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Firebird: The Spy Thriller of the 1960s
From Publishers "Noel Hynd knows the ins and outs of Washington's agencies both public and secret." From Noel Hynd, author of 'Flowers From Berlin' comes 'Firebird,' an intricate true-to-life spy story that spans half a century.It is 1968, one of the most tumultuous years of the 20th Century. Frank Cooper, a former star investigative reporter now writes obituaries for a popular New York City tabloid. He hears the confession of a dying man named Leonard Rudawski, a former American diplomat, who bitterly questions the fate of Pavel Lukashenko, a would-be Soviet defector in Paris in 1965. Lukashenko promised to expose the espionage secret of a generation if he could get to the West. But the defector, code named “Firebird,” vanished. Or did he? Cooper teams with Lauren Richie, a young NY/Latina reporter from the same tabloid. They prowl into the dying man’s confession. Soon they are onto the story of their lifetimes, reviving a dangerous once-cold trail of back channel/back alley CIA and KGB intrigue and tradeoffs, all of which factor into the 3-way racially tinged American election of that Nixon vs. Humphry vs. the segregationist George Wallace. Murder, espionage, romance, betrayal and conspiracy intertwine. Readers will meet and recognize dozens of memorable “real life” reporters, gangsters, diplomats, call girls, spy masters, politicians and assassins. The story is tough, large, sprawling and historically precise. "Russians sabotage and destabilize the west," says one experienced reporter with KGB knowledge. "It's not just what they do. It's what they do best."The story straddles the decades from World War Two to 2018, even throwing a cynical light on Russian-American relations of today.“Hynd is a solid, dependable writer with enough literary flair to move him up a few notches above the Ludlums and Clancys of the world. —Booklist
464 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 18, 2018
456 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Noel Hynd
62 books218 followers I've been a published novelist for longer than I care to admit, since 1976. I'm frequently asked, however, how I first got published. It's an interesting story and involved both Robert Ludlum and James Baldwin, even though neither of them knew it --- or me --- at the time.
My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.
The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."
The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.
That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.
My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.
Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.
That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.
Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve
My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.
The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."
The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.
That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.
My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.
Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.
That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.
Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 15, 2019
I thought this was a rather ambitious book, wanting to cover a number of themes, maybe too many: you'll find here some newsroom drama, some spy stuff, some political topics and some conspiracy theory about the JFK assassination.
Hynd likes to interweave the fictional part of his books with quite a lot of historical background; sometimes the blend works pretty well, like in The Truman Spy, where the various parts are well intrgated among them, some other times this works less well.
His last work, Firebird, reflects this approach: the historical backdrop is provided by the 1968 presidential campaign - and there is quite a lot of it. Against this context, you have a main plot based on an investigative journalist poking around mysterious events occurred a few years before involving some espionage intrigue; in its first third, the book wanders between this and other sub-plot threads in a rather disjointed fashion, and frankly some of the digressions are rather long, boring and not really functional to the story. Then the author pulls the flow together and the storytelling gets some momentum; shame that, when the thing got really really gripping, the author drops the ball again and departs for other tangentss, losing a big part of the tension that was building up, leading to a rather loose end.
The book's main problem in my view is that the author is carried away by his agenda of likening the 2016 Trump campaign with that of George Wallace in 1968; this could have been an interesting intuition (in fact, the similarities made me shiver more than once, the final difference between the two being that Wallace was not elected and Trump was...) but it's dragged around for too long and it ends up diluting the main story, which was not at all bad.
Hynd likes to interweave the fictional part of his books with quite a lot of historical background; sometimes the blend works pretty well, like in The Truman Spy, where the various parts are well intrgated among them, some other times this works less well.
His last work, Firebird, reflects this approach: the historical backdrop is provided by the 1968 presidential campaign - and there is quite a lot of it. Against this context, you have a main plot based on an investigative journalist poking around mysterious events occurred a few years before involving some espionage intrigue; in its first third, the book wanders between this and other sub-plot threads in a rather disjointed fashion, and frankly some of the digressions are rather long, boring and not really functional to the story. Then the author pulls the flow together and the storytelling gets some momentum; shame that, when the thing got really really gripping, the author drops the ball again and departs for other tangentss, losing a big part of the tension that was building up, leading to a rather loose end.
The book's main problem in my view is that the author is carried away by his agenda of likening the 2016 Trump campaign with that of George Wallace in 1968; this could have been an interesting intuition (in fact, the similarities made me shiver more than once, the final difference between the two being that Wallace was not elected and Trump was...) but it's dragged around for too long and it ends up diluting the main story, which was not at all bad.
