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The Aiken Trilogy #2
Bishop's Endgame
"Michael Frost Beckner revs up a new series rooted in his original film SPY GAME, which was a huge influence on my early novels. What a pleasure to be back in the company of Tom Bishop and Nathan Muir in these brilliantly executed sequels. Full of twists and turns, these are first-class spy novels with a smart, gritty atmosphere." - CHARLES CUMMING, New York Times & Sunday Times Best-selling Author of KENNEDY 35 and BOX 88
EDITOR'S PICK - Publishers Weekly Booklife
5/5 STARS - Foreword Clarion Reviews
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Midwest Book Review
"In a world of startling secrets and double crossings…the plot gleefully spins off into a series of revelations and brief but explosive action scenes… A marvelous narrator ignites an engaging story of spies, deceit, and murky history. KIRKUS REVIEWS
"In a nutshell, the mythology of Nathan Muir is nothing short of epic, and nothing he says or does should be ignored. Electric from the get-go, Beckner's sequel is a supercharged fireball, a raging inferno of action and thrill." RECOMMENDED, The US Review of Books
It's not how you play the GAME... It's how the game plays YOU.
The sequel to the Robert Redford/Brad Pitt #1 hit movie Spy Game, Bishop's Endgame (Aiken Trilogy, Book 2) picks up a decade after Redford's Nathan Muir escaped CIA headquarters after a double-cross of his Langley rivals in the successful rescue of Brad Pitt's Tom Bishop and his wife, international aid worker Elizabeth Hadley (Catherine McCormick in the film), from a Chinese prison.
Now Muir is retired to Princeton University where, as a professor of mythology, he keeps his hand in the spy game working as a CIA recruiter, while Tom Bishop-rogue in Kosovo-fights a private war against the ethnic cleansing his former Agency has turned its back on.
But when all of Muir's former agent networks vanish worldwide and Bishop is dragged in from the cold to rescue Muir's last spy from Malaysia, it once again falls to manic, somewhat delusional, CIA lawyer Russell Aiken to run interference for the Agency without managing to set off a civil war. Yet, what Aiken lacks in self-awareness he more than makes up by his unusual loyalty to both men trapped by a remorseless father-son struggle between spies.
Bishop's Endgame is a CIA house of mirrors where life and death operations hinge on the unravelling of past secrets, personal loyalties slam against hard walls of institutional betrayal, and the clock strikes as enemies within the Agency are revealed sometimes as deadly as the foreign enemies without.
EDITOR'S PICK - Publishers Weekly Booklife
5/5 STARS - Foreword Clarion Reviews
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Midwest Book Review
"In a world of startling secrets and double crossings…the plot gleefully spins off into a series of revelations and brief but explosive action scenes… A marvelous narrator ignites an engaging story of spies, deceit, and murky history. KIRKUS REVIEWS
"In a nutshell, the mythology of Nathan Muir is nothing short of epic, and nothing he says or does should be ignored. Electric from the get-go, Beckner's sequel is a supercharged fireball, a raging inferno of action and thrill." RECOMMENDED, The US Review of Books
It's not how you play the GAME... It's how the game plays YOU.
The sequel to the Robert Redford/Brad Pitt #1 hit movie Spy Game, Bishop's Endgame (Aiken Trilogy, Book 2) picks up a decade after Redford's Nathan Muir escaped CIA headquarters after a double-cross of his Langley rivals in the successful rescue of Brad Pitt's Tom Bishop and his wife, international aid worker Elizabeth Hadley (Catherine McCormick in the film), from a Chinese prison.
Now Muir is retired to Princeton University where, as a professor of mythology, he keeps his hand in the spy game working as a CIA recruiter, while Tom Bishop-rogue in Kosovo-fights a private war against the ethnic cleansing his former Agency has turned its back on.
But when all of Muir's former agent networks vanish worldwide and Bishop is dragged in from the cold to rescue Muir's last spy from Malaysia, it once again falls to manic, somewhat delusional, CIA lawyer Russell Aiken to run interference for the Agency without managing to set off a civil war. Yet, what Aiken lacks in self-awareness he more than makes up by his unusual loyalty to both men trapped by a remorseless father-son struggle between spies.
