What do you think?
Rate this book
Spies Lie #5
Baksheesh: Bribes
A covert operative is ready for a new life outside of international espionage. But her enemies are far from willing to let her go…
She spied for her country, blackmailed her president, and ran from more threats than she can remember. But when the love of her life proposes, covert agent Cassandra Sashakovich is finally ready to settle down. Unfortunately her past is not quite ready to let her walk away.
Old enemies—including a vengeful president—want her dead, and they’re willing to attack her loved ones, including her adopted teenage daughter, if that’s what it takes.
But Cassandra has other pressing problems—a world leader is assassinated and an arm dealer’s revenge threatens to lead to nuclear war. Now Cassandra and her security firm, Swiftshadow must defuse the threats and find a way to outmaneuver those who threaten not only her family, but her country as well.
She spied for her country, blackmailed her president, and ran from more threats than she can remember. But when the love of her life proposes, covert agent Cassandra Sashakovich is finally ready to settle down. Unfortunately her past is not quite ready to let her walk away.
Old enemies—including a vengeful president—want her dead, and they’re willing to attack her loved ones, including her adopted teenage daughter, if that’s what it takes.
But Cassandra has other pressing problems—a world leader is assassinated and an arm dealer’s revenge threatens to lead to nuclear war. Now Cassandra and her security firm, Swiftshadow must defuse the threats and find a way to outmaneuver those who threaten not only her family, but her country as well.
372 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 25, 2015
32 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
D.S. Kane
11 books52 followersDS Kane is the name I've chosen to write under. I worked in the field of covert intelligence for over a decade. During that time, my cover was my real name, and I was on the faculty of NYU's Stern Graduate School of Business. I traveled globally for clients including government and military agencies, the largest banks, and Fortune 100 corporations, and while in-country, I did side jobs for our government. One of the banks I investigated housed the banking assets of many of the world's intelligence agencies and secret police forces, including the CIA and NSA. Much of my work product was pure but believable fiction, lies I told, and truths I concealed. Secrets that—if revealed—might have gotten me killed. When my cover got blown, I fled the field and moved 3,000 miles.
Now, I'm a former spy, still writing fiction. Through my novels, I expose the way intelligence agencies craft fiction for sale to sway their countries and manipulate their national policy, driving countries into dangerous conflicts.
I've been published under my real name many times in financial trade journals on topics including global banking, computer fraud and countermeasures, financial forecasting, global electronic-funds transfer networks, and corporate finance, including one book on finance published by a major publisher. I've been a featured speaker at financial conferences and conventions. My children's book, A Teenager's Guide to Money, Banking and Finance, was published in 1987 by Simon & Schuster. I was once the CEO of an ebook publishing company.
I've been adjunct faculty at the Whidbey Island MFA program, and also teach a course at the Muse Online Writers Conference entitled Covert Training and Covert Operations for Fiction Writers, and taught one on a similar topic at California libraries, funded by a federal grant. I've taught a thriller-writing course at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference and was a featured speaker at a dinner meeting of the California Writers Club. I taught finance at the Stern Graduate Business School of New York University for over ten years, and am one of the co-founders of ActFourWriters.com, a unique email-based novelists' critique group.
Now, I'm a former spy, still writing fiction. Through my novels, I expose the way intelligence agencies craft fiction for sale to sway their countries and manipulate their national policy, driving countries into dangerous conflicts.
I've been published under my real name many times in financial trade journals on topics including global banking, computer fraud and countermeasures, financial forecasting, global electronic-funds transfer networks, and corporate finance, including one book on finance published by a major publisher. I've been a featured speaker at financial conferences and conventions. My children's book, A Teenager's Guide to Money, Banking and Finance, was published in 1987 by Simon & Schuster. I was once the CEO of an ebook publishing company.
I've been adjunct faculty at the Whidbey Island MFA program, and also teach a course at the Muse Online Writers Conference entitled Covert Training and Covert Operations for Fiction Writers, and taught one on a similar topic at California libraries, funded by a federal grant. I've taught a thriller-writing course at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference and was a featured speaker at a dinner meeting of the California Writers Club. I taught finance at the Stern Graduate Business School of New York University for over ten years, and am one of the co-founders of ActFourWriters.com, a unique email-based novelists' critique group.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 4, 2016
This instalment in the 'Spies Lie' technothriller series is shorter than 'Swiftshadow' and ties in quite a few of the earlier themes, enough densely packed material almost to reach critical mass. If you have not read any of the previous books this will take some catching up to, but mainly you need to know that Cassandra Sashakovich, originally a financial genius, set up a security and hacking agency after a US government agency paid her to hack banks in the Arab world. She is introduced in Swiftshadow and has become the real backbone of this series. By now Cassie has been shot in the face, poor lady, and tells her plastic surgeon to give her a face back 'but not the same as the last new face you gave me'. I lost track of how many times she was officially dead or not dead during the course of this book.