May 11, 2021
The best aspect of this spy thriller is the author's power of ironic description. Here's some of the content that made me chuckle.
"So by the late summer of 1968, Francis Xavier Cooper was the best writer in the worst job on a tacky newspaper that was so bad that it was good." This passage describes the central character's new career as an obit reporter.
"We screened a lot of these disreputable clowns. Most would-be defectors have their brain cells out of whack to start with. They're sick. They're temperamental. They're strung out on booze or whores or drugs. They've got a grudge somewhere. Most of the time whatever they have to say is worth less than a pile of dog manure.” This comment sums up the CIA's narrow view of Soviet defectors during the 60's.
And one last line that I enjoyed "Or perhaps I’ll have him slowly eviscerated for the illicit use of profane gerunds." Here Cooper is making fun of his boss's misuse of the English language.
The story is a complex investigation into the conspiracy theory of JFK's assassination. There are many characters, many tangential plot lines and lots of witty writing; the reader has to concentrate otherwise you might get lost. Some of the detail is too wordy and if you skip it you won't miss the main theme. The author includes the Mafia, George Wallace's third run for the Presidency (with echoes of our most recent Election), Soviet spies/defectors/double agents, the CIA, the media and so on. If you enjoy the spy genre like I do, you will find this novel an enjoyable experience.
This review was written by Shawn Callon, author of The Diplomatic Spy.
"So by the late summer of 1968, Francis Xavier Cooper was the best writer in the worst job on a tacky newspaper that was so bad that it was good." This passage describes the central character's new career as an obit reporter.
"We screened a lot of these disreputable clowns. Most would-be defectors have their brain cells out of whack to start with. They're sick. They're temperamental. They're strung out on booze or whores or drugs. They've got a grudge somewhere. Most of the time whatever they have to say is worth less than a pile of dog manure.” This comment sums up the CIA's narrow view of Soviet defectors during the 60's.
And one last line that I enjoyed "Or perhaps I’ll have him slowly eviscerated for the illicit use of profane gerunds." Here Cooper is making fun of his boss's misuse of the English language.
The story is a complex investigation into the conspiracy theory of JFK's assassination. There are many characters, many tangential plot lines and lots of witty writing; the reader has to concentrate otherwise you might get lost. Some of the detail is too wordy and if you skip it you won't miss the main theme. The author includes the Mafia, George Wallace's third run for the Presidency (with echoes of our most recent Election), Soviet spies/defectors/double agents, the CIA, the media and so on. If you enjoy the spy genre like I do, you will find this novel an enjoyable experience.
This review was written by Shawn Callon, author of The Diplomatic Spy.
July 25, 2018
This is quite a fascinating book, which in fact I spent almost available moment reading, to the detriment of a couple of other things i'm reading at the same time. At some points the plot get a little too complex, and the author's preachiness near the end sounds like he realized he had already written 400 pages but wasn't finished, so he just regurgitated everything else out.
I do have one MAJOR gripe that really interfered with my enjoyment: the incredibly poor proofreading and copy editing. There are more typos than you can shake a stick at, plus errors which were not typos but rather mental lapses. Also, in the ver few occasions where the author felt the need to use a foreign phrase, he got every one of them wrong. They were the simplest of things which he could have discovered himself with google in a minute or two, but apparently he couldn't be bothered to do that. There are a couple of mistakes in names and dates as well. Obviously this is tangential (mostly) to the story, and I know how difficult it is to proof one's own writing, but his publisher apparently failed him. It reads like a really good early draft of some yet-to-be published novel. With more attention to presentation, this novel would have gotten one more star from me. Oh one more thing, an in this case, all credit to the author: it's about conspiracy theories; I'm not usually a conspiracy theorist, but the book scared the friggin daylights out of me! So bravo in that regard.
I do have one MAJOR gripe that really interfered with my enjoyment: the incredibly poor proofreading and copy editing. There are more typos than you can shake a stick at, plus errors which were not typos but rather mental lapses. Also, in the ver few occasions where the author felt the need to use a foreign phrase, he got every one of them wrong. They were the simplest of things which he could have discovered himself with google in a minute or two, but apparently he couldn't be bothered to do that. There are a couple of mistakes in names and dates as well. Obviously this is tangential (mostly) to the story, and I know how difficult it is to proof one's own writing, but his publisher apparently failed him. It reads like a really good early draft of some yet-to-be published novel. With more attention to presentation, this novel would have gotten one more star from me. Oh one more thing, an in this case, all credit to the author: it's about conspiracy theories; I'm not usually a conspiracy theorist, but the book scared the friggin daylights out of me! So bravo in that regard.
