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Cold War

The Edgar Awards Revisited: A Cold, Red Sunrise by Stuart Kaminsky (Best Novel; 1989)

By Martin Quinn

September 6, 2019

In a time when Russian malfeasance on the global stage dominates our discourse, it’s refreshing to read a book that explores the humanity and tenderness of the Russian people. A Cold, Red Sunrise, the fifth in the Inspector Rostnikov series, takes place toward the end of the Cold War. Ordinary people are at the mercy…

Review: The Hapsburg Variation by Bill Rapp

By Janet Webb

December 1, 2017

The Hapsburg Variation by Bill Rapp is the second book in the Cold War Thriller series (available December 1, 2017). Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it. Readers of The Hapsburg Variation will undoubtedly reference this truism since it’s a guiding principle for protagonist Karl Baier. It seemed to Karl Baier…

Bill Rapp Excerpt: The Hapsburg Variation

By Bill Rapp

November 28, 2017

The Hapsburg Variation by Bill Rapp is the second book in the Cold War Thriller series (available December 1, 2017). Eight years into his career with the CIA, Karl Baier once again finds himself on the front line of the Cold War. He is stationed in Vienna in the spring of 1955 as Austria and…

5 Reasons 50s-Era Cuba Is the Perfect Setting for a Thriller

By Paul Vidich

May 12, 2017

I set my second novel in Cuba in the closing months of 1958, when American power brokers in Washington—namely the CIA, FBI, White House, and State Department—dithered between support for the corrupt but reliably pro-American Batista regime and the popular but largely unknown Castro-led rebellion. The tension between democratic ideals and predictable tyranny was on…

With All Your Might: The Lasting Obsession with WWII Thrillers and Alternate History Stories

By Thom Truelove

June 6, 2016

The WWII thriller and alternate history set in the same period are small time machines. If Walter Benjamin’s famous quote is taken into account, “History is written by the victors,” then it is rewritten as we come to terms with the past. Alternate histories concerning World War II appeared almost immediately following the war, and…

Night Life: New Excerpt

By David C. Taylor

April 28, 2016

Night Life by David C. Taylor is the 1st Michael Cassidy novel. It is nominated for the Edgar Award for “Best Novel.” The Cold War is heating up. Senator Joe McCarthy is running a witch hunt for Communists in America. The newly formed CIA is fighting a turf battle with the FBI to see who…

Better Dead: New Excerpt

By Max Allan Collins

April 26, 2016

Better Dead by Max Allan Collins is the 15th Nathan Heller Thriller (Available May 3, 2016). It's the early 1950's. Joe McCarthy is campaigning to rid America of the Red Menace. Nate Heller is doing legwork for the senator, though the Chicago detective is disheartened by McCarthy's witch-hunting tactics. He's made friends with a young…

The Tamarind Seed: New Excerpt

By Evelyn Anthony

December 1, 2015

The Tamarind Seed by international bestselling author Evelyn Anthony was made into a 1974 movie starring Julie Andrews, and is now finally hitting the e-shelves as an ebook. In this suspenseful thriller of Cold War espionage, UN assistant Judith Farrow becomes embroiled in an international plot when she’s just trying to take some time off…

Something’s Amis: Colonel Sun and its Place in the James Bond Series.

By David Cranmer

November 23, 2015

It’s the 1960’s, and as the James Bond franchise is in the midst of exploding onto the scene, the author and creator of 007, Ian Fleming, dies on August 12, 1964. While Goldfinger (1964), the third Bond film drawn from Fleming’s novels about the British secret agent with a license to kill, would be released…

Reflections of a Spy: The Secret Pilgrim

By David Cranmer

September 3, 2015

Ned—a surname-less protagonist who first appeared in The Russia House (1989)—runs the Sarratt agent training school for The Circus (a thinly disguised MI6) and invites the retired George Smiley to speak as guest of honor at the commencement. Initially Ned is doubtful the laconic Smiley will accept his offer but the old spy seems quite…

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