Time for a little fun, folks. I have just received my ultra cool Advance Reader Copies of THE CLEANER. But they’re not doing any good sitting here in a box with me. I want to get them into your hands!
Over the next couple of months, I’m planning on giving away a few copies to lucky winners. (Okay, lucky is subjective. You’ll let me know what you think after you read it.)
Well, today is the first day of contest #1. The question is…how to choose a winner?
This is what I’ve come up with. Everyone (with exception of those listed below) who enters is eligible. To enter you just need to post a comment here with the title of your favorite spy novel and a one sentence synopsis. For example, here’s what mine would be:
THE QUIET AMERICAN by Graham Greene.
A story of love, lust, jealousy and misguided patriotism set in the turbulent world of 1950s Vietnam.
That’s it. This way we can all learn about books we might not have known about and you all get the chance to win a copy of my book. All entries that have given the appropriate information will be put in a hat. The winner will then be pulled randomly.
Contest ends in 2 weeks on January 31st. You can enter as many times as you want, but only one entry per person will be valid!!
And if you are a member of Killer Year, my writing group, or my family, you can also enter, BUT you aren’t eligible to win. Sorry, gang. You can hit me up for a copy later.
21 comments:
The Human Factor - Graham Greene, 1978
Maurice Castle must decide what he needs to do to save his family, and then whether he can pay that price.
Nice. Another Graham Greene fan...
The Tailor of Panama - John Le Carre, 1997.
Harry Pendel is an unassuming tailor in Panama, who is working as informant to the British government. What his people don't know is that Harry has an agenda all his own.
And they made a movie out of it starring Geoffrey Rush and Pierce Brosnan.
Stacey
The Scorpio Illusion - Robert Ludlum, 1993.
An ex-naval intelligence officer is brought out of retirement to stop the world's most dangerous terrorist - who happens to be one smokin' hot lady.
I am wholly incapable of writing single-sentence descriptions of books (was born without the gene that allows it), but what a cool idea for a contest! And I love The Quiet American...
Spooker - Dean Ing
An innocent DEA agent becomes the target of an ex-KGB mother and son team who now make their living hunting fellow spies.
‘A Coffin for Dimitrios’ by Eric Ambler - [aka The Mask of Dimitrios]
Is in novel terms an existential espionage novel, focusing on why society requires ‘enforcers’ like Dimitrios to make the world revolve.
The Cleaner - Brett Battles
Berlin is again a city of that will send chills down your spine.
Another Robert Ludlum: The Matarese Countdown.
Substitute super-agent for retired Navy officer and Russian counterpart for world's most dangerous terrorist and we've got the same blurb. *g*
Eye of the Needle, Ken Follett 1978
The allies have the Germans convinced they plan to invade Calais. Only one spy knows the truth, and the only person preventing him from getting that knowledge to the Nazis is Lucy Rose, a woman caring for her crippled husband on a lonely island.
The Bridge Of Sighs - Olen Steinhauer, 2002
In 1948, in a small, unnamed Eastern European country, homicide detective Emil Brod has been assigned his first case in the People's Militia, and his colleagues think he's a spy.
Gorky Park - Martin Cruz Smith
Three dead bodies buried in the snow add the crooked members of the KGB, the FBI, and the NYPD and have fun.
Patriot Games - Tom Clancy
From Great Britain to the US, danger follows CIA agent, Jack Ryan, and his family, landing them in the midst of international terrorism.
Ya know what's embarrassing? I've realized that I can't think of a single international thriller that I've read. I'm sure there's something (and I REALLY want an ARC), but I can't think of a single one. Dammit. I'll have to check with the hubster & see if he can think of anything...
The Messenger by Daniel Silva. Around the globe action involving the world art community, Israeli Mossad, The Pope and the U.S. President.
Doctor No - Ian Fleming, 1958
Poor James Bond, after recovering from a bizarre shoe poisoning, his rest trip to Jamaica has him fighting off a mechanical dragon and a half German-half Chinese supervillian with only his close personal friend, Honeychile Rider, to lend a hand.
Less Than a Shadow by David Chacko.
A prominent journalist is murdered in Istanbul escalating into high drama involving the Turkish Mafia,a lethal hidden secret and a terrible threat about to change the Middle East forever.
I can't possibly choose one, and I'm running out of time. So, accounting for the fact that John Rain is an assassin, not a spy, I'll have to go with the latest spy thriller I've read:
Legends, by Robert Littell: A man tries to sort out his past identies to find out the truth of who he is and, er ... not die. (See, I'm horrible at boiling it down to one line! It's a good book, I swear!)
The Eiger Sanction, by Trevanian.
I can't believe nobody's mentioned this one yet. It's a brilliant piece of writing that's almost a send-up of the espionage genre--but also bloody, action-packed, sadistic, and clever as fuck.
Crap, that's two lines.
Do cozy spy thrillers count?
Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station- Dorthy Gilman, 1983
Senior citizen spy outsmarts the Chinese government.
Stormbreaker - Anthony Horowitz
After discovering his recently murdered uncle was really a spy, 14 year-old Alex Rider is recruited by MI6 to take over his uncle's mission and infiltrate a prep school.
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