April 29, 2018
I was mesmerized by the story. It is enhanced greatly by the presence of multiple historical figures especially James Angleton and the Russian defectors. The account of "the greatest secret of the 60's" develops from the investigative reporting Of Frank Cooper. He re-dons his investigative hat and temporarily sets aside his entertaining obituaries to follow a story that emerges on the death bed of a former American diplomat. The diplomat's dying request is for Cooper to ascertain the truth behind a Russian defector and the biggest story perhaps of post World War 11. Obsessed by what he learns, both Cooper and the reader seek the truth; for Cooper it's much more dangerous. The story encompasses several conspiracy theories which all seem to be rational. The story is played out in the context of the 1968 election, but the reader can see parallels to the 2016 election, the demagoguery in fascist tones, and the overbearing presence of the Russian bear. Could the 1963 tragedy be traced to a foreign power? Were witnesses deliberately eliminated and by whom? Sometimes even a free press is no match for the powers aligned to stop the truth from seeing the light of day. A great book and a superb homage to the old print reporters of yesteryear.
August 29, 2021
Firebird. Noel Hynd
Being born in 1950, I'm very aware of the historical events mentioned in this book. This is an excellent read!!I I remember in junior high when Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas like it happened five minutes ago. My teacher received a phone call, began to cry and we were sent home. I never thought Lee Harvey Oswald actually shot Kennedy. I believe there was more Then one shooter. Then Jack Ruby kills Oswald in a secure building he should not have been able to enter.Then the other incidents were people die and very little investigation is done.As the author state, "I've built a fiction around a truth." All governments hide truths. Again this is a magnificent read! ! I enjoyed it immensely!! My highest recommendation!!
Being born in 1950, I'm very aware of the historical events mentioned in this book. This is an excellent read!!I I remember in junior high when Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas like it happened five minutes ago. My teacher received a phone call, began to cry and we were sent home. I never thought Lee Harvey Oswald actually shot Kennedy. I believe there was more Then one shooter. Then Jack Ruby kills Oswald in a secure building he should not have been able to enter.Then the other incidents were people die and very little investigation is done.As the author state, "I've built a fiction around a truth." All governments hide truths. Again this is a magnificent read! ! I enjoyed it immensely!! My highest recommendation!!
June 25, 2021
Relevant and Riveting
The best of several Noel Hynd novels I've read, this book moves along well and rings true in its portrayal of the 1960s and the people who made that such a turbulent time. Most chilling is that Hynd could be writing about the zeitgeist of the last two presidential campaigns. His take on the perpetrators and the JFK assassination seems quite plausible. His description of the rise of fascism in America echoes our recent history all too accurately. Enjoy the read.
The best of several Noel Hynd novels I've read, this book moves along well and rings true in its portrayal of the 1960s and the people who made that such a turbulent time. Most chilling is that Hynd could be writing about the zeitgeist of the last two presidential campaigns. His take on the perpetrators and the JFK assassination seems quite plausible. His description of the rise of fascism in America echoes our recent history all too accurately. Enjoy the read.
June 2, 2022
Revisiting the Mystery of the Ages
One of those novels that unearths some of the lingering horrific things and memories for those of us who lived through the 1960s. More specifically for some readers will be the joy and fond memories of new york, its common and historic locations, restaurants, night clubs, bars, etc. As a returning VN vet whose 1st job in wall street area, the time span of the novel was truly a trip down memory lane. Intriguing story line and spy mystery wrapped in continuing doubts. Thank you.
One of those novels that unearths some of the lingering horrific things and memories for those of us who lived through the 1960s. More specifically for some readers will be the joy and fond memories of new york, its common and historic locations, restaurants, night clubs, bars, etc. As a returning VN vet whose 1st job in wall street area, the time span of the novel was truly a trip down memory lane. Intriguing story line and spy mystery wrapped in continuing doubts. Thank you.
February 25, 2020
History, Mystery, Mayhem and More
Noel Hynd's trademark style is a fusion of intense mystery set within a historical setting spiced with a rich array of facts and real people of the era. Whenever I read something new about one of these inclusions, I cut away from the book for a few minutes to research the information, an exercise that adds depth and dimension to the pleasure I derive from reading the story. Kudos again for a masterful storyteller!
Noel Hynd's trademark style is a fusion of intense mystery set within a historical setting spiced with a rich array of facts and real people of the era. Whenever I read something new about one of these inclusions, I cut away from the book for a few minutes to research the information, an exercise that adds depth and dimension to the pleasure I derive from reading the story. Kudos again for a masterful storyteller!