Bishop's Endgame is a CIA house of mirrors where life and death operations hinge on the unravelling of past secrets, personal loyalties slam against hard walls of institutional betrayal, and the clock strikes as enemies within the Agency are revealed sometimes as deadly as the foreign enemies without.
- GenresEspionage
477 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 5, 2022
56 people are currently reading
1530 people want to read
About the author
Michael Frost Beckner
36 books37 followersIn 1989, Michael Frost Beckner's script for Sniper launched a military-thriller franchise now in production on its eighth sequel. Three consecutive record-breaking spec script sales and three films later, Tony Scott directed Beckner's original screenplay "Spy Game." An international blockbuster that paired Robert Redford and Brad Pitt as CIA partners and rivals, it is now a classic in the espionage genre.
Beckner branched into television with his CIA-based drama "The Agency" for CBS, Beckner's pilot predicted Osama bin Laden's terror attack and the War on Terror four months before 9/11. In that series alone, Beckner would go on to predictively dramatize three more future international terror events. Having penned more than twenty-five pilots for network and cable television, miniseries and docudramas, and dozens of original motion picture screenplays, adaptations, and rewrites, he is a Hollywood institution.
In 2001, intrigued by the idea of writing a two-man play focused on the four meetings between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee over their lifetimes, Beckner embarked on a twenty-year research odyssey, advised by more than a dozen of the top Civil War historians in America, which saw him transform his intimate theater piece into the most comprehensive Civil War mini-series ever written. Variously known as "To Appomattox" and "Battle Hymn," and now entitled "A Nation Divided," for the first time, Beckner’s full 12-hour scripts are being released to the public in three volumes.
As a commentator on American espionage, Beckner has appeared on CNN, Fox News, CBS News, TF1 in France, and as a featured guest of Bill Maher on HBO. Now, in conjunction with the twentieth anniversary of "Spy Game," Beckner returns to the world of Nathan Muir and Tom Bishop with the release of his trilogy of Spy Game novels: "Muir's Gambit," "Bishop's Endgame," and "Aiken in Check."
Beckner branched into television with his CIA-based drama "The Agency" for CBS, Beckner's pilot predicted Osama bin Laden's terror attack and the War on Terror four months before 9/11. In that series alone, Beckner would go on to predictively dramatize three more future international terror events. Having penned more than twenty-five pilots for network and cable television, miniseries and docudramas, and dozens of original motion picture screenplays, adaptations, and rewrites, he is a Hollywood institution.
In 2001, intrigued by the idea of writing a two-man play focused on the four meetings between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee over their lifetimes, Beckner embarked on a twenty-year research odyssey, advised by more than a dozen of the top Civil War historians in America, which saw him transform his intimate theater piece into the most comprehensive Civil War mini-series ever written. Variously known as "To Appomattox" and "Battle Hymn," and now entitled "A Nation Divided," for the first time, Beckner’s full 12-hour scripts are being released to the public in three volumes.
As a commentator on American espionage, Beckner has appeared on CNN, Fox News, CBS News, TF1 in France, and as a featured guest of Bill Maher on HBO. Now, in conjunction with the twentieth anniversary of "Spy Game," Beckner returns to the world of Nathan Muir and Tom Bishop with the release of his trilogy of Spy Game novels: "Muir's Gambit," "Bishop's Endgame," and "Aiken in Check."
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 27, 2023
Engrossing read. Beckner writes a fabulous and intriguing story. I haven't finished the book yet, however am already hooked.
This is the second of a trilogy. Muir's Gambit being the first.
I don't want to give too much away as Bishop's Endgame picks up from a major part of the end of Muir's Gambit.
Cleverly written, highly sophisticated knowledge of CIA, spies etc.
Even if this is not your usual genre, give it a go because I can guarantee you won't be disappointed.
Kerry Kennedy Author of Dakota
This is the second of a trilogy. Muir's Gambit being the first.
I don't want to give too much away as Bishop's Endgame picks up from a major part of the end of Muir's Gambit.
Cleverly written, highly sophisticated knowledge of CIA, spies etc.