Maybe because I'm female I liked the engagements in this tale, bringing home the human normality of the cast, and Cassie's effort to leave her old life behind her and run a restaurant with her lover Lee Ainsley. As we can imagine the wider world is not at peace and a threat emerges which requires her skills and those of her agency. An updated version of 'Dogs Of War' occurs and various agencies from various governments are all seemingly beyond any law. I don't like to give away too much of the plot, but it's nice that Cassie's resourceful adopted daughter Ann starts to come into her own. I think too much is made of Ann's newfound hacking ability, just because it takes time to build up experience and get to know a suite of tools. It's still nice. I also like the insertion of a dogged investigative reporter April O'Toole, although we see nothing of this lady's life and don't really get to know her as a person.
What I didn't enjoy was the multitude of deaths and occasional sheer nastiness. I had to take a break from reading a few times. Especially when ordinary people are killed in a twist that seems pointless. But terrorism does such things as we know. And maybe the author has something going on that he hasn't revealed yet, because there's a further book awaiting us. I look forward to the adventure.
Maybe because I'm female I liked the engagements in this tale, bringing home the human normality of the cast, and Cassie's effort to leave her old life behind her and run a restaurant with her lover Lee Ainsley. As we can imagine the wider world is not at peace and a threat emerges which requires her skills and those of her agency. An updated version of 'Dogs Of War' occurs and various agencies from various governments are all seemingly beyond any law. I don't like to give away too much of the plot, but it's nice that Cassie's resourceful adopted daughter Ann starts to come into her own. I think too much is made of Ann's newfound hacking ability, just because it takes time to build up experience and get to know a suite of tools. It's still nice. I also like the insertion of a dogged investigative reporter April O'Toole, although we see nothing of this lady's life and don't really get to know her as a person.
What I didn't enjoy was the multitude of deaths and occasional sheer nastiness. I had to take a break from reading a few times. Especially when ordinary people are killed in a twist that seems pointless. But terrorism does such things as we know. And maybe the author has something going on that he hasn't revealed yet, because there's a further book awaiting us. I look forward to the adventure.
December 17, 2015
Baksheesh
by DS Kane
I wish to thank author DS Kane and his team for an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
Baksheesh is the fifth book in the series “Spies Lie” and centers on Cassandra Sashakovich, a former covert agent recovering from a brutal assassination attempt and her efforts to build a new life – one that includes a family. With powerful enemies still hunting her and her loved ones, she is forced to fight rather than to recuperate time and again. As a fascinating collection of allies forms around Cassandra and an
unlikely network of enemies is revealed, her family, friends, and colleagues fight to prevent a catastrophe
of truly epic scale.
As a reader who NEVER picks up a book in the middle of a series, I was a bit nervous that I might not have all the background on the characters to truly enjoy the book. Having loaded the file onto my kindle, I set off for one of my favorite spots to enjoy the book and a beer. I was frustrated that the type was difficult to read, but decided to try to make it work for a chapter, just to get a feel for it. Within a few pages I was hooked, and sat squinting through chapter five. I decided to print a copy for easier reading and ended up on page 209 in my second sitting. The rest of the book was finished during my lunch break the next day.
I was amazed at how quickly I became comfortable with the well-developed characters. Even without the full back story, I found most of the major figures both likable and believable. The story itself was incredibly well paced, with multiple subplots expertly woven together. I was also impressed with the effectiveness with which the author blended tradecraft, technology, and tactics without artifice. The author’s style was clean, with just the right amount of description for each setting. Areas of tradecraft or technology that might not be familiar to the average reader were explained succinctly and in a manner that added to rather than distracted from the action.
There were only a few scenes or details that struck me as odd or unneeded, but the story flowed so well I chalked it up to potential foreshadowing or possible missed references from earlier books in the series. These minor details did not detract or distract from the plot significantly. While only a few plot twists caught me off guard, I liked the way that many, but not all of the loose ends were resolved as the story ended. Most of all, however, I enjoyed watching Cassandra and her companions balance emotion, intellect, instinct, and action in ways that felt real rather than contrived.