April 29, 2020
This is the third book by Noel Hynd that I've read & they've all been good. What makes this one of special interest is the subplot around George Wallace's 1968 presidential run. The similarities to the current administration are uncanny & unsettling. The story would have benefitted from not quite as many red herrings, but that's a detail.
August 18, 2023
Captivated
I couldn't put this book away,still reading when I should be doing other things. After watching various documentaries and reading other books/articles the writer made it has though the answer was very new and believable. I am reading other books by this author and find them very enjoyable but this one I couldn't really put down.
I couldn't put this book away,still reading when I should be doing other things. After watching various documentaries and reading other books/articles the writer made it has though the answer was very new and believable. I am reading other books by this author and find them very enjoyable but this one I couldn't really put down.
January 18, 2025
Finally a book that was hard to put down
Very enjoyable. This was the first book I read by Noel Hynd but hopefully not the last. Very well documented and if you know NYC you had to grin from time to time. Good and interesting characters. If you grew up in the 50s and 60s you well remember the events this book covered.
Very enjoyable. This was the first book I read by Noel Hynd but hopefully not the last. Very well documented and if you know NYC you had to grin from time to time. Good and interesting characters. If you grew up in the 50s and 60s you well remember the events this book covered.
September 14, 2018
Superb historical fiction
What a ride down political memory lane. The novel poses many interesting, unanswered questions. Intriguing scenarios. I loved reading this novel. Amazing the grove of information that was supplied. Conrad Samayoa.
What a ride down political memory lane. The novel poses many interesting, unanswered questions. Intriguing scenarios. I loved reading this novel. Amazing the grove of information that was supplied. Conrad Samayoa.
September 17, 2018
If you want intrigue, suspense, danger, spy's and an amazing story that is exciting and scary this is it. Frank and Lauren are reporters and take you on their wild and amazing ride through history. What a surprise ending. Excellent time spent reading this book.
December 17, 2018
I don't quite understand all the five star ratings on this book. While the story itself is not bad, it never quite gets to a conclusion. Also, there are a plethora of typos that detract from the story...
August 1, 2019
Superb reading
Noel Hynd keeps the suspense throughout the whole story. It doesn’t have the twists and turns of other spy novels but it’s masterfully written, full of historical facts and quite captivating as it flirts with “the greatest mystery of the century”
Noel Hynd keeps the suspense throughout the whole story. It doesn’t have the twists and turns of other spy novels but it’s masterfully written, full of historical facts and quite captivating as it flirts with “the greatest mystery of the century”
April 16, 2022
True “perhaps”
Having lived through this time and often wondering what happened to JFK I’ve read several books and accounts. Firebird is as good a solution as I’ve read thus far I decided a long time ago that the people who really knew are long since dead.
Having lived through this time and often wondering what happened to JFK I’ve read several books and accounts. Firebird is as good a solution as I’ve read thus far I decided a long time ago that the people who really knew are long since dead.
December 16, 2022
A great lesson
I don't know a lot about American politics and thought Trump was the first to stir up the masses into such a frenzy. I was wrong and this book has taught me a lot whilst being an entertaining read. Brilliant.
I don't know a lot about American politics and thought Trump was the first to stir up the masses into such a frenzy. I was wrong and this book has taught me a lot whilst being an entertaining read. Brilliant.
December 10, 2018
Good read
As good reflection of the times, although sometimes, a little meandering. Would read more from this author. As spy novels go, this was good without any of the gore.
As good reflection of the times, although sometimes, a little meandering. Would read more from this author. As spy novels go, this was good without any of the gore.
November 1, 2019
Super
This book has a lot to reach us in Trump ea00
I never was satisfied with the Warren eport it was missibg a lot of facts.
This book has a lot to reach us in Trump ea00
I never was satisfied with the Warren eport it was missibg a lot of facts.
March 16, 2020
( Format : Audiobook )
"It's a wilderness of mirrors out there."
review to follow
"It's a wilderness of mirrors out there."
review to follow
April 27, 2020
A great read of American politics, and conspiracy theories, in the 60's
July 28, 2020
Fantastic author! Always delivers!
February 18, 2025
Out the ashes rises a firebird... Or an enigma!
I watched my life unfold in the images of this story through my teens and early twenties and "Hunt for Red October!"
I watched my life unfold in the images of this story through my teens and early twenties and "Hunt for Red October!"
December 14, 2025
A novel which effectively hinges around whether or not the Russians played a part in the JFK assassination, mainly taking place during the last months of the 1968 Presidential election
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews