Almost exactly two years ago I did a Short Story Wednesday post on The Big Book of Espionage, edited by Otto Penzler. I read two stories in the book and enjoyed them both. Since then I haven't read another story in the book. This week I returned to the anthology and read three additional stories.
This time, the stories I read were set in the years leading up to and during World War II. The first two stories I read were "The Army of the Shadows" by Eric Ambler and "The Courier" by Dan Fesperman. These were both very good stories by authors I have read and enjoyed. But my favorite read was a novella, first published as a part of the Bibliomystery Series by The Mysterious Bookshop in 2015.
''Citadel" by Stephen Hunter
This story is a good deal longer than the other stories I have read in this book. In this anthology, with larger pages formatted with two columns, the story is about 44 pages long. In the paperback edition published by The Mysterious Bookshop, it is 147 pages (per Goodreads).
The story opens with a Lysander [a Westland Lysander, an aircraft known for its short-field performance, good for clandestine missions] taking off from somewhere in the UK; the objective is to land in occupied France just long enough to deliver a spy to a small village not too far from Paris.
From that point the story goes back and forth between the planning for the mission to France, the explanation for the mission, the drop-off in France, and the complicated execution of the mission. The main character is Basil St. Florian, who has carried out other missions in the past. There is plenty of time spent revealing the background of the character, and fleshing out the German soldiers and officers that he has to deal with along the way.
I enjoyed this story. Generally I prefer Cold War spy fiction, but I have read all kinds. This one kept me entertained and intrigued. I know very little about this author, but I liked his writing and I will look into his other books.
I first learned about The Big Book of Espionage at George Kelley's blog. George gives a good overview of what the book has to offer and lists all the stories and authors, so be sure to check out his post.
The book has four sections with a total of 55 stories: The Great War (19); World War II (6); Other Terrors, Other Battles (19); and The Cold War (11). The book is large format with over 800 pages. Some of the authors are surprising, at least to me (Sara Paretsky, Erle Stanley Gardner, Brendan DuBois).
10 comments:
I always think I don't much like spy fiction, then I read something spy based, enjoy it and realise I don't mind it as much as I thought I did. I'm reading A Scream in Soho by John Brandon at the moment, a WW2 London yarn and it's very much a spy sort of story and very good!
I'm a big fan of Otto Penzler's BIG BOOK series. Yes, I have this book and like the others in this series, there's something here for every reader!
It sounds as though there's a solid variety among the stories in that book, Tracy. I happen to have liked the Eric Ambler work I've read, so it's good to know he's represented there. And Citadel sounds fascinating! Glad you enjoyed it.
I can't even explain why I don't care for spy fiction. My husband loved it and read all the major writers. I think it's something to do with betrayal perhaps. Betraying your country, betraying your principles? Just not sure.
Cath, There is a lot of variety in espionage, so it doesn't surprise me that you would find some that you enjoy. A lot of espionage is very thrillerish, with lots of action, and I like that but my favorites are those that are slower, more thoughtful. However some readers complain that those are too slow.
I am not familiar with John Brandon but I see that A Scream in Soho is a British Library reprint, so I will look into that.
George, this is a very good Big Book of short stories and I am looking forward to reading some more by my favorite spy fiction authors. But sometimes I find the format just too large. I have a few more of Penzler's Big Books, but I am seriously thinking of getting a Kindle copy the next time I want one.
Margot, the Eric Ambler story was very good and kind of like his longer spy stories that I have read.
Patti, it does seem like most spy fiction includes a lot of betrayal, and no one can trust anyone else. I cannot quite explain why I enjoy spy fiction so much and I often have a hard time reviewing books in that genre.
I have some spy fiction authors that I have kept all their books so that I can reread them someday. Olen Steinhauer and Charles McCarry for sure. And some of Len Deighton's books, especially the Bernard Samson books.
Espionage, and fiction about it, is more about doing bad things for a supposedly good cause than anything other than the warfare it theoretically hopes to minimize. As you know, I;ve been enjoying the sprig of espionage series popping up on cable and broadcast of late (though the imports, MS FISHER'S and A SPY AMONG FRIENDS, are both already run through...leaving the 2 US broadcast series, THE COMPANY YOU KEEP and TRUE LIES, and whatever I can cadge from the few streamers we retain).
I shall probably seek out a copy of the BIG BOOK sometime down the road...
Todd, I will have to look into the Ms Fisher series. I remember you mentioning it earlier. I definitely want to see TRUE LIES. Will have to look into The Company You Keep. Also want to watch A SPY AMONG FRIENDS but I did not think we could get it streaming.
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