Final Notice by Joe Gores

Published by Random House in 1973

Reading a DKA novel is like spending a few days shadowing a repo man to learn the ropes of the repossession business, except that it's more fun (and less dangerous). In a DKA novel, you know that you'll meet interesting characters, encounter plenty of action, and exercise your brain as you try to solve whatever puzzle Joe Gores has in store for you.

Final Notice takes place six months after Dead Skip. In that novel, Bart Heslip was hospitalized after being hit with a sap outside the DKA offices. Final Notice gets off to a similar start as Ed Dorsey is hospitalized after being beaten by two thugs outside the DKA offices. The beating seems to be tied to the repossession of a Cadillac belonging to an aging beauty named Chandra, whose delinquent payments are suddenly and mysteriously made good. Thanks to Heslip's intervention, one of the thugs who beat Dorsey is captured and identified as a mob henchman. DKA's founder, Dan Kearny, makes it his business to find out why Dorsey was beaten, and solves a couple of murders along the way.

The plot of Final Notice isn't quite as ingenious as that of Dead Skip, but it ties together nicely at the end. The pace is swift and the process of detection is fascinating. Characters come to life, particularly Giselle, a DKA employee whose ill-advised affair with a banker is a central focus of the story. Gores' prose is tight and suitably hard-boiled without becoming a parody. It's unfortunate this novel is out of print. Seek it out if you like first rate detective fiction.

RECOMMENDED

Death Throes by Clive Egleton

First published in 1994

True to the form established in the first two Peter Ashton novels (Hostile Intent and A Killing in Moscow), Death Throes begins with a death. A Russian using the name Valentin has contacted SIS and asked to meet with Ashton in Bulgaria. Ashton goes to Sofia to meet Valentin's contact, only to find him dead in his apartment. Ashton is soon taken prisoner by the KGB and interrogated about Valentin. Escaping and returning to London, Ashton finds himself caught between Valentin, who wants to sell secrets in exchange for money, and some members of the SIS who want to use him as a pawn to uncover Valentin's identity. The plot takes Ashton to Estonia for another meeting with Valentin (but is it the same Valentin?) and to Berlin, where a related story unfolds concerning a former KGB hit man who assassinates a neo-Nazi leader.

Intricate plotting is Egleton's strength. The story in Death Throes sometimes seems a bit convoluted -- I often found myself reviewing earlier chapters to refresh my memory concerning the many characters who come and go as the plot develops -- but it all comes together by the novel's end. The downside to this novel is Egleton's writing style, which is sometimes less than graceful. In addition, Egleton has a tendency to bombard the reader with information that isn't particularly useful, like the price SIS paid for a safehouse before the market fell. And while I understand the need to provide background information from past novels so that this one can stand alone (which it does), Egleton sometimes overdoes it. Do we really need to learn (again) that Harriet (Ashton's love interest) obtained "a good upper second in Geography at Birmingham University" before taking the various positions that led to her current employment with SIS?

Perhaps as a result of the digressions about educational backgrounds and job histories and real estate markets, Death Throes does not move with the same pace as the earlier novels (despite a few well written action scenes), and it suffers from the same occasional clunky prose that troubled me in Hostile Intent. There is also less development of Ashton's character in Death Throes than there was in A Killing in Moscow, although more attention is paid to Harriet and to Ashton's relationship with her. All told, I liked Death Throes, but not as much as Hostile Intent and certainly not as much as A Killing in Moscow.

RECOMMENDED

The Prince of Bagram Prison by Alex Carr

Published by Random House Trade Paperbacks on March 11, 2008

Jamal, a 15 year old detainee at Bagram, agrees to inform for the CIA and is relocated to Spain, where his handler, Harry Comfort, is close to retirement. Harry's successor pushes Jamal for information and Jamal responds by inventing a story about seeing a man from Bagram in Madrid. This sets off a flurry of killings. Jamal's Army interrogator, Kat, is sent to Casablanca with an ex-CIA chief to find Jamal after he disappears. The CIA wants to kill Jamal and Kat doesn't want that to happen. There's a whole lot more going on, involving a dead detainee and a coverup of nefarious American shenanigans, but describing it here would risk spoiling the surprises.

