advance of the release of his new book, John le Carré's Post-Cold War Fiction. Read part one here. Read part two here. Jeff Quest: I’ve been working on a list of books recommended by le Carré and as a result reading many of the introductions he …
Continue reading John le Carré’s Post-Cold War Fiction – Robert Lance Snyder Interview Part Three
We continue our discussion with Robert Lance Snyder in advance of the release of his new book, John le Carré's Post-Cold War Fiction. Read part one here. Jeff Quest: Le Carré has managed to stay relevant in a way that his other contemporaries still writing, like Frederick Forsyth or Charles McCarry, haven’t. McCarry in particular released a book …
Continue reading John le Carré’s Post-Cold War Fiction – Robert Lance Snyder Interview Part Two
I am pleased to welcome to the blog Dr. Robert Lance Snyder. Dr. Snyder has written the upcoming book John le Carré's Post-Cold War Fiction. I haven't read his book yet, but he has previously written The Art of Indirection in British Espionage Fiction and edited the spy fiction of Paradoxa, both of which I've …
Continue reading John le Carré’s Post-Cold War Fiction – Robert Lance Snyder Interview Part One
Throughout the 1960's Evelyn Byrne, a teacher at a New York public school, wrote well known authors and asked if they would write back with the books that had the biggest impact on them as they were in their teens. She would then print these responses in the school newspaper in hopes that it would …
Here are some of my favorite things I did or discovered in 2016 in no particular order- Slough House series - Mick Herron blew me away with his spy series. I burned through all 5 books in the series in a matter of weeks. I read an advance copy of Spook Street, out early next year …
I wrote at the end of last year about lost spy novels by famous authors. Recently a new book came to light that I am extremely excited for and wanted to make sure readers knew about. Donald Westlake Westlake was a prolific author and has the distinction of creating two iconic crime fiction characters. The …
We left off discussing an abridged version of "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" and I'm back after digging up another one. From 1937 to the present Readers Digest condensed books have been providing shortened versions of the popular fiction of the day. The winter 1964 release saw a collection of four novels.Included …
Licence Expired : The unauthorized James Bond Edited by Madeline Ashby and David Nickle This review is was originally posted on the website Literary 007. This book is the first to explore James Bond outside of the constraints of the officially licensed Bond continuation novels. Currently in Canada rights over written works revert to the …
For more on John le Carré click here. I highlighted the first lines from Eric Ambler's novels a few weeks back and in honor of John le Carré's newest release, The Pigeon Tunnel, I thought it would be interesting to look at his first lines and whether any changes or trends could be discovered. Hard …
In honor of John le Carré's new release, The Pigeon Tunnel, throughout the month of September I'm highlighting some trivia about his past novels. I thought about including this one with the other The Spy Who Came in from the Cold editions in part one but this seemed worthy of a couple posts of it's …
Following up on my previous post about "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," in the next few posts I'll be highlighting some of the odd or rare versions of the book I have. First is a compilation of le Carré's third, fourth, and fifth novels - The Spy Who, A Small town in …
"It's a Wonderful Life" meets the 9/11 report If Susan Hasler’s Intelligence was “24” meets “The Office”, it’s sequel, The Flat Bureaucrat, is “It’s a Wonderful Life” meets the 9/11 report. In case it isn’t readily apparent, that’s a good thing. Hasler’s years as an analyst in the CIA have served her well in her …
In my research on Eric Ambler’s “lost” novel, "Gentleman from Abroad," I saw a few first lines from his previous novels. As I looked through them, I realized that they were a master class in getting your reader interested in your story from the start. Sure there are a couple that aren’t as intriguing as …
Eric Ambler's "lost" novel
Abel Uribe/Chicago TribuneLinking here to a short profile that appeared in the Chicago Tribune book supplement Printers Row a couple years back. They have a weekly feature on various local book lovers and their collection. The story was written by Laura Pearson, @tislaurapearson, and the pictures below are by a great Tribune photographer Abel Uribe. …
Spy out the Land by Jeremy Duns From the book jacket, see below for the review - A time of turbulence 1975. A summit has been arranged between the Rhodesian government and various nationalist leaders, and is due to take place in railway dining car 49, midway along Victoria Falls Bridge. But Matthew Charamba, a key …
The 50th anniversary of the release of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold passed us by a couple of years ago, and I thought I'd post about a few copies of that important piece of spy fiction that I've picked up over the years. In addition, I'll comment on what to look for when …
Continue reading Collecting The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré
One of the ideas that can set a book lover’s mind aflutter is the idea of a “lost” story by one of their favorite authors. This is especially true for fans of espionage fiction. Finding a famous author’s lost gem hit a new high with the release of Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz. This latest …
Continue reading The Spies who Never Were – Lost Manuscripts
Morrell’s The Spy who came for Christmas hits the spot for a book you never knew you needed – the Christmas spy tale. Paul Kagan is an undercover intelligence operative who breaks his cover to save an innocent baby, who just might bring peace to the Middle East. He finds refuge with a mother and son alone on Christmas eve, but his enemies are hot on his trail…
David Morrell follows up on his previous spy novels Brotherhood and Fraternity with this double sequel, The League of Night and Fog. The two protagonists from each of his previous novels, Saul and Drew, team up. The plot mix includes Nazis, ancient Mossad agents, international assassins and, of course, the CIA. The author begins the …
Ok, I'll admit it. Until now I hadn't read the most influential spy novel of the 20th century, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John LeCarre. Now that I have, it's easy to see why it had such a big effect. To discuss the plot too much is to spoil it, but …
Continue reading The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – John LeCarre
When the word “spy” is used in popular culture, it conjures up images of James Bond and ice-cold assassins. The reality is that the majority of modern intelligence work is done in an office cubicle. Hasler, with 20 plus years of experience in the CIA, mines that untapped area with a very funny book that …
Continue reading Intelligence: a novel of the CIA – Susan Hasler
It may be hard for me to fully explain how much I disliked this book, but I'm going to give it a try. It begins with the opening pages when we meet the improbably named hero, Court Gentry, otherwise known as The Gray Man. The Gray Man is a former CIA assassin that was burned …
NPR's Talk of the Nation in 2005 had a interesting interview with a number of former CIA workers that have written spy related fiction and nonfiction. It's well worth a listen - NPR Talk of the Nation - Spy Writers
Picking up with ideas he started to explore in Brotherhood of the Rose, Morrell continues to look at the long term impact a life spent on killing would have on the soul. Can a person find peace and forgiveness when everything they've ever done has caused destruction and pain? Of course, this is all done …
David Morrell, better known as the writer of the novel the first Rambo movie was based on, wrote a spy trilogy in the early 1980s that has just been released in ebook format. The first, Brotherhood of the Rose, follows two orphans that have been raised as brothers and trained to become expert operatives for …
MI-5 - Season Seven Some Spoilers ahead – Read at your own risk I have a love/hate relationship with MI-5, mostly leaning towards hate. The first 2 ½ seasons were great with multiple engaging characters, thrilling cliffhangers and interesting stories about issues relevant to real intelligence officers. Unfortunately, the last 3 ½ seasons have had …
There's something about the first person narrative that can really make a spy novel come alive. I think it's the fact that you are stuck inside the spy's head with all the paranoia that being alone and undercover would require. There was no writer better at this than Adam Hall in his Quiller novels. His spy, codenamed …
When you’re a tie-in novelist, you're always going to lag behind the TV show you are writing about. That’s certainly the case with Tod Goldberg’s The Giveaway, based on the USA show Burn Notice. His book has the unfortunate luck to use Biker gangs and Safety Deposit box robbing, both of which have played large …