Tag: espionage

The Mercenary by Paul Vidich (2021)

18 April, 2021 / Russia in Fiction

The Russia in Fiction blog likes a good sub-genre. So how about, ‘books set in the Chernenko years’?

Except of course, Konstantin Chernenko was leader of the Soviet Union for so short a time that we can’t even talk about years. It would have to be ‘books set in the Chernenko year and 25 days’. He became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in February 1984 and died in March 1985.

Après Chernenko, Gorbatchev et le déluge.

Paul Vidich’s The Mercenary, subtitled A Spy’s Escape from Moscow, is a terrific espionage thriller, that is not only set in early 1985 but is written in a style reminiscent of Cold War era spy novelists.

The Charm School by Nelson DeMille (1988)

17 December, 2020 / Russia in Fiction

Reading A Quiet End, DeMille’s 2015 novel with a vaguely Russian theme, sent me back to his 1988 thriller The Charm School. A very different, and frankly better, book.

The Charm School is brilliant, both as a thriller and for its knowledge of Russia and the Soviet Union —plenty of details about Soviet life, some great settings in Moscow and beyond, and a plot that is never predictable.

Our Kind of Traitor by John Le Carré (2010)

15 October, 2020 / Russia in Fiction

Le Carré books stand out from the crowd. They are atypical in the world of thrillers, and Russia-related thrillers. Not for them the fast-moving plot-based story packed with clichéd characters. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the finest Russia-related espionage novel ever written. (The Honourable Schoolboy runs it very close, but has little to do with Russia). Whether it is a thriller is a different question. It represents rather the thriller as literature.

Our Kind of Traitor has of course the main Le Carré traits, but, like several of his later books, it is a slighter work than his greatest novels.

The Cambridge Theorem by Tony Cape (1990)

11 October, 2020 / Russia in Fiction

You would think that after several decades reading spy thrillers about Russia, I would know all the good ones. Then, browsing the Oxfam bookshop on the Woodstock Road in Oxford a few years ago, I came across The Cambridge Theorem.

How had I missed this for so long? The Cambridge Theorem is brilliant. What is more, it turned out —or so I thought at the time— that it was the first in a trilogy based around its central character.

Brandenburg by Henry Porter (2005)

4 October, 2020 / Russia in Fiction

Ssshh, I’m sneaking this book into these ‘Russia in fiction’ reviews , despite the fact that Henry Porter’s Brandenburg is not about Russia or set in Russia.

So why am I mentioning it here? Two real reasons: first, it’s just a terrific book — one of my favourite political thrillers; second, whilst it might not really be ‘Russia in fiction’, it does feature —as a major character— a young Vladimir Putin, serving as a KGB Colonel in Dresden.

Secret Service by Tom Bradby (2019) – part two

13 August, 2020 / Russia in Fiction

(Part one of this review is here)

Tom Bradby’s Secret Service goes for a straight down the line buy-in to the standard thriller-writer depiction of Putin-era Russia in the second decade of the 21^st century.

Secret Service by Tom Bradby (2019) – part one

13 August, 2020 / Russia in Fiction

(Part two of this review is here)

A quick review of what was for Russia in Fiction a quick summer read. If you fancy a spy/political thriller for the beach or the pool, this will do the trick.

Secret Service is the first in a trilogy written by Tom Bradby, a nationally known journalist and newscaster in the UK.

Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews (2013) – part two

10 August, 2020 / Russia in Fiction

Part one of this review is here.

Jason Matthews comes to espionage fiction as a member of the ‘former spy’ school of writers. He is ex-CIA. The backcover blurb on Red Sparrow has veteran US thriller writer Nelson DeMille proclaiming that

Jason Matthews is not making it up; he has lived this life and this story, and it shows on every page.
Nelson De Mille, on Red Sparrow

The Spike (1980) by Arnaud de Borchgrave and Robert Moss – part one

8 August, 2020 / Russia in Fiction

(Part two of this review is here)

Writing this in 2020, I could be describing a Russia-related thriller of the most up-to-date nature, instead of a novel written four decades ago.

Tag: espionage

The Mercenary by Paul Vidich (2021)

The Charm School by Nelson DeMille (1988)

Our Kind of Traitor by John Le Carré (2010)

The Cambridge Theorem by Tony Cape (1990)

Brandenburg by Henry Porter (2005)

Secret Service by Tom Bradby (2019) – part two

Secret Service by Tom Bradby (2019) – part one

Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews (2013) – part two

The Spike (1980) by Arnaud de Borchgrave and Robert Moss – part one

Recent Posts

Russia in Fiction on Twitter

Archives

Categories

Meta