Spy Sinker by Len Deighton

Published by HarperCollins in September 1990

Spy Sinker retells the Samson saga (as developed in the Game, Set, and Match trilogy and in the first two books of the Hook, Line, and Sinker trilogy) from the points of view of players other than Samson: notably his wife Fiona, the bombastic fellow agent Bret Rensselaer, the Director General Henry Clevemore, and the power behind the scenes, Silas Gaunt. Most of the novel centers on the Game, Set and Match time frame. It fills in gaps and provides additional insight into Fiona, but unlike the other novels, this one is more expository, more telling than showing.

Spy Sinker is essential if you've read the other five for the clarifying background it provides and for tying up loose ends (and maybe even for making sense of the whole thing, because trying to keep information straight that develops over the course of five books is challenging: this novel acts as an outline of prior events). As a stand-alone, however, it's a bit more of a yawner than other books in the series, and certainly a spoiler if you don't save it for last. Its main interest derives from the insight it provides into characters you've grown to know (and to like or dislike, depending on the character) over the course of the first five books.

RECOMMENDED

Adios Muchachos by Daniel Chavarria

Published by Akashic Books on May 1, 2001

Alicia is a bicycle prostitute in Havana. She dresses in shorts and wiggles her butt as she pumps her pedals. One pedal is rigged to fall off, allowing her to tumble in front of the foreign men she seeks as customers. When one helps her up, she persuades him to give her a ride home where her mother makes dinner. The mother then leaves while Alicia seduces the man. Pretending to be too proud to accept money from him, she instead accepts gifts of air conditioners and motor scooters, which she stores in the garage until mother sells them. Because Alicia's wiggling butt is irresistible, she is confident that sooner or later the right man will fall in love with her -- the right man being the one who meets her high standards of wealth and virility.

From this premise, written in prose that borders on hilarity, Daniel Chavvaria crafts a novel that is more a comedy than a mystery -- and a very funny comedy it is. Alicia is hired to have sex with men while a couple watch from behind a mirror. The arrangement leads to prosperity for Alicia, but unfortunate circumstances involve her in what seems to be a kidnapping scheme that goes awry. Alicia maintains her cheery self-confidence throughout the novel, an attribute that makes her a very likable character. The phrase "wickedly funny" could have been invented to describe this book. It isn't deep, it isn't a traditional mystery, but it's loads of fun.

RECOMMENDED

The Sisters by Robert Littell

First published in 1986

The Sisters is one of the best of Robert Littell's novels, and the best of the four fictional accounts of a certain real world event I've read. The plot is byzantine without being confusing; the complexity is lovely and the pace at which events unfold is perfect. Unlike some of Littell's earlier works, the characters on display in The Sisters are fully realized.  A synopsis would spoil the fun, so my description of the novel's contents will be brief.

The sisters Dark and Night (a line from a Whitman poem) are two odd duck CIA agents whose job is to plot.  They are wonderfully quirky and so Machiavellian by nature the CIA seems a perfect place for them to roost.  They’ve cooked up a conspiracy they believe to be authorized, albeit silently, by the CIA Director, and they keep it to themselves when they set it in motion.  Figuring out who is working for whom (and who is betraying whom) is the novel's challenge, but the novel is worth reading for its characters, not just its intrigue.  The story's portrayal of the political workings of the CIA (which might as well be the CYA) seem perfectly credible; in any event, it's a fun addition. A satisfying display of karma at the novel's end left me grinning.

The Sisters is a masterful work, a treat not just for fans of espionage novels but for any reader who enjoys good writing.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Spy Line by Len Deighton

Published by Alfred A. Knopf on November 25, 1989

Spy Line -- the middle installment in the Hook, Line, and Sinker trilogy -- picks up where Spy Hook left off. Samson's loyalty is questioned, he isn't getting answers to his own questions about his wife's defection, people are dying, and people who seemed to die in the past aren't staying dead. More I cannot say without spoiling the intricate plot.

Spy Line has more action than the previous novel. Samson proves himself an adept field agent even after years behind a desk. But he isn't a James Bond type superhero; he's a dedicated public servant who wants to uncover the truth even if his superiors would prefer that the truth be kept secret. The minor characters in Spy Line really shine: they bumble, they seduce, they act shamefully or unselfishly -- in short, they behave as inconsistently and unpredictably as real people, and real people is what they feel like. Deighton does a masterful job of bringing every character to life in this book. He also does a remarkable job of establishing a sense of place -- the reader feels present in (what was then) East Germany, feels the repression, the fear, the history. And he does a satisfying job of tying together the loose threads, of resolving all the outstanding plot lines.

The story is compelling (even shocking) but this novel stands out for Deighton's portrayal of Samson as a man torn apart by his love for a treasonous wife, for his live-in girlfriend, and for his country (which doesn't treat him well at all). This novel is nearly as good as John Le Carre at his best.

RECOMMENDED

Prey by Michael Crichton

Published by HarperCollins on November 25, 2002

People are taken over by nanobots. Then it's up to the hero to outwit the nanobots (which shouldn't be difficult since they blow away in a stiff breeze). And that's about it, folks.

The plot of Prey is recycled from the endless "people are taken over by aliens" stories that have been around forever -- a plot device that Robert Heinlein used more effectively a half century before Crichton adopted it. The characters are stock: Crichton doesn't bring them alive, and if they were alive, you wouldn't want to know them because they're so dull. A couple of action scenes -- characters battling swarms of nanobots -- are lively, but the rest of the prose is flat. Crichton had some interesting ideas about nanobots but lacked the originality to do sufficiently interesting things with them to make the story worthwhile. The novel might be okay -- just okay -- as a fast beach read, but there are better options.

NOT RECOMMENDED