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Charles McCarry established an international reputation with the publication of his worldwide bestseller The Tears of Autumn in 1975 and altogether wrote 10 critically acclaimed novels. During the Cold War he was an intelligence officer operating under deep cover in Europe, Africa and Asia.
Maxim Jakubowski's November 2015 Book of the Month. Veteran thriller writer McCarry returns with a poignant spy tale of mixed loyalties, betrayal and the collapse of political idealism in which the conflict between the power of love and revenge anchors a complex plot in reality and fate. Deeply scarred by the CIA's earlier betrayal of his father, a devious but bright American spy determines to get his own back and when he falls hard for the beautiful daughter of a famous Argentinian revolutionary it soon becomes unclear who is manipulating who and where feelings become calculations. The complex tale covers much of the geopolitical struggles in the Middle East and South America of the past decades and quickly transforms into a breathless love story allied with a devious spider's web of a thriller. Adding such a fragile human element to a Le Carre-like deviousness makes this a terribly bittersweet read in which a master storyteller chronicles the secret world and anchors it in a melancholy reality. Like a spear to the heart. ~ Maxim Jakubowski
A fast, easy read of espionage and duplicity featuring a new recruit who may or may not become a double agent for or with the Chinese. You know the sort of thing. It’s all very complicated, secretive and colourful. Set largely in China where the author, an ex-CIA agent, served, it’s tautly written and presumably reasonably authentic. Good fun.
A Maxim Jakubowski selected title.Often seen as the American Le Carre, McCarry is an understated spy thriller writer who seldom puts a foot wrong. Although his new novel does not feature his eponymous Christopher family, it does not disappoint, a jigsaw puzzle involving Chinese intelligence and a murky branch of the US apparatus, in which no characters are black or white or who they appear to first be.
I became a spy because my father before me was a spy. Although I am, for the time being, hiding something from you. In a rose garden in Buenos Aires, a young American spy meets the beautiful daughter of a famous Argentinian revolutionary. They fall in love. But he is no ordinary spy - and she is no ordinary woman. He has a hidden agenda: to avenge his father, who died penniless and friendless on the streets of Washington. And in Luz, he seems to have found an ally. But, as his fate becomes further entwined with hers, he soon finds himself caught in a perilous web of passions, loyalties and lies that stretches back to the darkest days of the Cold War.
I became a spy because my father before me was a spy. Although I am, for the time being, hiding something from you. In a rose garden in Buenos Aires, a young American spy meets the beautiful daughter of a famous Argentinian revolutionary. They fall in love. But he is no ordinary spy - and she is no ordinary woman. He has a hidden agenda: to avenge his father, who died penniless and friendless on the streets of Washington. And in Luz, he seems to have found an ally. But, as his fate becomes further entwined with hers, he soon finds himself caught in a perilous web of passions, loyalties and lies that stretches back to the darkest days of the Cold War.
Earth's wealthiest man attempts to save humanity from an impending apocalypse. The planet's first and only trillionaire, Henry Peel, did not make his fortune by being a fool. A gifted inventor and scientist, he possesses an imagination on the scale of history's greatest thinkers, and he has turned it to the problem of Earth's core. Two decades ago, scientists learned that the core spins faster than the rest of the planet, storing up a cache of energy that, if released, could cause an earthquake that would obliterate human life. To begin mankind anew, Henry Peel is going to lead us to the stars. He gathers the world's leading physicists and engineers and asks them to design a spaceship large enough to safeguard a sample of humanity and durable enough to survive a thousand-year voyage. Money is no object, but time is short. The apocalypse is on its way.
Cool, urbane Paul Christopher is the perfect American agent, currently working in deep cover in the twilight world of international intrigue. But now even he cannot tell good from bad in a maze of double- and triple-cross. As a group of international agents embark on a trip in a Cadillac from Switzerland to the Sudan, Christopher knows that he has to find which one is about to unleash bloody terrorism - and God help everyone if he makes a mistake. Originally published in 1973, this compelling and distinctive thriller was the debut of the widely celebrated Charles McCarry and is the first book to introduce readers to Paul Christopher. Finally back in paperback, 'The Miernik Dossier' will introduce a new generation of readers to the work of one of the great spy novelists.
