Why am I passionate about this?

As a kid, I always wanted to be a Secret Service agent. As an adult, I became one. The job introduced me to the classified and shadowy world of national security. I traveled the globe, working in places I'd only read about in novels and meeting people who seemed like well-written characters from a book. When I was assigned as a liaison agent to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, I attended numerous FBI and CIA schools—even the facility known as The Farm. But through it all, I read! When I retired and had time to think about what I did, I figured I'd try writing.


I wrote

Class III Threat

By Larry Enmon,

Book cover of Class III Threat

What is my book about?

In Class III Threat, Dallas Secret Service agent Michael Roberts has the job of stopping a terrorist intent on…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History

Larry Enmon Why did I love this book?

For me, Argo is one of those rare finds in spy books. It is a book about an actual intelligence operation that went as planned, written by a living CIA intelligence officer who took part in it.

One of the hallmarks of intelligence operations is making the enemy believe what you want them to think. Misinformation and disinformation comprise a large part of the work, but sometimes, it all comes down to good old-fashioned deception. That's what makes Argo work.

And, hey, any book good enough to be made into a movie that wins an Oscar for Best Picture is worth my time.

By Antonio Mendez, Matt Baglio,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Argo as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Argo by Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio - the declassified CIA story behind the Oscar-winning film

WINNER OF 'BEST PICTURE' AT THE ACADEMY AWARDS, THE BAFTAS AND THE GOLDEN GLOBES

Tehran, November 1979. Militant students stormed the American embassy and held sixty Americans captive for a gruelling 444 days. But until now the CIA has never revealed the twist to the Iran Hostage Crisis: six Americans escaped.

The escape plot was run by Antonio Mendez, head of the CIA's extraction team and a master of disguise. Mendez came up with an idea so daring and potentially foolish that it seemed…


Book cover of The Russia House

Larry Enmon Why did I love this book?

During my time working in the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, we would "throw out a line to see if anything bit." By that, I mean we'd leak information into the terrorism community to see their response.

That response often determined which direction we'd take an investigation. That's what the plot of The Russia House does. The CIA and Britain's Secret Intelligence Service get a taste of information from an inside Russian military source, but can it be believed?

By John le Carré,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Russia House as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

John le Carre's first post-glasnost spy novel, The Russia House captures the effect of a slow and uncertain thaw on ordinary people and on the shadowy puppet-masters who command them

Barley Blair is not a Service man: he is a small-time publisher, a self-destructive soul whose only loves are whisky and jazz. But it was Barley who, one drunken night at a dacha in Peredelkino during the Moscow Book Fair, was befriended by a high-ranking Soviet scientist who could be the greatest asset to the West since perestroika began, and made a promise. Nearly a year later, his drunken promise…


Book cover of Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies

Larry Enmon Why did I love this book?

I have always been fascinated with WWII war stories, especially those involving intelligence operations.

Double Cross is one of the most unbelievable stories I've ever read. It's a nonfiction book that's so incredible it almost sounds like fiction. The British scored success after success against all the German intelligence services to keep the Germans guessing about dozens of Allied military activities, including the actual site of the D-Day landings.

MI6 might get all the cool James Bond movies made about it, but MI5 was the real star of this book.

By Ben Macintyre,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Double Cross as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

D-Day, 6 June 1944, the turning point of the Second World War, was a victory of arms. But it was also a triumph for a different kind of operation: one of deceit, aimed at convincing the Nazis that Calais and Norway, not Normandy, were the targets of the 150,000-strong invasion force.

The deception involved every branch of Allied wartime intelligence - the Bletchley Park code-breakers, MI5, MI6, SOE, Scientific Intelligence, the FBI and the French Resistance. But at its heart was the 'Double Cross System', a team of double agents controlled by the secret Twenty Committee, so named because twenty…


Book cover of Slow Horses

Larry Enmon Why did I love this book?

During my early U.S. Secret Service days, I discovered something I wasn't expecting.