Although this is an intelligent, crisply written thriller that creates a strong sense of place, the motivations for the various actions taken by the characters aren't always clear and the plot at times gets a bit muddled. Kat is a reasonably full character but most of the others (particularly the males) are stock military/spook types. A romantic entanglement felt out of place, as if it had been added to move the plot along--it didn't feel real. The facts that are being covered up seemed a little far-fetched and the ending seemed contrived. In short, I liked the writing style more than the story or the characters. I'm encouraged to try her other novels (the author, Jenny Siler, wrote this one under a pen name). The Prince of Bagram Prison is a worthy effort that comes close to succeeding as a solid novel, but doesn't quite get there.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Dead Spy Running by Jon Stock

Published by Thomas Dunne Books on October 26, 2010; first published in Great Britain in 2009

Dead Spy Running begins with Daniel Marchant running a marathon but the story (unlike the runner) takes off at a sprinter's speed. Suspended from MI6, Marchant has personal issues: he drinks too much and his deceased father, the former Chief of MI6, is suspected of having been a traitor. During the race, Marchant observes one of the runners wearing a belt that conceals explosives -- and the runner happens to be trailing near the American ambassador. Marchant's proximity to the suicide bomber is viewed as no coincidence by the suspicious minds at MI5. Soon the CIA fixates on the notion that Marchant is working for terrorists. Even Marchant's spy girlfriend seems uncertain about Marchant's loyalty. The novel follows Marchant as he battles to clear his father's name and his own.

Much of Dead Spy Running has been done before, often by better writers: the son who wonders whether his father was a traitor, by Len Deighton; the spy with a drinking problem by Graham Greene; the mole in MI6 by John Le Carre and many others. Toward the end, however, the plot takes a twist I haven't seen before, saving the novel from being a rehash of tired stories. Dead Spy Running also has an interesting political component that's not exactly new but well done, as MI6 finds itself at odds with MI5 and the CIA.

The plot is the novel's strong point. The characters are nothing special. The CIA spooks seem a bit over-the-top in their thuggish ways, eagerly carrying out extraordinary renditions so they can conduct interrogations via waterboard. (Of course, there's a reason America's clandestine community is seen that way, but still ....) Stock's writing style is fine but far from stirring. He does have the ability to describe locations (Poland and India) with the kind of detail that adds authenticity to the novel. The pace is perfect for a spy thriller: a fast start, easing a bit as the plot sets up, then full throttle to an action-filled end. Stock doesn't resort to having Marchant perform superhuman feats to save the world, but there's plenty here for action fans.

The ending stretches the limits of credibility but I was willing to accept it because ... well, it was satisfying. I liked this novel and I would recommend it to fans of espionage fiction as a worthwhile blend of intelligent plotting and fast action.

RECOMMENDED

Rain Fall by Barry Eisler

First published in 2002

Some readers like a novel only if they admire its characters. Others like a novel only if the protagonist is morally pure or at least achieves redemption by the novel's end. Those readers should bypass Rain Fall. I'm not one of those readers. I recommend Rain Fall to thriller fans who enjoy a strong plot, interesting characters, and fast moving action.

I disagree with the Amazon reviewer who wrote that John Rain is "a heartless thug that enjoys killing people for no reason." I found no evidence in the novel to support that claim. Rain is a professional killer, remorseless to be sure, but nothing in the text suggests his enjoyment of killing. His nightmarish memories of his service in Vietnam imply otherwise. He doesn't kill for "no reason"; he kills for money or to protect himself. And he certainly isn't heartless, given that the plot revolves around Rain's desire to protect a woman from harm despite his fear that helping her will compromise his anonymity. (Of course, I also disagree with the reviewer who argued that a reader must "have testosterone induced dementia, & an anti-social personality disorder laced with narcissistic traits" to enjoy the novel. With all due respect, it's possible for a well-balanced reader to enjoy escapist fiction even if the reader wouldn't want to have lunch with the protagonist.)

Barry Eisler's writing style is far from Shakespearean, but he's a capable writer. He crafts an intriguing, fast moving story, and creates a strong sense of place as he transports the reader to a vibrant, lively Tokyo. John Rain is a complex, multi-dimensional character. Still, the novel isn't without its problems: a tussle between Rain and the main female character turns into sex (trite); Rain is haunted by his service as a clandestine warrior in Vietnam (trite); Rain's helper conveniently has extraordinary computer hacking skills (way trite); Rain is up against a misbehaving CIA agent (trite but always a welcome addition to a thriller). Part of Rain's backstory seems like it was lifted from Apocalypse Now, although another part gives an interesting twist to a familiar episode from the Vietnam War. My knock on the novel, then, is that too much of it is familiar, unimaginative, reminiscent of stories we've seen or heard before. The theme of corruption in Japan, however, was fresh and fascinating.

On the whole, Rain Fall isn't a bad effort for a first novel. It's easy, fun, rainy afternoon reading.

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