An American spy in China. Name: Unknown. Status: Sleeper. He's meant to be laying low, polishing his Mandarin and awaiting further instructions from Washington. But Shandhai is a difficult city to sleep in, especially when his nights are taken over by the seductive but enigmatic Mei - a woman with secrets he'd rather not hear. Then he is tasked with a delicate operation. Infiltrate the core of the Chinese intelligence service. Distinguish friend from foe. Report to a single contact at HQ. Trust no one. Tell no one. Pushed out into the cold, in a city of millions he's suddenly very, very alone. But in Shanghai city you're never truly alone. Faceless strangers linger in the shadows, watching your every move. No one is safe from the Guoanbu. Not even a spy with no name...
Earth's wealthiest man attempts to save humanity from an impending apocalypse The planet's first and only trillionaire, Henry Peel, did not make his fortune by being a fool. A gifted inventor and scientist, he possesses an imagination on the scale of history's greatest thinkers, and he has turned it to the problem of Earth's core. Two decades ago, scientists learned that the core spins faster than the rest of the planet, storing up a cache of energy that, if released, could cause an earthquake that would obliterate human life. To begin mankind anew, Henry Peel is going to lead us to the stars. He gathers the world's leading physicists and engineers and asks them to design a spaceship large enough to safeguard a sample of humanity and durable enough to survive a thousand-year voyage. Money is no object, but time is short. The apocalypse is on its way.
Born in squalid London at the turn of the eighteenth century, a girl makes a fresh start in the New WorldFanny's father, Henry Harding, has known Oliver Barebones since the two men were children. Together they survived the Great Plague and the Great Fire, and now they are rich, middle-aged, and unmarried. Everyone's shocked when Oliver, a lifelong bachelor, falls headfirst for a superstitious young girl named Rose. In two days he's decided to marry her. For the Hardings and the Barebones, it will be years before they find such happiness again.Ruin comes to them all in the shape of Alfred Montagu, a cold-hearted moneylender who ensnares them in crushing debt and schemes to marry Fanny. After her father dies, Fanny attempts to take refuge in France. It's not far enough to escape her troubles, so with Oliver and Rose, she departs for a far-off place called Connecticut, dodging Montagu by diving into the teeth of dangers no London girl could ever imagine.
Earth's wealthiest man attempts to save humanity from an impending apocalypseThe planet's first and only trillionaire, Henry Peel, did not make his fortune by being a fool. A gifted inventor and scientist, he possesses an imagination on the scale of history's greatest thinkers, and he has turned it to the problem of Earth's core. Two decades ago, scientists learned that the core spins faster than the rest of the planet, storing up a cache of energy that, if released, could cause an earthquake that would obliterate human life. To begin mankind anew, Henry Peel is going to lead us to the stars.He gathers the world's leading physicists and engineers and asks them to design a spaceship large enough to safeguard a sample of humanity and durable enough to survive a thousand-year voyage. Money is no object, but time is short. The apocalypse is on its way.
The KGB grooms a charming young American to run for presidentAlthough in the mid-1940s no one had ever heard of JFK, Jack Adams's mother insisted her new son be christened John Fitzgerald. Years after his parents' death, Jack learns the reason for his name: a packet of photos showing his mother in bed with young John Kennedy. As a student at Columbia University, Jack demonstrates that he inherited more than JFK's good looks. His irresistible charisma and political instinct make him a natural campus leader, but he has his sights set on something bigger than the student council. Young Jack Adams wants to be president of the United States, and the Soviet Union is prepared to help.A KGB spy named Dmitri recruits Jack, promising him the presidency in exchange for treason. Dmitri guides Jack for decades, putting him in a position to become the largest intelligence coup in historyunless the candidate's libido derails him first.