I truly enjoyed Baksheesh, and have already added the other works from the Spies Lie series (Bloodridge, DeathByte, Swiftshadow, and GrayNet) to the top of my “must read” list.
by DS Kane
I wish to thank author DS Kane and his team for an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
Baksheesh is the fifth book in the series “Spies Lie” and centers on Cassandra Sashakovich, a former covert agent recovering from a brutal assassination attempt and her efforts to build a new life – one that includes a family. With powerful enemies still hunting her and her loved ones, she is forced to fight rather than to recuperate time and again. As a fascinating collection of allies forms around Cassandra and an
unlikely network of enemies is revealed, her family, friends, and colleagues fight to prevent a catastrophe
of truly epic scale.
As a reader who NEVER picks up a book in the middle of a series, I was a bit nervous that I might not have all the background on the characters to truly enjoy the book. Having loaded the file onto my kindle, I set off for one of my favorite spots to enjoy the book and a beer. I was frustrated that the type was difficult to read, but decided to try to make it work for a chapter, just to get a feel for it. Within a few pages I was hooked, and sat squinting through chapter five. I decided to print a copy for easier reading and ended up on page 209 in my second sitting. The rest of the book was finished during my lunch break the next day.
I was amazed at how quickly I became comfortable with the well-developed characters. Even without the full back story, I found most of the major figures both likable and believable. The story itself was incredibly well paced, with multiple subplots expertly woven together. I was also impressed with the effectiveness with which the author blended tradecraft, technology, and tactics without artifice. The author’s style was clean, with just the right amount of description for each setting. Areas of tradecraft or technology that might not be familiar to the average reader were explained succinctly and in a manner that added to rather than distracted from the action.
There were only a few scenes or details that struck me as odd or unneeded, but the story flowed so well I chalked it up to potential foreshadowing or possible missed references from earlier books in the series. These minor details did not detract or distract from the plot significantly. While only a few plot twists caught me off guard, I liked the way that many, but not all of the loose ends were resolved as the story ended. Most of all, however, I enjoyed watching Cassandra and her companions balance emotion, intellect, instinct, and action in ways that felt real rather than contrived.
I truly enjoyed Baksheesh, and have already added the other works from the Spies Lie series (Bloodridge, DeathByte, Swiftshadow, and GrayNet) to the top of my “must read” list.
September 5, 2020
This is book five of the Spies Lie series and sees covert operative Cass (Cassandra) Sashakovich trying to change future and have a life outside of the espionage world and for a bit of normality, but she has made a lot of enemies and they aren’t willing to let her go free. She has been looking into this for months after having to blackmail the president to help keep her new company Swiftshadow safe, spied for her country and been an assassin of some note. But now she has her boyfriend Lee and her adopted daughter Ann for her own family and she wants them to be safe. When Lee proposes, Cass has to find a safe location and new identities for all of them. She can no longer just go off on her own. She has others in her life and they depend upon her now.
Her former boss and the ex-president want her dead, but there are those in the company who think this demand for revenge goes a bit too far, especially when an innocent sixteen year old girl is being targeted for killing, simply due to her being close to Cass and part of her new family. Even a simple out of the way wedding ceremony cannot be carried out in peace and tranquillity. People are coming after her and that means loved ones are in danger and some will die! Ann has her own trials, as she is put before a judge for killing a man who was about to slit Cassie’s throat when she was in hospital for another attack on her life. Some want her taken to trial and found guilty of killing the assassin and sent to jail. It seems every assassin and killer has a family member left behind, who want revenge on Ann, Cassie and even Lee.
A huge plot is being put underway and Swiftshadow are trying to work out who is behind it and why one of their foes, Gilbert Greenfield, is shorting lots of important US stocks. What does he know is going to happen and how? Wing wants Cass and her daughter Ann to help with their hacking efforts to uncover who is behind everything and what Mastoff has been using the programme SafePay for and what he wants with the Russian Mafiya. Ann has turned out to be a savant at hacking, with little to no training by Wing, when asked to teach her some computer basics to keep herself safe! Cass and her family are hiding in plain sight, running a restaurant under false names, but now her former life is intruding again and nothing can remain the same.
A new president, just as corrupt and power hungry as the former one, wants to change America to ensure only one religion is in use and to destroy all others. Swiftshadow need to find out what his plans are and Bug-Lock transcripts will give them the clues to a possible nuclear war, that needs to be stopped before all-out war begins and no one can recover. It seems the only way to trace where all the clues are going, is to follow the trail of the baksheesh, the bribes and payoffs that were made from all involved, and find their ultimate destinations. If they can do this, hopefully they will finally know all the details of the plot which is happening soon and put a stop to it! A large number of suitcase nukes have been sold off and are in the hands of someone wanting to destroy the religious hubs of the Middle East.
