Tag Archives: espionage
“The File on H” by Ismail Kadare
When you visit Albania – which I highly recommend – you should not only get a guidebook, but read a few books by Ismail Kadare during your trip. Of the ones I have read so far, I enjoyed The File on H the … Continue reading
Better than a Spy Novel: the Trump-Kremlin Files
I was sitting in the park outside of the courthouse in Puno today, reading Nuestro hombre en La Habana and, fittingly, smoking a habano, when a gentleman in a suit – but without a hat – walked up to me and … Continue reading
Film Review: James Bond “SPECTRE”
This film review doesn’t require a spoiler warning because the latest James Bond film SPECTRE doesn’t have a discernible plot anyway. It is more of an unorganized sequence of badly written and halfheartedly acted scenes. Like a car-boot sale trying to get … Continue reading
Pro-tip: Don’t ever return to the Office!
When you return to the office after six years of retirement (due to the Iran story, as you may remember) to say hello to the few surviving colleagues, you will also meet the gentleman whose name would simply be “Q” in … Continue reading
Burn after Reading
After the semi-successful completion of my mission in Romania, it’s time to move again. That means that I have to go through the same protocol as with every other move before. Step 1 Burn all documents about the completed mission. For that … Continue reading
Film Review: “The Man from UNCLE”
In a summer full of yet more stupid vampire, dragon, animation, monster and trying-to-be-funny movies, you have to be thankful for any spy movie that makes waiting for the next James Bond film a bit easier. Even if it’s not a … Continue reading
Book Review: “Young Philby” by Robert Littell
I don’t know why I go for historical fiction or alternative history again and again, when I should know by now that I’ll be annoyed or disappointed. In Young Philby, Robert Littell tries to flesh out the early life of … Continue reading
Film Review: “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
There are spy stories which have become better by being turned into movies (Ian Fleming’s James Bond being the prime example) and there are those whose writers never should have given permission for their stories to be put on the screen. Tom Rob Smith’s Child … Continue reading
“A Spy at the Heart of the Third Reich” by Lucas Delattre
“A Spy at the Heart of the Third Reich” would be one of the best spy novels I have ever read, if only it was a novel. But even better, it’s a true story. It’s a cliché that the best stories are … Continue reading
Oops. I need to move again.
If stuff like this keeps happening, how am I supposed to get settled in a place? Which idiot had the idea to comprise one list of all foreign agents? With their real and their cover names even. “Does anyone want the key to the apartment … Continue reading
The Happy Hermit 