once a spy

Keith Thomson is pretty new to the novel gig. Having written this book as his first novel, it looks like he's gone on since Once a Spy was published in 2010, to write two more, one of which is a follow-up to this one. He's also written at least one non-fiction book about pirates, which, according to Thomson's website, was published today, and is based--at least in part--on his own treasure hunting exploits. Thomson has also written scripts, does some painting, is interested in aircraft, was an editorial cartoonist for a paper out of New York, and played semi-pro baseball in France. So... busy guy.

I've read a fair amount of spy, and spy-type books, and this one comes at the genre from a whole different direction, which is refreshing. There were some things about this story that reminded me of the Chuck TV show. * And I'm a little surprised to hear that there is a sequel to this book, but I can imagine how that might be something the publisher might have been interested in, and the author did have a little wiggle room to continue the story.

Like a lot of good spy stories, there are a number of plot lines cranking along from the beginning, and it isn't always clear where and how the come together. Thomson did a good job of weaving those plot lines to leave us guessing. I'm going to keep my eye out for the follow-up.

 

* Chuck ran for 5 seasons on NBC beginning in 2007. Chuck was good, by the way, so check it out if you have the chance.