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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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 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 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…
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…
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…
