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Absolutely fantastic. Particularly 'The Liquidator', 'Amber Nine' and 'Madrigal'.
Back in the day, they came perilously close to out Bonding Bond.
Gardner's Oakes books and O'Donnell's Blaise series were the two entries that came at the genre from a whole different angle.
Gardner's concept of having Oakes as a coward enticed into the service as an assassin by the despicable Mostyn - only to sub contract his hits to an undertaker called Griffin were peerless.
They managed to be both hilarious and thrilling at the same time. Marvelous stuff and the movie of 'The Liquidator' staring Rod Taylor is also pretty damn good.
Frankly, I could never understand why John didn't stick with Oakes. I think he was more than a little in awe of John Le Carre and yearned to be taken more seriously himself.
Have you read them?
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Yes, I've read The Liquidator years ago and saw the film (have it on tape somewhere). I'm planning to write a blog article on John Gardner's Boysie Oakes spy novel series so I intend to read all of the books and short stories starring B.O. and their relation to the Continuation Bond project as Boysie Oakes appears to be virgin territory for writers in the Bond field sadly. As a Gardner fan and supporter (check my username!) I want to put that right by using some email correspondence that I've had over the years with Mr Gardner himself.
Readers, if you want female, I'll give you female - the absolutely best female thriller writer working today is the UK's Mo Hayder.
But beware! Her work is dark and I mean seriously dark. Her series character is a detective called Jack Cafferty and although you don't have to read them in order you should.
Start with 'The Birdman' and take it from there. You'll enjoy them but you won't sleep much!
If ever a series should be filmed by David Fincher this is it. Brilliant, serious stuff but not for the faint hearted!
Good suggestion - I'll check 'The Birdman' out.
I recommend Jo Nesbo to anyone - a populist choice but every single one of his books is absorbing.
Stephen King and Dean Koonz, along with Clive Barker and James
Herbert.
I just like to look at the pictures
great series :D :!!
'The Heist' is number 14 in the Gabriel Allon series.
I first got into Silva when I was living in the US. He is hugely popular there and his novels normally shoot straight to the top of the New York Times best seller list.
He doesn't seem to do quite so well in Europe. He sells but not on the same scale and given that his books are truly excellent, I can only attribute this disparity in sales performance to a lack of appetite for a Mossad hero outside of America.
Allon, his hero, is a master art restorer and assassin and his cover is often as interesting and as well described as the spy action that is Gabriel's raison d'être and there is often an art component to the books — particularly with 'The Heist'.
The art element is never forced and is a natural fit with the espionage world because as we know, illicit art transactions are a major source of terrorist funding.
Silva really understands both the art scene and the world of international politics. His plots are often extremely prolific and his insight into the middle-east situation is second to none.
Furthermore, he is an extremely impressive author and although I don't particularly like comparisons, I do think he is one of the closest to Fleming that we have operating today.
His books have a real sweep. They are populated with glamorous situations and there is an ensemble cast of reoccurring characters who are extremely endearing.
Another thing that fascinates me about Silva is that he does not write at all like an American - not that there is anything remotely wrong with American writers — but I have never known any contemporary thriller writer have such an intrinsic sense of place.
When he brings you to London, you know that he understands completely the UK scene and if you didn't know his nationality, you'd definitely think he was British.
That said, these are really international thrillers and Silva is definitely worth your time.
Two words of caution:
Firstly, the books can be read out of sequence but you'll get more out of them if you tackle them in chronological order. If you do read them out of sequence, you will find that he flagged a little between books 9 and 12 when he became a little repetitive.
Secondly, if you are reading one on a plane and you are highjacked by Arab terrorists — dump it quick because there won't be any mistaking your political allegiance!
Start with his latest in paperback, 'The Heist' because it's excellent and will give you a great appetite for the character.
Then go back to the beginning and read 'The Kill Artist' and follow thru' in sequence.
Miss out 'Moscow Rules', 'The Defector' and 'The Rembrandt Affair' - they simply weren't his best and rejoin the series with 'Portrait Of A Spy'.
By the time you've read that lot, his latest, 'The English Spy' will be out in hardback.
I know lots of us, me included, are hoping that Horowitz will succeed big time with his Bond novel and many hope he will stay with the gig and write a series.
If, for whatever reason, that doesn't happen and IFP continue to author hop - they should go to Silva next even ahead of Charles Cumming. He is that good - enjoy!
Never had the pleasure of reading Cummings.
As you probably know, his premise is that this is 'faction' because if he told you the truth he'd have to kill you or be killed himself or some other such nonsense.
Personally I think he is suffering from a narcissistic personality disorder.
Divers watches with a Pitt bull dog tied up with a piece of string outside the
Pubs door. :)) we all know at least one.
Know, not sure. Seen, yes.
Sometimes the Pub is full of them, all eager to win World War 2 all over again. They regularly train on their Playstations :))
He is American but writes like Fleming. All the hallmarks are there: the restless changing of scenes, the glamour, the descriptive capabilities.
Perhaps his plots are more rooted in real events but I have to say for those of you that haven't given him a go and are looking for something before TM, my best advice would be - read Silva. He's terrific!
I was encouraged to read it because of the stunning reviews accorded its recently published sequel, 'The Cartel' and I am completely gripped.
It is a powerhouse of a book that covers 'The Drug Wars' over a thirty year period. The main protagonist is a former CIA agent, now working for the DEA called Art Keller who is locked in a life and death struggle with somebody he inadvertently promoted to be the drug lord of all time.
As John Harvey said, "The Power Of The Dog" creates a vision of hell that's violent and bloody enough to hot-wire Dante upright in his grave".
If you enjoyed 'I Am Pilgrim', you'll love Winslow's epic.
The Martian is very entertaining so far(six chapters in). I highly recommend it if you are into Space/Sci-fi type reads. I wanted to read it before I see the movie. It's very technical with tons of detail, but also has lots of humor.
I'm about half-way through Zero Minus Ten. So far so good. It's a bit slow with action, but I'm guessing the last half will step it up a bit.
I'm going to start Trigger Mortis soon as well. It's weird, but I like to have several books going at once. That way I don't get bored of any one story too fast.
I have just finished reading 'The Cartel' and have to second TriggerMortis recommendation.
Don is a terrific writer who's stock in trade has been noir thrillers very much in the Elmore Leonard vein but both with 'The Power Of The Dog' and its sequel 'The Cartel', Winslow has branched out into the geo-political thriller genre which would very much be the type of book Fleming would be writing were he with us now.
Fabulous stuff and evidently the movie rights for 'The Cartel' have gone for an all time record and DiCaprio is going to play Art Keller.
Also worthy of note for Fleming fans is Winslow's prequel to Trevanian's 'Shibumi'.
It is called 'Satori' and is well worth a read.
I would also recommend Frederick Forsyth. Apart from "TDOTJ", "The Odessa File", "The Devil's Alternative, and "The Fourth Protocol" are all great. However, I don't agree that the "TDOTJ" Movie was very good. Sure, the story is very similar, but the execution was poor IMO.
Also, check out Craig Thomas. The novel "Firefox" is probably my favorite novel of all time. The same with the Clint Eastwood Movie of the same name.
Our friend Ludovico demonstrates consummate good taste with this recommendation.
Deon Meyer is absolutely fantastic and definitely right at the top of the list when it comes to the new breed of thriller writers.
Deft plotting and flawless characterisation are Meyer's hallmark.
'13 Hours' and 'Trackers' are two great examples of his work - Fleming and Le Carre fans won't be disappointed!