Library of Clean Reads: espionage

Showing posts with label espionage. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

The Company Files: The Good Man by Gabriel Valjan (Review & Giveaway!)

The Company Files is a new series by Gabriel Valjan, one of my favorite authors, with the first book The Good Man recently published and featured here today! If you like noir fiction, espionage historical fiction, then look no further.

Book Details:

Book Title: The Company Files: 1. The Good Man by Gabriel Valjan
Category: Adult Fiction, 251 pages
Genre: Thriller, Historical Fiction, Crime Fiction, Espionage
Publisher: Winter Goose Publishing
Release date: December 2017
Tour dates: Feb 12 to March 2, 2018
Content Rating: PG + M (No bad language but there is a rape scene with a minor and then another attempted rape scene, and some violence.)

Book Description:

In 1948, Vienna was divided among four powers: France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Jack Marshall had served with Walker during the war, and now, working together for The Company, they are tasked to do the inconceivable. Could former Nazis really be recruited to assist the U.S. in the atomic race? As their team moves forward, they quickly discover they are not the only ones looking for these men. And the others in the search may just have the objective of murder.

In this tale of historical noir, of corruption and deceit, no one is who they say they are. Who is The Good Man in a world where an enemy may be a friend, an ally may be the enemy, and governments deny everything?

My Review:

Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

Two years ago, I discovered the Roma series by Gabriel Valjan, and was hooked from the first book and read all five in the series. I eagerly await the 6th novel. However, in the meantime, The Company Files is a new series by Gabriel Valjan, with the first book The Good Man recently published and featured here today. In an interview with me on Oct 3, 2016, the author said about this series:

The Company Files is a multi-book series about the early days of the intelligence community. This series draws from real history and individuals. The writing style is very different from that of the Roma Series. I would describe it as le Carré meets Chandler.

Oh, there is something about noir fiction that is so compelling, drawing us in with its cynical characters and fatalistic mood punctured with witty repartee. The Good Man set in 1948 Vienna has that but with a good ending. We have Jack Marshall and Walker, former soldiers who are now working for The Company, in search of former Nazis to recruit them to work for the U.S. government. Leslie is the Company analyst, mysterious and alluring. And then we have Sheldon, who comes across as calm and collected but is a Jew who survived the horrors of Auschwitz. Valjan peels back the many layers of each character slowly, as the plot thickens and unlikely alliances form between former enemies as the winds of change sweep through post-war Europe.

The story has classic elements of noir fiction with hardboiled main characters, a post-war setting, espionage and crime with an unexpected femme fatale that surprised me. I'm also happy to say that unlike the norm in this genre, there is no profanity or excessive violence in this novel. It's true that the writing style is different from Valjan's previous books, but then again, this is a different genre. It is a testament to Valjan's writing talent that he can switch from his thriller series laced with humour and camaraderie to a darker thematic novel.

While the hardened male characters bedecked in dark suits and fedoras could quicken a woman's heartbeat when that vulnerable side slipped through their tough veneer, I was more ambivalent about the female characters. Tania, the Russian refugee is still an enigma to me and several things about her remained unanswered for me, (perhaps this was the intention all along) making me think she will make another appearance in future books?

If you like noir fiction, espionage historical fiction that is atmospheric and leaves one pondering moral dilemmas then this one's for you. An absorbing read to be sure, one that immerses the reader into a world filled with political intrigue, shady characters, and the need to find one's place in a world struggling to regain its footing in the aftermath of WWII.

To read reviews, please visit Gabriel Valjan's Page on iRead Book Tours.

Buy the Book:

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Meet the Author:

Gabriel Valjan is the author of The Roma Series from Winter Goose Publishing. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts, where he enjoys the local restaurants, and his two cats, Squeak and Squawk, keep him honest to the story on the screen.

Connect with the Author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest

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Friday, November 29, 2013

I, Spy by Jordan McCollum

I, Spy by Jordan McCollum
Durham Crest Books
ISBN: 978-1940096001
Published April 27, 2013
Trade paperback, 312 pages

This was a fun spy novel. Told in CIA operative Talia Reynold’s first person point of view, we get to experience her adventure as she balances her relationship with boyfriend Danny with her Top Secret occupation. Danny is an aerospace engineer and things get mixed up and messed up when she is on a secret mission targeting Fyodor Timofeyev, a Russian aerospace executive and possible spy. How can she possibly tell her boyfriend what she does for a living?

Talia proved to be an interesting character because she lets the reader in on a few CIA secrets and debunks certain spy myths too, and one can’t help smile at her funny rendition of situations in which she’s found herself. The fact that she’s a gun-toting tough Mormon girl who cannot drink alcohol but lies through her teeth (and more) to get her job done had me rolling my eyeballs. One cannot pin her as a devout Christian when she is clearly doing things the Bible condemns.

