2017 Reading Challenges - The Spy, War, Thriller and Catchall Category

I've two more posts on my 2017 Reading Challenges (I think, anyway). Today will be a bit of a catch-all, with books from various genres, or maybe more accurately, sub-genres, such as War, Thriller, Adventure, Spy, even standalone mysteries. I've only earmarked 10 books for this category but there is always the chance if I meet my quotas before the end of the year, I'll be able to squeeze a few more books in. Too many books, too few days. Anyway, these are the probable 5 first books.

Spy / War / Thriller / etc

1. Last Laugh, Mr. Moto by John P. Marquand (Mr. Moto #5, 1942) - I've read three of the Mr. Moto spy novels in the past. This is the last one I currently have on my bookshelves. I will have to try and find the remaining two to complete my collection.

"A trouble-making, hard-drinking drifter, accidentally caught up in the ruthless, winner-takes-all game of international espionage, ex-Navy officer Bob Boiles has one last chance to serve his country and clear his name. Unfortunately, his goals run counter to those of Mr. Moto, master spy, whose devotion to Japan continues unabated. It's World War II - hot in the tropics - and no one will have the last laugh until the last shot is fired."

2. The Three Hostages by John Buchan (John Hannay #4, 1924) - This is the fourth book in the John Hannay thriller series by John Buchan, the series which started with The Thirty-Nine Steps, one of my favourite thrillers. One more book remains after I finish this one.

"The first World War is over, England is at peace, and Hannay has returned to a quiet country life at Fosse Manor. But there are other crimes than war, other and perhaps more dangerous villains than the Germans he battled with in Greenmantle and The Thirty-Nine Steps. A vast criminal combine, which has been making itself rich out of the aftermath of 1914-18, has kidnapped a young man, a girl, and a small boy - all of them children of important national figures - and is holding them as hostages against the future. The police know of the gang and must close in on them before Midsummer. The hostages, therefore, are doomed unless by some miracle they can be found before then. Hannay reluctantly agrees to help, and in his search for them comes up against the strongest enemy of his career - a man of great ability and charm who deals in an ugly brand of hypnotism."

3. The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva (1995) - Silva is a new writer for me but I've heard good things about his stories. The Unlikely Spy was his first book and is a standalone. Remaining in the wings for me is his Michael Osbourne series, if I like this one.

"Handpicked by Churchill himself, history professor Alfred Vicary is the least likely agent in England's arsenal, and that makes him the perfect man to stop an unknown spy from uncovering the Allied plans for D-Day. But the Nazis have also chosen their operative carefully. And she has direct orders from Hitler to ensure German victory - no matter what."

4. Gunner Asch Goes to War by H.H. Kirst (1956) - I've read a couple of Kirst's other books, the most noteworthy probably being The Night of the Generals, which was made into an excellent movie starring Omar Sharif. Kirst is an interesting writer who provides a very different perspective of the war.

"Gunner Asch's wartime adventures take place on the Russian front early in 1942. He is serving with the artillery-troop whose peace-time escapades were described in The Revolt of Gunner Asch. It is winter and, because the weather makes campaigning impossible, the anti-militarist old soldiers like Asch have established friendly relations with the Russians, male and female. The new Troop Commander, a former staff officer with no front-line experience, makes rash and ludicrous attempts to alter this situation, and the story rises to a climax when he is finally faced with the realities of war."

5. The Third Option by Vince Flynn (Mitch Rapp #2) - I've read the first in the Mitch Rapp thriller series and it was definitely action-packed. Hoping this one is the same.

"CIA counter terrorism operative Mitch Rapp falls prey to government forces with an agenda of their own after Dr. Irene Kennedy is named the successor to dying CIA Director Thomas Stansfield - a choice that enrages many inside the world's most powerful intelligence agency. Her detractors will resort to extreme measures to prevent her from taking the reins - which makes Rapp an expendable asset. But Mitch Rapp is no one's pawn, and he will stop at nothing to find out who has set him up."

So there you go, my picks to start off the War/ Thriller section. My last Blog on this will be tomorrow, I hope, with Fiction the genre of choice. Have a great day!!