Earth's wealthiest man attempts to save humanity from an impending apocalypseThe planet's first and only trillionaire, Henry Peel, did not make his fortune by being a fool. A gifted inventor and scientist, he possesses an imagination on the scale of history's greatest thinkers, and he has turned it to the problem of Earth's core. Two decades ago, scientists learned that the core spins faster than the rest of the planet, storing up a cache of energy that, if released, could cause an earthquake that would obliterate human life. To begin mankind anew, Henry Peel is going to lead us to the stars.He gathers the world's leading physicists and engineers and asks them to design a spaceship large enough to safeguard a sample of humanity and durable enough to survive a thousand-year voyage. Money is no object, but time is short. The apocalypse is on its way.
Master spy Paul Christopher is back ... or is he? Charles McCarry is considered by many to be the master of world-class spy fiction, garnering praise from peers and critics alike for his riveting novels. Christopher Buckley wrote that McCarry "e;is not only one of the best writers in America but one of the most important. He dazzles, from epigraph to epilogue,"e; and the Los Angeles Times hailed his work as "e;first rate, in the tradition of the best espionage fiction, John Buchan to Eric Ambler and John le Carre."e; In this magnificent novel, Charles McCarry returns to the world of his legendary character Paul Christopher-the savvy intelligence agent as skilled at choosing a fine wine as he is at tradecraft, at once sophisticated and dangerous, and no stranger to the world of dirty tricks. Now Paul Christopher has mysteriously disappeared. Months pass, and a memorial service is held for him in Washington. But a group of his retired colleagues-the "e;Old Boys"e; from the Outfit-refuse to believe Christopher is dead. Led by Christopher's cousin Horace, the Old Boys embark on a thrilling worldwide search for the master spy and an ancient scroll that may reveal an unspeakably dangerous truth.
The acclaimed author of such suspense classics as The Tears of Autumn and The Miernik Dossier brings us a unique period romance, set in early eighteenth-century Europe and New England featuring the ancestors of his recurring master-spy Paul Christopher. Young, high-spirited Fanny has been fortunate in her civilized upbringing, but the London she has grown up in is riddled with danger and brutality. When a sinister stranger traps her family into debt in order to advance on Fanny, she is forced to take refuge in France, where she meets a young French soldier named Philippe de Saint-Christophe. Their paths will cross again in the New World, where the war between the English and the French is fought with the help of savage Indians on both sides. Together, Fanny and Philippe carve out a fierce, adventurous life in the vigorous, untamed wilderness.
From the master of suspense and political intrigue comes this hilarious and richly perceptive novel about a gifted politician with dangerous friends and a zipper problem. John Fitzgerald Adams, known by the voters who love him as Jack, has good reason to believe he is the illegitimate son of John F. Kennedy. His goal is the same as that of any Kennedy: to reclaim the presidency and enjoy as many women as possible along the way. Jack possesses an unerring political genius for charming voters and advancing his own interests, but he can't make it to the Oval Office without financial support. Luckily, his talents have been recognized by some radical Russians who are happy to invest heavily in his rise to power. As Jack marches toward the presidency, those who realize the truth about his sinister connections try to stop him-but will anyone believe them?
The Miernik Dossier is the dazzling first novel, recently reissued, by master spy novelist Charles McCarry. In this riveting, imaginative tale, five international agents embark on a road trip in a Cadillac from Switzerland to the Sudan. Among them are Paul Christopher, an American operative; Kalash el Khatar, the seven-foot-tall Muslim prince; Ilona Bentley, the beautiful half-English, half-Hungarian girlfriend of the British national, Nigel Collins; and Tadeusz Miernik, the shy and bumbling Polish scientist who might be the leader of a terror force that could set the Cold War aflame. Related as a collection of dossier notes written by the five characters, the novel reveals a complicated web in which each spins his or her own deception: each is a spider, and each a spy. The Miernik Dossier is an absolute masterpiece.
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