Apart from this, I have to say I liked the setting because Ottawa is less than two hours from Montreal where I live and I enjoyed all the mentions of Canadian places and stuff. This was a light and fun book to read. If you like light and humorous mysteries with a quirky spy girl taking the lead, this one’s for you.

Note: This book is rated C = clean read. I will count this book toward my Reading the World Challenge

Reviewed by Laura

Disclosure: Thanks to the author for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Daughter of the God-King by Anne Cleeland

Daughter of the God-King by Anne Cleeland
Sourcebooks Landmark
ISBN: 978-1402279850
Published: November 5, 2013
Trade Paperback, 368 pages

Hattie Blackhouse is a young woman who lives in Cornwall while her famous archaeologist parents are in Egypt most of the time exploring newly discovered tombs. She decides she's had enough of her monotonous life in Cornwall and travels to Paris, to her parents' townhouse in search of her childhood friend Robbie. Once there, she discovers that her parents have disappeared, and that her own life may be in danger. Something is afoot and Hattie wants to find out. She embarks on a trip to Egypt where her introduction to espionage, adventure and romance begin.

Author Anne Cleeland knows how to mix witty dialogue, strong characters, an espionage plot and romance together. Hattie Blackhouse may be small in stature, but she is intelligent and feisty. I like that she was also naive and vulnerable at times as it made her more real. Berry, the spy who is somehow embroiled in her parents' disappearance kept me guessing whose side he was on. I liked Miss Bing, Hattie's companion who was extremely knowledgeable, astute and could deal with shocking situations with a poker face. She was a great secondary character.

The story takes place during the Napoleonic era just after the emperor was exiled and this adds to the intrigue. Most of the novel takes place in Egypt and I learned a few things about its history, the British craze to own artifacts excavated from the Valley of the Kings, and how war can make traitors out of anyone. There are some heavy themes in this novel, but the author keeps them light and the romance overshadows them. Hattie, who's led a sheltered and uneventful life, seems to deal with certain situations a little too well, and sometimes with little emotion, like when a man is killed in front of her and there is no mention of how this made her feel.

So although light and fluffy, what I like the most about Cleeland's novels is that the writing style and language is clever and has the feel of being written two centuries ago. No modern idioms. If you like historical romance set in an exotic place with espionage, intrigue and adventure then this one is sure to please.

Note: This book is rated S= sexual content and V = violence (mild). There are two sex scenes, one of which is explicit. There is one scene with killing.

Reviewed by Laura

Disclosure: Thanks to Sourcebooks for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Moryak: A Novel of the Russian Revolution by Lee Mandel

Moryak: A Novel of the Russian Revolution by Lee Mandel
Glagoslav Publications
ISBN: 9781782670469
Published: February 2013
Trade Paperback, 398 pages

This is the story of Stephen Morrison, an officer in the US navy, who is asked by President Theodore Roosevelt to go to Russia on a top-secret mission in 1905. Morrison’s assignment is to collaborate with British agent Sidney Reilly to kidnap and possibly assassinate Tsar Nicholas. The President reveals that should this super-secret mission fail and if Morrison is caught, he will be completely disavowed by the American government...essentially he will be on his own.

Of course, the mission fails and the subsequent events reveal the essence of the story. A sub-story is Morrison’s search for himself, his fight with his personal demons and his desire to “fit in”, for both Morrison and Reilly are ex-pat Russian Jews living at a time when anti-Semitism is strong in America and England.

Historical fiction should evoke a time and place. In that sense this is excellent historical fiction. The reader is treated to a thorough description of the political situation in early 20th century pre-Revolution Russia, the various factions that make up the revolutionaries, the feeling of the proverbial ‘man on the street’ towards the very ineffectual Tsar, the fact that all of Europe is threatened by the unrest in Russia.

We ‘meet’ Tsar Nicholas (cousin of the present Queen’s great-grandfather – a "physically unimpressive man…quiet and very shy…he has a very aristocratic and condescending air about him" ; President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt – “he admired the president’s energy and presence, his sense of compassion”, and Bolshevik revolutionary Lenin. The author describes the plight of Russian Jews arriving in New York and settling in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, life in the American Jewish ghetto, the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, the elegant Waldorf Astoria hotel. Added to that, we get a glimpse into the world of espionage, spies, and political intrigue.

The author does an excellent job developing the character of Stephen Morrison who begins life as a young man attempting to escape his roots - he is the son of a rabbi and his real name is Lev Kambotchnik; how he “becomes” Morrison, and finally how he ends up as the sailor, Moryak. Throughout the story Morrison has deep-seated anger and an edge to him that the author fully develops. The ending will surprise you.

Perhaps this book was designed for a male audience. I would have given it my whole-hearted recommendation were it not for the violence, f-bombs and other salty expletives found throughout.

Note: This book is rated V = violence and P = profanity.

Reviewed by Sandra

Disclosure: Thanks to Yana Kovalskaya from Glagoslav Publications for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.