Even if this is not your usual genre, give it a go because I can guarantee you won't be disappointed.
Kerry Kennedy Author of Dakota
January 12, 2023
In 2001, the film entitled "Spy Game" premiered with Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, and Catherine McCormack. As a bi chick, I found all three stars very hot. Catherine, who played Elizabeth Hadley, really turned me on the most and I kept thinking about her. How I wish we could have been together as students at the Catholic convent school she attended in real life:)
My partner gifted me this book, which is the continuation of the story upon which the movie was based. She knew how much I enjoyed "Spy Game" and my attraction to Catherine. The volume is fairly long, reasonably complex, and sometimes a little difficult to follow. However, the action moves along at a nice pace, the character development is very good, and the suspense increases throughout the story. It is written as part of a trilogy, but I found the book quite satisfying stand alone with an understandable conclusion. I do believe readers would find this well written book most enjoyable if they watched the "Spy Game" movie first.
XOXOXOs to the author, Michael Frost Beckner, for writing this excellent sequel!
My partner gifted me this book, which is the continuation of the story upon which the movie was based. She knew how much I enjoyed "Spy Game" and my attraction to Catherine. The volume is fairly long, reasonably complex, and sometimes a little difficult to follow. However, the action moves along at a nice pace, the character development is very good, and the suspense increases throughout the story. It is written as part of a trilogy, but I found the book quite satisfying stand alone with an understandable conclusion. I do believe readers would find this well written book most enjoyable if they watched the "Spy Game" movie first.
XOXOXOs to the author, Michael Frost Beckner, for writing this excellent sequel!
November 20, 2022
Michael Frost Beckner’s second Spy Game novel begins in 2001, just months before 9/11. More than 50 American agents have suddenly gone silent. Have they been arrested or captured? Could they have defected? Could they be dead?
No one is quite sure, and tensions in the American intelligence community are high.
CIA lawyer Russell Aiken is suddenly assigned to Clandestine Services. His mission is to head to Malaysia to locate rogue agent Tom Bishop, who’s accused of murdering his own father, legendary spy Nathan Muir.
The last of Muir’s agents has just materialized in Kuala Lumpur, sending a coded message to the American embassy. He’s afraid for his life. And he claims to know what happened to Muir’s elaborate intelligence network. If anyone can bring him in, and solve the Bishop problem as well, it’s Russell Aiken.
Bishop’s Engame, the sequel to Muir’s Gambit (voted The Year’s Best Spy Thriller), is a sophisticated, multilayered – and above all, mesmerizing – novel that can be enjoyed as a stand-alone for first-time readers. And for fans of both the first book as well as the Spy Game film, Beckner goes to great lengths to establish the timeline (key events are referred to early on in terms of years, days and at times, even hours, from prior milestones).
The story is told largely from Aiken’s point of view, which is all the more poignant because our hero is suffering from a brain tumor. Inhabiting Aiken’s mind as he embarks on a seemingly impossible mission with sky-high stakes would be exhilarating enough. Doing so when at times he can’t recall the name of his own sister or doctor, makes the struggle all the more palpable.
Passages detailing Tom Bishop’s quest in the jungle are equally visceral. The jungle heat, humidity, buzz of insects and danger lurking in each and every shadow leap off the page. Along with occasional fits of desperation, Beckner’s two leading men also prove to be masters of their trade, and the combination makes for a book that is impossible to put down.
Parallels with Conrad’s Heart of Darkness are obvious (Beckner even delivers a nod to the classic with a single, poignant line to the tale deep in the book). Comparatively, however, Bishop’s Endgame may be a more complex work. What’s more, the geopolitical context of the time in which it is set – while more than two decades ago – still resonates today.
Highly recommended.
No one is quite sure, and tensions in the American intelligence community are high.
CIA lawyer Russell Aiken is suddenly assigned to Clandestine Services. His mission is to head to Malaysia to locate rogue agent Tom Bishop, who’s accused of murdering his own father, legendary spy Nathan Muir.
The last of Muir’s agents has just materialized in Kuala Lumpur, sending a coded message to the American embassy. He’s afraid for his life. And he claims to know what happened to Muir’s elaborate intelligence network. If anyone can bring him in, and solve the Bishop problem as well, it’s Russell Aiken.
