Stejskal’s ‘The Ratcatcher’ is a tight, hard-edged pursuit through 1957 Berlin, where a CIA officer and a Special Forces operative hunt a murderer across the border of East and West Berlin. The tradecraft and Cold War city paranoia feel earned, as Stejskal served in US Army Special Forces in the city and later in the CIA. Experience that shows on every street corner and safe house with authentic depictions of Berlin. A great spy novel with authentic espionage tradecraft and nods to class spy literature.
In this electrifying prequel to Dead Hand and the fifth installment in The Snake Eater Chronicles, James Stejskal plunges readers into the shadowy origins of a clandestine American Special Forces unit operating behind enemy lines at the height of the Cold War. Berlin, 1957. A city split in two, teetering on the edge of conflict. Soviet and Allied forces glare at each other across barbed wire and crumbling streets, while spies, traitors, and assassins move unseen in the murky half-light. When a brutal murder threatens to ignite an international crisis, an uneasy alliance is forged: a hardened CIA officer and…
The Peak is a character driven international thriller with the moral ambiguity of the espionage world and the high stakes of geopolitics wrapped around a tale of friendship and loyalty. It was great to read an Australian angle in a political/espionage thriller, especially one that incorporates China, Hong Kong, and modern geopolitical tensions. And with well-fleshed out characters and a quasi coming-of-age story set alongside the main plot, it made for compelling and addictive reading. Bonus points for the great soundtrack!
If you’ve read or seen Tokyo Vice, you already have an idea of what Tokyo Noir will be like, although this time it’s taking a wider lens into corporate Japan. It has Adelstein’s trademark style that has you on his shoulder as he traipses the streets, interviewing sources while providing excellent insight into Japanese culture. An unflinching, boots-on-the-pavement perspective that uncovers a hidden world of stories that go beyond the headlines. Disappointing it won’t see a TV adaptation like Tokyo Vice. Please someone make it happen!
The sequel to bestseller Tokyo Vice, now a major HBO drama, with a second season coming in 2024.
It's been a while since Jake Adelstein was the only gaijin crime reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun. The global economy is in shambles, Jake is off the police beat but still chain-smoking clove cigarettes, and Tadamasa Goto, the most powerful boss in the Japanese organised-crime world, has been banished from the yakuza, giving Adelstein one less enemy to worry about - for the time being.
Adelstein has a new gig these days: due-diligence work, or using his investigative skills to dig up…
What if a spy’s deadliest weapon was his imagination? In Colombia, MI6 analyst Oliver Jardine fakes intelligence sources to dodge reassignment—and his lies take on a life of their own. Rum, intrigue, and disinformation whirl from Bogotá bars to jungle hideouts—a darkly comedic thriller. For fans of Greene, Herron & Ross Thomas.
