Condor: The Short Takes

The Condor

by James Grady

The legendary CIA spy is back—in a “superb” collection featuring an all-new novella, by the New York Times–bestselling author of Six Days of the Condor (Publishers Weekly, starred review).   James Grady, “king of the modern espionage thriller” (George Pelecanos, award-winning writer/producer of The Wire), first introduced his clandestine CIA operative— Condor—in a debut novel that became Three Days of the Condor, one of the key films of the paranoid era of the 1970s, and is now the basis for the hit AT&T original series, Condor, starring Max Irons and William Hurt.   In this explosive collection featuring a new introduction on the writing and publication history of Condor, a never-before-published original novella, and short fiction collected for the first time, Grady brings his covert agent into the twenty-first century. From the chaos of 9/11 to the unprecedented Russian cyber threats, Condor is back.   In condor.net, the intelligence analyst chases an unfathomable conspiracy that begins in Afghanistan and leads to the secrets of his own superiors. In Caged Daze of the Condor, Jasmine Daze of the Condor, and Next Day of the Condor, the paranoia of National Security’s sworn soldier reaches a screaming pitch when he’s locked behind the walls of the CIA’s private insane asylum. Classified documents in the basement of the Library of Congress draw Condor into a murderous subterranean world where no one can be trusted in Condor in the Stacks. And in Russian Roulette of the Condor, the striking new novella shot through with the biggest spy scandal since the Cold War, the underground patriot faces a dictator determined to turn American politics into an insidious spy game.   Brace yourself for six shots of the iconic Condor from James Grady, who has been called a “master of intrigue” by John Grisham, and whose prose was compared to George Orwell and Bob Dylan by the Washington Post.

Genres: Fiction, Espionage, Thriller

318 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 2, 2019

About the author

James Grady is a longtime author of thrillers, police procedural and espionage novels. He graduated from the University of Montana School of Journalism in 1974. During college, he worked for United States Senator Lee Metcalf of Montana as an staff member.

From 1974 - 1978 he was an investigative journalist for the famous muckraker Jack Anderson. Best known as the author of Six Days of the Condor , which was adapted to film as Three Days of the Condor starring Robert Redford in 1975.

James Grady has gone on to write almost a dozen more novels in the thirty-eight years since Six Days of the Condor was published.

In the past James Grady has written under the pseudonyms of James Dalton and Brit Shelby.

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have to admit that I skimmed some of these stories because they were so bad. Bad as in WTF is he trying to say. Bad as in why bother. Bad as in who cares. This is the end of the Condor line for me, and Grady should have stopped two books ago.

[False · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book of short stories-novellas based on the first character by the author, "Condor." It was interesting to read his varied descriptions (based on time frame) of Washington, D.C. and it's suburbs, but I had a difficult time getting involved in the plots, the extended violent fight-murder scenes and the big spook Condor hovering all, waiting for his Bat light. I have one more Condor book to read, and then I won't be returning. What I do want to return to over time (more than once) is all of the Charles McCarry books based on the old school espionage families and their doings. Seek McCarry out if you've never heard of him.

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confusing at times. In order to somewhat understand what is happening, you have to read all of the short stories, in order. The underlying plot line is too vague, though. Characterizations are somewhat sketchy. By the time I finished the last of the stories, I still did not care anything about the lead character. Who are these people? Why should you care about them? How do they get away with what they get away with? What is their purpose? What is the organizational goal? It is a style of writing that doesn't appeal to me all that much. I don't think I'd ever read it again.

[Bob Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

paranoia

A collection of short stories featuring Grady’s Condor character. I recognized pieces of one which appears in Last Days of the Condor. Paranoia is the star here, as Condor replays scenarios. It does become tedious after a while, since there is really no plot but the style is unique. The introduction explains the making of the movie. If you’re a fan, it’s worth reading.

[Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 stars. Several short stories that really tie together and form a novella. The writing style was slightly bizzare, but maybe to parallel the crazy mental state of protagonist Condor, who spent some time in an black-site insane clinic. The Russian Roulette story the best.

[Dave Mackler · Rating 1 out of 5]

Loved the movie based on the book but this set of short stories was so bad that I could only rread about half. The story lines were so confusing and non-sensible I was unable to understand were they were going. Avoid this book

[Reynolds Darke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of stories spy guy Condor from the excellent book "Six Days of the Condor."
Some are good, some only okay.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felt like I was reading a John Wick movie! Loved all the action

[Chris Abraham · Rating 1 out of 5]

This author was a one-hit wonder with his first Condor novel. The rest are garbage. Yikes, what I pity even the writing is bad.

[LecturerRich · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked all the be last story - so overall good

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received "Condor: The Short Takes" for free from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. Before diving into this collection of short stories and novellas, I read "Six Days of the Condor", Mr. Grady's debut novel, and the basis for the classic film "Three Days of the Condor" starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway. For a long time, I only knew Condor from the film, but Condor from the books is less assured and more ruthless. It's easy to see the cinematic appeal of the original tale. The stories in this collection are different, more intimate, and less straightforward. "Condor.net" is a reimagining of the original with the next generation of CIA spies and 21st century threats. I found it less interesting than the other tales in the collection which feature an older Condor, let out of the Company psychiatric asylum, taking on threats in the V (virtual world) and closer to home. Old man Condor lives life on the edge. But is he wrong about where this world is headed? I'm not sure.

[Victoria Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are six novellas/short stories in the collection. Like most collections, I really enjoyed some of the stories and others not so much. The best part of the book was reading about an old spy, someone not in their prime.