Bishop’s Engame, the sequel to Muir’s Gambit (voted The Year’s Best Spy Thriller), is a sophisticated, multilayered – and above all, mesmerizing – novel that can be enjoyed as a stand-alone for first-time readers. And for fans of both the first book as well as the Spy Game film, Beckner goes to great lengths to establish the timeline (key events are referred to early on in terms of years, days and at times, even hours, from prior milestones).
The story is told largely from Aiken’s point of view, which is all the more poignant because our hero is suffering from a brain tumor. Inhabiting Aiken’s mind as he embarks on a seemingly impossible mission with sky-high stakes would be exhilarating enough. Doing so when at times he can’t recall the name of his own sister or doctor, makes the struggle all the more palpable.
Passages detailing Tom Bishop’s quest in the jungle are equally visceral. The jungle heat, humidity, buzz of insects and danger lurking in each and every shadow leap off the page. Along with occasional fits of desperation, Beckner’s two leading men also prove to be masters of their trade, and the combination makes for a book that is impossible to put down.
Parallels with Conrad’s Heart of Darkness are obvious (Beckner even delivers a nod to the classic with a single, poignant line to the tale deep in the book). Comparatively, however, Bishop’s Endgame may be a more complex work. What’s more, the geopolitical context of the time in which it is set – while more than two decades ago – still resonates today.
Highly recommended.
December 21, 2022
Bishop’s End Game by Michael Frost Beckner
If you enjoyed MFB’s 1st novel: Muir’s Gambit you most likely will enjoy this book as well. There are many aspects of this book I enjoy, but (1) does it have to be over 500 pages? (2) you have to like reading a book that so much of the action is through the eyes of the CIA lawyer Russell Aiken who not only is a damaged character, out of his depths and now has brain cancer. Nonetheless, for many this will be a good read. Btw I am one of those who liked it and look forward to reading the third in the trilogy.
If you enjoyed MFB’s 1st novel: Muir’s Gambit you most likely will enjoy this book as well. There are many aspects of this book I enjoy, but (1) does it have to be over 500 pages? (2) you have to like reading a book that so much of the action is through the eyes of the CIA lawyer Russell Aiken who not only is a damaged character, out of his depths and now has brain cancer. Nonetheless, for many this will be a good read. Btw I am one of those who liked it and look forward to reading the third in the trilogy.
Want to read
September 13, 2022This review is for The Aiken Trilogy #1-3:
An excellent spy series. Each book is engaging, and well-written overall. The author created fully formed characters that are interesting to watch. I didn't always enjoy the conversations, but the suspense and strong writing kept me going. Beckner has found a way to write to his strengths.
I really appreciate the free ARCs for review!!
An excellent spy series. Each book is engaging, and well-written overall. The author created fully formed characters that are interesting to watch. I didn't always enjoy the conversations, but the suspense and strong writing kept me going. Beckner has found a way to write to his strengths.
I really appreciate the free ARCs for review!!
May 15, 2023
A sophisticated spy novel with an intriguing hook, superbly researched, and from an author that knows the game.
As a sequel to MUIR’S GAMBIT (winner of the Best Spy Thriller award for 2022 at BestThrillers.com) BISHOP’S ENDGAME turns the action up a notch as we follow Tom Bishop into Malaysia, following a web of Muir’s unfinished business from past operations. As it is said early on, “Never let Nathan Muir flap butterfly wings inside Langley if you don’t want a tsunami on the other side of the globe.” This sets Bishop off to Malaysia to uncover the truth.
Meanwhile, Aiken, our narrator, recounts his experiences as the CIA’s legal eagle trying to parse the power plays of the Agency’s higher-ups with the on-the-ground movements of Bishop, while undergoing a crisis in his own personal life. While the action comes thick and fast, there is also a deeper level at play. Psychological and philosophical musings underpin the action, and along with complex characters brimming with life, add a human element which offers a poignant touch. A nice complement compared with your average spy thriller.
