With his depressingly accurate depiction of Britain and Europe in general, Charles Beaumont takes the reader on an intelligent and exciting tale of an investigation into a suspected Russian infiltration of the British government. Although the story invokes some of the classics, like Deighton or le Carré, A Spy Alone is in a class of its own. Beaumont is comfortable in his role as "a former turned author" who knows the business of spying and geo-politics as well.
It's an extremely well-founded story, totally plausible (if not true), with characters who show real personalities. His main man, Simon, is not world-weary, but has been around the block, rode hard, and put away wet. He's had many of his sharp edges ground down and realizes his world is not perfect but loves it nevertheless. Taut, engaging, confidently told, with twists and turns to satisfy almost any reader.
Michael Frost Beckner of SPY GAME screenwriting fame (memorably played by R.Redford & B.Pitt) has unleashed upon us another spellbinder -- actually, a series of spellbinders -- with his new work KALEIDOSCOPE. The first episode is titled "July 4th and true to Beckner’s previous works, this new series portends to be a wildly exciting dive down a rabbit hole replete with boobytraps, assassins, and lots of deception.
It is a (relatively) short but tantalizing novella that scratches out the history of a spy family as intriguing as Charles McCarry’s Christophers but perhaps more treacherous than the House of Borgia. The Kingston family harbors many secrets, has covers within covers, and knows the lies to answer any question.
It is the beginning of a twisted journey and ropes of sand, a wilderness of mirrors, the dancing lights, broken mirrors, and twisting figures of a kaleidoscope await the reader in a uniquely written tale that promises redemption, revenge, and betrayal — all spinning around an all-American family unlike any other. Highly recommended like all his other works!
"KALEIDOSCOPE does for the CIA what THE SOPRANOS did for the mob." MICHAEL APTED, Academy Award nominated film director of COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER, THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, ENIGMA
With his critically acclaimed and award-winning Muir's Gambit, Bishop's Endgame, and Aiken in Check, novelist and screenwriter Michael Frost Beckner thrilled espionage fans worldwide with a return to his classic Robert Redford/Brad Pitt movie Spy Game.
Prepare yourself for Michael Frost Beckner's boldest experiment in espionage as Kaleidoscope expands the Spy Game universe with a multi-part saga of three generations of Kingstons—a CIA family trapped in the web of the Agency's…
David McCloskey's "7th Floor"... with a whirlwind performance by my favorite antagonist Artemis Procter (she succeeds in antagonizing everyone). David brings his writing, analytical, and tradecraft skills to the game and delivers a realistic (specific cookies about the OOB & NOB) page turner of a hunt for betrayal. -- I took it off the TBR pile early and 48 hours later realized I finished it.
The author's experience as a former CIA officer show in his writing, the tradecraft he infuses into the story is genuinely accurate and the 7th Floor’s bureaucracy maddeningly real.
A Russian arrives in Singapore with a secret to sell. When the Russian is killed and Sam Joseph, the CIA officer dispatched for the meet, goes missing, operational chief Artemis Procter is made a scapegoat for the disaster and run out of the service. Months later, Sam appears at Procter's doorstep with an explosive secret: there is a Russian mole burrowed deep within the highest ranks of the CIA.
As Procter and Sam investigate, they arrive at a shortlist of suspects made up of both Procter's closest friends and fiercest enemies. The hunt requires Procter to dredge up her checkered…
Former CIA officer Joshua Devlin is coaxed out of retirement to help the Agency with a highly unusual and dangerous mission. Devlin’s unique skills make him the perfect “babysitter” for another "old hand" -- an unusual man who must rendezvous with a Russian asset who could get all of them killed.
Alarm bells go off all over Washington when the Russian mentions the codeword for an insane, nuclear war-related scenario.
Set in present-day Europe, this military & espionage adventure treats the reader to a peek inside what the world could be like if Russia’s war in Ukraine expanded to the Baltics, and the heart stopping choices individuals on the front line face everyday.
