A Weekend Book Review and the Spy / Thriller Novel (Penultimate Post)

It's cool, breezy Saturday. We've had a bit of a drizzle off and on. We just finished sausage sandwiches and while Jo is watching old episodes of The Closer, I think I'll get this entry done. 

I've finished my first book of July. It's been a slow month so far but I'm making steady progress on the others. I'll provide a review for the book I've completed and also the synopsis of the one that has replaced it. I'll also continue with my look at the Spy / Thriller novel, two new authors today. This is my penultimate post on this thread.

Just Finished

1. It's a Battlefield by Graham Greene (1934).

"I've been enjoying the books of English author Graham Greene. It's a Battlefield, originally published in 1934, was Greene's 5th published novel. The story centers a number of characters trying to get Jim Drover, a Communist bus-driver's, sentence commuted from the death penalty to imprisonment for 18 years. Drover killed a police officer who was attempting to strike Drover's wife during a Communist demonstration. Drover has been found guilty and been sentenced to death.

The story follows the police Assistant commissioner, new to his job, who is exploring his recommendation about whether to suggest the commutation to the Home Secretary. There is also Mr. Surrogate a Communist economist trying to persuade a wealthy friend to do her best to get the sentence commuted. Surrogate also had personal relations with Kay, Drover's sister-in-law, who wants to help but also just wants to enjoy herself. There is Conrad Drover, Jim Drover's brother, who loves his brothers wife and is filled with self-rage. There is Drover's wife, Milly, lost without her husband, trying to do anything to save her husband. 

These are the main characters and the story jumps from one to another, their interactions and their own personal lives and issues. It's an interesting, well-written story. In some ways it leaves as many questions unanswered as answered and the final incident is quite unique. I enjoy Greene's stories and each is different in its own right. (4 stars)"

Currently Reading

2. England Made Me by Graham Greene (1935). Greene is my focus author for July.

"From master storyteller Graham Greene comes the tale of Anthony Farrant, who has boasted, lied and cheated his way through jobs all over the world. Then his adoring twin sister, Kate, gets him taken on as the bodyguard of Krogh, her lover and boss, a megalomaniac Swedish financier. All goes well until Krogh gives orders that offend Anthony's innate decency. Outraged and blind to risk, he leaks information to Minty, a shabby journalist and fellow victim of life, a decision that will lead to disastrous consequences."

The Spy / Thriller Novel

I'll look at two authors and one book by each. Both are new for me and I haven't read the books yet. I may have to wait to get the first book in a series by my first author before I start his series. Obtuse enough for you? Well, here they are.

Olen Steinhauer

1. Olen Steinhauer is an American author of spy novels, especially his Milos Weaver series. (That is my focus today). Steinhauer was born in Baltimore in 1970. Since then he has written 12 novels. He has authored two series, The Yalta Boulevard series and also the Milos Weaver series. He has also written a number of standalone novels. 

a. The Nearest Exit (The Tourist / Milos Weaver #2).

"Faced with the potential dissolution of his marriage and the end of his quiet, settled life, reluctant spy Milo Weaver has no choice but to return to his old job as a "tourist" for the CIA. But before he can get back to the dirty work of espionage, he has to prove his worth to his new bosses. Armed with a stack of false identities, Milo heads back to Europe, and for nearly three months every assignment is executed perfectly. Then he's instructed to kill the fifteen-year-old daughter of Moldovan immigrants, and make the body disappear. No questions. For Milo, it's an impossible task, but ignoring his handlers is equally untenable. Suddenly he's in a dangerous position, caught between right and wrong, between powerful self-interested foes, between patriots and traitors--especially now that he has nothing left to lose."

Olen Steinhauer's complete catalogue can be found at this link.

Peter Temple

2. Peter Temple is an Australian crime / thriller author. He was born in South Africa in 1946 and died in Ballarat Australia in 2018. I became interested in his writing when Jo and I watched an Australian crime series based on his books about Jack Irish. Excellent TV series. So far I've been unable to find any Jack Irish books but I've bought a couple of others. One might fit this category.

a. In the Evil Day (2002).

"The Cold War is long dead but the trade in deceit and lies is still running hot. In Hamburg, John Anselm is hiding from the ghosts he has left behind in foreign war zones. He spends his days working for a surveillance firm. At night he drinks too much, paranoid about the suspicions he glimpses in the eyes of strangers.

In London, Caroline Wishart calls herself an exposé journalist. The story she has stumbled on could make her career or is she playing somebody else's game? Into both their lives comes ex-mercenary Con Niemand, bearing an explosive secret, a secret with the power to topple governments and destroy them all."

Peter Temple's complete catalogue can be found at this link.

One more post on this topic.. then I'll have to figure out my next topic. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Stay safe and wear a mask.