An exciting new life for Cassie and her family, as financial records need hacking and payoffs followed, she opens a family restaurant, and a global nuclear war is in the works, set up between the Russian Mafiya and corrupt US Presidents. Never mind all the attempts on her and her loved ones lives. Lots of action all around the world, with fancy spy gadgets, loved the flies, and hacking competiveness ramped up to the nth degree. Money being traced and stolen from the bad guys in the name of good. Loads of intriguing spycraft and some determined characters to watch along the way. Cassie and even Ann are showing themselves to be determined people, facing hard choices, but working for the good of their family. A good read for those who love spy stories, made into the modern world and also a thriller with world changing consequences. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
Her former boss and the ex-president want her dead, but there are those in the company who think this demand for revenge goes a bit too far, especially when an innocent sixteen year old girl is being targeted for killing, simply due to her being close to Cass and part of her new family. Even a simple out of the way wedding ceremony cannot be carried out in peace and tranquillity. People are coming after her and that means loved ones are in danger and some will die! Ann has her own trials, as she is put before a judge for killing a man who was about to slit Cassie’s throat when she was in hospital for another attack on her life. Some want her taken to trial and found guilty of killing the assassin and sent to jail. It seems every assassin and killer has a family member left behind, who want revenge on Ann, Cassie and even Lee.
A huge plot is being put underway and Swiftshadow are trying to work out who is behind it and why one of their foes, Gilbert Greenfield, is shorting lots of important US stocks. What does he know is going to happen and how? Wing wants Cass and her daughter Ann to help with their hacking efforts to uncover who is behind everything and what Mastoff has been using the programme SafePay for and what he wants with the Russian Mafiya. Ann has turned out to be a savant at hacking, with little to no training by Wing, when asked to teach her some computer basics to keep herself safe! Cass and her family are hiding in plain sight, running a restaurant under false names, but now her former life is intruding again and nothing can remain the same.
A new president, just as corrupt and power hungry as the former one, wants to change America to ensure only one religion is in use and to destroy all others. Swiftshadow need to find out what his plans are and Bug-Lock transcripts will give them the clues to a possible nuclear war, that needs to be stopped before all-out war begins and no one can recover. It seems the only way to trace where all the clues are going, is to follow the trail of the baksheesh, the bribes and payoffs that were made from all involved, and find their ultimate destinations. If they can do this, hopefully they will finally know all the details of the plot which is happening soon and put a stop to it! A large number of suitcase nukes have been sold off and are in the hands of someone wanting to destroy the religious hubs of the Middle East.
An exciting new life for Cassie and her family, as financial records need hacking and payoffs followed, she opens a family restaurant, and a global nuclear war is in the works, set up between the Russian Mafiya and corrupt US Presidents. Never mind all the attempts on her and her loved ones lives. Lots of action all around the world, with fancy spy gadgets, loved the flies, and hacking competiveness ramped up to the nth degree. Money being traced and stolen from the bad guys in the name of good. Loads of intriguing spycraft and some determined characters to watch along the way. Cassie and even Ann are showing themselves to be determined people, facing hard choices, but working for the good of their family. A good read for those who love spy stories, made into the modern world and also a thriller with world changing consequences. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
August 30, 2020
This is the first book I have read by this author and it certainly won't be my last. It is the fifth book in the Spies Lies series, and if this book is any indication, then I have been missing out on an awesome series! Danger, excitement, and suspense are all the name of the game in this exciting spy thriller. It kept me on the edge of my seat pretty much throughout the whole book - a definite page-turner for sure! There were many great plot twists throughout that I was anxiously turning the pages to see what would happen next. Great characters, well-developed, that really pull you in to the story. This was a really great read and I will definitely try something from this author again.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
July 4, 2020
This fifth book in the Spies Lie Series by DS Kane certainly put the main characters: Cassie, Lee, Ann and Shimmel through their paces as they struggle to not only stay alive but also stop catastrophic events from happening that could affect the entire world in a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable read. Throughout this series, I have had a somewhat difficult time keeping the Israeli activity titles straight, so I really like that the author not only put them in a list with definitions but also did the same thing with all the many many characters involved in the story. I am already looking forward to adding book 6 to my TBR file. This is a voluntary review of this book.
