Thursday, December 14, 2023

Exposing the Acts of Agents

Earlier today, CrimeReads posted its preferences in the way of espionage novels released over the course of 2023. I’m surprised this list is so short, given how many works in this genre have been endorsed by other Web and print publications:

Tomás Nevinson, by Javier Marías (Knopf)
Hope You Are Satisfied, by Tania Malik (Unnamed Press)
Beirut Station, by Paul Vidich (Pegasus)
Red London, by Alma Katsu (Putnam)
The Helsinki Affair, by Anna Pitoniak (Simon & Schuster)

Concurrently, Chicago Review of Books has posted a rundown of its 15 “Best Books We Read in 2023.” Those include a pair of works frequently classified as crime or thriller fiction: My Men, by Victoria Kielland (Astra House), which previously received thumbs up from both Tom Nolan and Sarah Weinman, and is definitely on my Christmas wishlist; and I Have Some Questions for You, by Rebecca Makkai (Viking), which also—quite unexpectedly—was chosen by Open Letters Review critic Steve Donoghue as one of “The Worst Books of 2023.” Gee, I guess you can’t please everyone.

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