“Just the straightforward, inarguable truth: Charles McCarry is the greatest espionage writer that America has ever produced.” -- Otto Penzler, New York Sun, 2004
I had never heard of [a:Charles McCarry|64540|Charles McCarry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1283383876p2/64540.jpg] until I read a Washington Post story documenting his death in 2019 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/charles-mccarry-cia-officer-who-became-a-pre-eminent-spy-novelist-dies-at-88/2019/02/28/9696b2f0-3b77-11e9-a2cd-307b06d0257b_story.html), but was intrigued enough by the above quote found in the story to order a copy of McCarry's first novel, [b:The Tears of Autumn|871695|The Tears of Autumn (Paul Christopher #2)|Charles McCarry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387347288l/871695._SX50_.jpg|857061].
Wow.
How did I not find this man until now? The book, written in 1974, holds up as well as any novel written today. The writing is sparse, but not thin. His descriptions aren't as lush as say [a:Dean Koontz|9355|Dean Koontz|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1581963714p2/9355.jpg] but they don't need to be. His settings are clear, his characters deep. It's [a:Tom Clancy|3892|Tom Clancy|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] before Tom Clancy and without the clutter of all the technology (which is one of the only reasons to read Clancy who is also one of my favorites).
Yes, I really enjoyed [b:The Tears of Autumn|871695|The Tears of Autumn (Paul Christopher #2)|Charles McCarry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387347288l/871695._SX50_.jpg|857061]. I highly recommend it.