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Learn moreEarly one morning in West Berlin, a nervous courier delivers the handwritten manuscript of a dissident Russian novel to Paul Christopher. Minutes after the handoff, the courier's spine is neatly snapped by an impact with a passing black sedan.
Meanwhile, in Rome, Christopher's wife Cathy takes a famous film director as a lover to stir her husband out of the stoicism that defines his personality.
These two seemingly discreet events set in motion a spiral of operational and personal intrigue, leading Christopher from the caf├®s of old Europe to the front lines of the Cold War in the Congo. As he secretly arranges the publication of a novel that could bring the Soviet system to its knees, he races to identify the leak that compromised his messenger—and possibly the entire mission.
Since his reemergence with the publication ofOld Boys, Charles McCarry has been once again heralded as one of the select few espionage novelists who manages to break out of his genre to shine as a brilliant novelist in his own right.The Secret Loversis McCarry at his best: an exploration of the epic scope of "the great game," but also a riveting psychological portrait of a man ensnared by a profession that never failed to exert its insidious influence outside the professional boundaries—and that, like the facade of diplomacy that outwardly held the Cold War in check, could never contain its violent essence.
Charles McCarry is the author of ten critically acclaimed novels and nine nonfiction books. He is a former editor-at-large of National Geographic and has contributed dozens of articles, short stories, and poems to leading national magazines. His op-ed pieces and other essays have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. For ten years he served under deep cover as a CIA operations officer.
Stefan Rudnicki is an award winning audiobook narrator, director and producer. He was born in Poland and now resides in Studio City, California. He has narrated more than three hundred audiobooks and has participated in over a thousand as a writer, producer, or director. He is a recipient of multiple Audie Awards and AudioFile Earphones Awards as well as a Grammy Award, a Bram Stoker Award, and a Ray Bradbury Award. He received AudioFile’s award for 2008 Best Voice in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Along with a cast of other narrators, Rudnicki has read a number of Orson Scott Card's best-selling science fiction novels. He worked extensively with many other science fiction authors, including David Weber and Ben Bova. In reviewing the twentieth anniversary edition audiobook of Card’s Ender's Game, Publishers Weekly stated, "Rudnicki, with his lulling, sonorous voice, does a fine job articulating Ender's inner struggle between the kind, peaceful boy he wants to be and the savage, violent actions he is frequently forced to take." Rudnicki is also a stage actor and director.
Reviews
“The absolute best thriller writer alive.”
“Mr. McCarry’s spy novels…are as much a part of our national literature as the works of Mark Twain, Raymond Chandler, and Ernest Hemingway and…belong on the shelves of anyone who thinks good books matter.”
“Paul Christopher…is an original…Stefan Rudnicki navigates the complex plot, establishing both time and place expertly. From West Berlin to Rome to the Congo, in love scenes or in clandestine meetings, Rudnicki makes it all real…Graceful writing that never misses its mark and a riveting performance by Rudnicki.”
“A good cat-and-mouse game, with a little sex and murder thrown in for fun.”
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