When asked about my Caitlin Strong series, I always describe them as modern-day westerns. And, in fact, the thriller form itself owes a great deal of its heritage to that genre. Having grown up with the films of Audie Murphy and Roy Rogers—not to mention classics like Shane, The Magnificent Seven, and High Noon along…
Crown Jewel by Christopher Reich is the second thriller featuring spy-for-hire Simon Riske featuring stolen sports cars, brilliant casino heists, and the brazen kidnapping of a prince. Christopher Reich’s new hero, Simon Riske, is pitched as part Bond, part Reacher. Crown Jewel, the second book to feature Riske, leans more on the Bond side, with the…
Some books really do change your life. For me, it was Dr. No, not the first James Bond novel but the first to be turned into a movie in 1962. I read it when I was ten years old, stuck in an all-boys boarding school in North London, the sort of grim institution that the…
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Every Wednesday, we here at Criminal Element will put together a list of Staff Picks of the books that published the day before—sharing the ones that we are looking forward to reading the most! A lost James Bond-inspired novel from Donald Westlake and a new James Bourne thriller by Eric Van Lustbader highlight a great…
Donald E. Westlake once told me, “The difference between in print and out of print is precisely the difference between life and death.” He was alive when he said this, obviously; he was referring to the project we’d undertaken together to bring some of his more obscure early titles back into print. But I was…
The James Bond I prefer, the “real” James Bond, is the one that exists outside of the bloated, by-the-numbers films. The highly profitable franchise produced few faithful adaptations, the genuine articles being Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), the loyal-in-gritty-spirit For Your Eyes Only (1981), and Casino Royale (2006). Otherwise, cinema JB is…
Tell us which film you chose and why in the comments below!
Renowned gamesman Barclay Cooke (1912-1981) called backgammon “the cruelest game.” Memorable hyperbole? Perhaps. But vital skills are needed to play: intense concentration, clever strategy, and an ability to see ahead to possible traps—and still the probability of the roll can level the steel nerves of even the finest. That brutal unpredictability translates well to the…
While not the first fictional spy, James Bond is clearly the most notable. But notability doesn’t necessarily mean best. Spy fiction has exploded in just about every era with international conflict, inspiring every kind of spy—from the smooth and suave to the tough and heartless to the resourceful and tech-savvy and every kind in between. …
