Tom Bradby is the political editor of ITV, which must be a very demanding job (influential, too, as he is said to have been instrumental, through his reporting, in David Cameron’s elevation to leadership of the Conservative party – blimey!) Somehow, he also finds the time to write thrillers which evidently sell very well indeed. I confess that I haven’t yet read any, but they look interesting.
Now I have received a review copy of his latest, Blood Money (Bantam). The press release says: ‘A banker lies dead on Wall Street and rookie cop Joe Quinn is assigned to find out how he got there’. Yes, you guessed it – the setting is 1929, and amidst economic turmoil, bankers are not the most popular people around. So – a historical crime novel, but perhaps with relevance to the present day. I must get round to reading this one.
Another writer on my shamefully long list of those I haven’t read at all is the American Barry Eisler. Like Bradby, he has an intimidatingly impressive CV- he worked for the CIA’s director of operations before moving to Japan and earning a black belt in judo. So even if I didn’t enjoy his work (perish the thought) I’d be inclined to keep very quiet about it.
Eisler’s latest is Requiem for an Assassin (Penguin), the fifth book in a series featuring an assassin called John Rain. It looks like a thriller crammed with authentic background detail.
Saturday, 7 February 2009
Saturday Selection - Tom Bradby, Barry Eisler
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4 comments:
I'm writing some flash stories featuring an assassin so Eisler’s novel sounds intriguing. Thanks.
Have you read any Eisler? I don't think he's been published much in the UK, but someone I met at Bouchercon rated his books highly.
I've read the first couple of Eisler books, and think they're great. I stopped only because he switched from the Japanese setting of the first couple and takes his protagonist to other parts of the world, which isn't a negative, just takes some adjusting for the committed series reader.
I had a funny experience of sitting next to a woman on a plane once and finding a sort of affinity through our Barry Eisler love, which was odd. I think she was disappointed to discover that I wasn't really young enough to date her son, but life is tough.
Thanks - then I guess that it would be a good idea for me to start at the beginning of the series and see how John Rain moves around.
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