PAUL VIDICH & CHARLES CUMMING chat to Paul Burke about their latest novels BEIRUT STATION and KENNEDY 35 respectively. The Cold War, the luminal space, inherently political.

BEIRUT STATION Lebanon, 2006. The Israel–Hezbollah war is tearing Beirut apart and the country is on the brink of chaos.
The CIA and Mossad are targeting a reclusive Hezbollah terrorist. They turn to young Lebanese-American CIA agent, Analise, who has the perfect plan. However, Analise begins to suspect that Mossad has a motive of its own.
She alerts the agency but their response is for her to drop it. Analise is now the target and there is no one she can trust.

Paul Vidich was a senior executive in the entertainment industry for over twenty years. After leaving his business career he turned to writing full time. His first novel, An Honorable Man, a Publisher’s Weekly top 10 Mystery and Thriller in 2016, was followed by The Good Assassin. The Coldest Warrior is his third novel. His essays and nonfiction have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Lithub, The Nation, CrimeReads, and elsewhere.  Beirut Station is his 6th novel.

KENNEDY 35: 1995: In the wake of the Rwandan genocide, 24-year-old spy Lachlan Kite and his girlfriend, Martha Raine, are sent to Senegal on the trail of a hunted war criminal. The mission threatens to spiral out of control, forcing Kite to make choices that will have devastating consequences not only for his career at top-secret intelligence agency BOX 88, but also for his relationship with Martha.
2023: Eric Appiah, an old friend from Kite’s days at school and an off-the-record BOX 88 asset, makes contact with explosive information about what happened all those years ago in West Africa. When tragedy strikes, Kite must use all his resources to bring down a criminal network with links to international terror … and protect Martha from possible assassination.

Charles Cumming debut A Spy by Nature (2001) announced a major new talent in the espionage field. His 10th novel Box 88 introduced Lachlan Kite, Kennedy 35 is the third novel to feature Lockie.  Charles has been described as the new le Carré.  

Recommendations David McCloskey, IS Berry, Joseph Kanon, Mick Herron, Graham Greene, Len Deighton, John le Carré.

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network. He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2023. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out in 2025.

Music courtesy of  Guy Hale KILLING ME SOFTLY - MIKE ZITO featuring Kid Anderson. GUY HALE 

Produced by Junkyard Dog

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