November 15, 2017
What a rush
5 books down. Can't wait to sink my teeth into the next exhilarating ride. Highly recommended read for a non stop thrill ride
5 books down. Can't wait to sink my teeth into the next exhilarating ride. Highly recommended read for a non stop thrill ride
January 25, 2018
Spies,guns,sex, world travel. What is not to like about this series?
Very good story, intense in spots. Was hard to put down.
Now on to the next in this series.
Very good story, intense in spots. Was hard to put down.
Now on to the next in this series.
June 28, 2015
I was generously provided a copy of this book to read in advance. My thanks to D.S. Kane and the others who made this possible. Kane has strong story-telling chops in the sense that everything else seems able to be done later so you can remain glued to the page. This is the 5th book in a story-telling cycle and I freely admit I have not read the first four, but I will now. "Baksheesh" is the story of a woman, her husband, and their scarily talented daughter. The woman owns an independent "spy" agency and is looking to reclaim her life. Doing so means getting married, going cross country to her childhood environs and using her daughter to become the family computer whiz. She also switches careers to running a restaurant. Many, many difficulties and near-death or death experiences are well-described during the novel. So why only 3 stars (which it earned for being compulsively readable)? Here was my problem: this woman extraordinaire is a bit of an idiot and a compulsively bad decision maker. You can see the inflection points where it derails quite easily which results in the outcomes being telegraphed way in advance. Here's just one example. She hires a wedding planner to put her wedding together. I read this and thought she was descending into being the village idiot. So, of course, her wedding is spoiled by her enemies from her past. Duh. So after incident upon debacled incident, she sends her daughter off to replicate her career path. We can only hope her daughter hasn't inherited her mother's propensity for crappy decision making. I fervently hope that longtime fans of the series find it quite wonderful. And I will read the first four books, but at my leisure.
August 28, 2015
Baksheesh is the fifth book in a fast-paced spy thriller series written by a former operative, and filled with intrigue.
A covert operative is ready for a new life outside of international espionage. But her enemies are far from willing to let her go…
She spied for her country, blackmailed her president, and ran from more threats than she can remember. But when the love of her life proposes, covert agent Cassandra Sashakovich is finally ready to settle down. Unfortunately her past is not quite ready to let her walk away.
Old enemies—including a vengeful president—want her dead, and they’re willing to attack her loved ones, including her adopted teenage daughter, if that’s what it takes.
But Cassandra has other pressing problems—a world leader is assassinated and an arm dealer’s revenge threatens to lead to nuclear war. Now Cassandra and her security firm, Swiftshadow must defuse the threats and find a way to outmaneuver those who threaten not only her family, but her country as well.
A covert operative is ready for a new life outside of international espionage. But her enemies are far from willing to let her go…
She spied for her country, blackmailed her president, and ran from more threats than she can remember. But when the love of her life proposes, covert agent Cassandra Sashakovich is finally ready to settle down. Unfortunately her past is not quite ready to let her walk away.
Old enemies—including a vengeful president—want her dead, and they’re willing to attack her loved ones, including her adopted teenage daughter, if that’s what it takes.
But Cassandra has other pressing problems—a world leader is assassinated and an arm dealer’s revenge threatens to lead to nuclear war. Now Cassandra and her security firm, Swiftshadow must defuse the threats and find a way to outmaneuver those who threaten not only her family, but her country as well.
July 24, 2015
The summary of this book and the character of Cassandra caught my attention. I wanted to read a thriller novel about mystery and international spies; the plot is intriguing. Cassie is a smart covert agent who knows how to deal with danger. I liked the balance of steady rising tension and gradual story development. DS Kane did a great job writing this; it reads like a thriller in third person narrative. The characters and dialogue are believable; each chapter left me feeling like I found more secretive information. If you're looking for an entertaining international spy novel, this one is engaging. It's book 5 in the series, but the first book that I read in the series. I had an easy time picking right up with Cassie and her covert life. I look forward to reading more books written by DS Kane.
November 11, 2015
**SPOILER FREE**
Pretty impressed with this author! This book caught me right at the start! Hard to put down! Full of fast paced page grippin' thrill! Now that I have read this book, I have learned that this is a series.. so, if you're like me, which I will be doing, read this entire set in order, I believe it's going to worth the read!
*Received for an honest review*
Pretty impressed with this author! This book caught me right at the start! Hard to put down! Full of fast paced page grippin' thrill! Now that I have read this book, I have learned that this is a series.. so, if you're like me, which I will be doing, read this entire set in order, I believe it's going to worth the read!
*Received for an honest review*
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews