Alger Hiss, the Soviet spy at the center of my novel, Gods of Deception, hardly fits the mold of his contemporaries, such infamous Cold War agents as Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, Donald Maclean, and John Cairncross (the Cambridge Five), who were all plagued by fears of exposure, alcoholism, and some would say self-hate…
Holy Orders by Benjamin Black is the sixth novel featuring Dublin's pathologist Quirke in mid-century Ireland (available August 20, 2013). No one even pretends that it’s a secret. Irish mystery writer Benjamin Black is the pen name of multi-award winning literary writer, John Banville. While Banville is highly acclaimed for his literary work and won…
Recently, I’ve noticed a genre label being used, and I don’t understand what it means. I’m hoping CE readers can help define this slippery term: “literary thriller.” It’s in use by authors, agents, marketing departments, reviewers, bloggers, tweeters and a host of others. However, its usage is also inconsistent, confusing, and mystifying. I think it’s…
I haven’t had a lot of experience listening to audiobooks. For the occasional long drive, I have a stash of cassettes (old car) containing short stories and novellas. I like to listen to them because they are, well, short. Generally, so is my attention span. Recently, I had the opportunity to listen to Elegy for…