Secret Service agents were some of the most interesting and unusual people on the planet. Not because we were charged with a critical mission but because we came at it from many different backgrounds and directions. That's the brilliance of Herron's story.

There are many different people with many different personalities, all working toward the same goal. Some of the characters in this story reminded me of fellow Secret Service agents—even Jackson Lamb.

By Mick Herron,

Why should I read it?

16 authors picked Slow Horses as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*Now a major TV series starring Gary Oldman*

'To have been lucky enough to play Smiley in one's career; and now go and play Jackson Lamb in Mick Herron's novels - the heir, in a way, to le Carre - is a terrific thing' Gary Oldman

Slough House is the outpost where disgraced spies are banished to see out the rest of their derailed careers. Known as the 'slow horses' these misfits have committed crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal while on duty.

In this drab and mildewed office these highly trained spies don't run…


Book cover of Moscow X

Larry Enmon Why did I love this book?

This book struck a familiar note with me—follow the money.

Working financial crimes during my federal agent days always came down to figuring out where the money came from, how many hands it passed through, and where it ended up. McCloskey does an excellent job showing this through his CIA officer's deception to uncover Putin's moneymen.

Working in a non-official cover (NOC) capacity in a hostile country has its hazards, as the author vividly describes.

By David McCloskey,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Moscow X as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

CIA operatives Sia and Max enter Russia to recruit Vladimir Putin's moneyman. Sia works for a London firm that conceals the wealth of the super-rich. Max's family business in Mexico-a CIA front since the 1960s-is a farm that breeds high-end racehorses. They pose as a couple, and their targets are Vadim, Putin's private banker, and his wife, Anna, who is both a banker and an intelligence officer. As they descend further into a Russian world dripping with luxury and rife with gangland violence, Sia and Max's hope may be Anna, who is playing a game of her own. Careening between…


Explore my book 😀

Class III Threat

By Larry Enmon,

Book cover of Class III Threat

What is my book about?

In Class III Threat, Dallas Secret Service agent Michael Roberts has the job of stopping a terrorist intent on killing the President. His only lead is a six-year-old girl, who, it is said, can read people's auras. Although all federal resources are thrown into the protective effort, Roberts believes they've missed something in their security preparations. As the clock ticks down to the President's arrival, he must figure it out or risk losing another President in Dallas. What Robert's previously dismissed as hocus-pocus from the child now appears to be their only lead.

Class III Threat sparks with the fast-paced, page-turning energy that makes political thrillers everyone's favorite—the fact a retired Secret Service agent wrote it is a nice, unexpected bonus.

Book cover of Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History
Book cover of The Russia House
Book cover of Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies

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What Happened to Frank?

By Vicky Earle,

Book cover of What Happened to Frank?

Vicky Earle Author Of What Happened to Frank?

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Vicky's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

What Happened to Frank? is the first book in the Meg Sheppard Mystery Series. Meg is an amateur sleuth who owns racehorses and lives on a horse farm. Her beloved border collie, Kelly, is usually at Meg's side as she investigates murders and solves other mysteries. The books are action-packed and fast-paced, and set in the world of thoroughbred horse racing and country life.

Meg's first investigation starts on the dreaded anniversary of Frank's untimely death. Meg's conviction that it was no accident turns into a keen determination to find out who killed her husband. As she follows the bends…

What Happened to Frank?

By Vicky Earle,

What is this book about?

Meg Sheppard Mystery Series Book One

"What Happened to Frank?" is a fast-paced, action-packed mystery that unfurls within the worlds of thoroughbred horse racing and country living.

Meg Sheppard escaped persistent abuse by her stepfather by emigrating to Canada from England.
She now lives on a small horse farm. She owns two thoroughbred racehorses, Rose and Speed, and two retired racehorses, Eagle and Bullet.

Meg adores her border collie dog, Kelly, who is usually at her side.
On the dreaded anniversary of Frank's untimely death, Meg's conviction that it was no accident turns into a keen determination to find out…


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Interested in Moscow, Russia, and Canada?

Moscow 58 books
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Canada 450 books