Beckner’s prose is, once again, crisp and clear with a mix of taut action scenes, stream of consciousness flow, and rich vocabulary which colours the page as if it were a movie on paper. The scenes in Malaysia with Tom Bishop are vivid and impeccably researched and will have you feel like you’re in the jungle under a dripping canopy of foliage sucking in the hot, humid air or on the street of KL and Ipoh with the savoury wafts of beef rendang and laksa, or smoke from the chaos that is unfolding as the country slips into conflict.
Overall, a highly recommended novel by itself or as the perfect accompaniment to Beckner’s first novel in the series, MUIR’S GAMBIT and his movie SPY GAME.
As a sequel to MUIR’S GAMBIT (winner of the Best Spy Thriller award for 2022 at BestThrillers.com) BISHOP’S ENDGAME turns the action up a notch as we follow Tom Bishop into Malaysia, following a web of Muir’s unfinished business from past operations. As it is said early on, “Never let Nathan Muir flap butterfly wings inside Langley if you don’t want a tsunami on the other side of the globe.” This sets Bishop off to Malaysia to uncover the truth.
Meanwhile, Aiken, our narrator, recounts his experiences as the CIA’s legal eagle trying to parse the power plays of the Agency’s higher-ups with the on-the-ground movements of Bishop, while undergoing a crisis in his own personal life. While the action comes thick and fast, there is also a deeper level at play. Psychological and philosophical musings underpin the action, and along with complex characters brimming with life, add a human element which offers a poignant touch. A nice complement compared with your average spy thriller.
Beckner’s prose is, once again, crisp and clear with a mix of taut action scenes, stream of consciousness flow, and rich vocabulary which colours the page as if it were a movie on paper. The scenes in Malaysia with Tom Bishop are vivid and impeccably researched and will have you feel like you’re in the jungle under a dripping canopy of foliage sucking in the hot, humid air or on the street of KL and Ipoh with the savoury wafts of beef rendang and laksa, or smoke from the chaos that is unfolding as the country slips into conflict.
Overall, a highly recommended novel by itself or as the perfect accompaniment to Beckner’s first novel in the series, MUIR’S GAMBIT and his movie SPY GAME.
May 15, 2024
Well, that was something, wasn't it? Michael Frost Beckner's middle entry in his Spy Game trilogy is a wild, kinetic tale that's chock full of lies, tall tales, misdirection, and action that concludes with an unfortunate bang. I need to get my hands on the grand finale of this series ASAP.
I'll keep my description of the story line brief as it evolves through the course of the narrative and due to aforementioned lies and misdirection the reader won't get a feel for what's really going on until midway through. Nathan Muir, Princeton professor and 'retired' CIA legend, is assassinated in his home a few months prior to 9/11. His entire network of agents in the field goes dark, sans one guy. Tom Bishop, Muir's son, is dispatched to locate Muir's last remaining agent but is also suspected of being his father's killer. Mixed into the story is Bishop's best friend and Muir protege Russell Aiken, sent to Asia to take a big CIA problem by the name of Bishop off the books. That's about the 100,000 foot view of the action, but the backstabbing, lying, and other unproductive behaviors lead to an incredibly dangerous and complex plot.
I have to admit, I was a bit confused at times as the story moves back and forth in time and is narrated by a character, Aiken, with a brain tumor that may or may not be causing hallucinations. Some of the action sequences are a bit beyond belief and Muir's legendary ability to plan and predict behaviors well in advance likewise stretch credulity, but all-in-all this is a great addition to the Spy Game franchise.
I'll keep my description of the story line brief as it evolves through the course of the narrative and due to aforementioned lies and misdirection the reader won't get a feel for what's really going on until midway through. Nathan Muir, Princeton professor and 'retired' CIA legend, is assassinated in his home a few months prior to 9/11. His entire network of agents in the field goes dark, sans one guy. Tom Bishop, Muir's son, is dispatched to locate Muir's last remaining agent but is also suspected of being his father's killer. Mixed into the story is Bishop's best friend and Muir protege Russell Aiken, sent to Asia to take a big CIA problem by the name of Bishop off the books. That's about the 100,000 foot view of the action, but the backstabbing, lying, and other unproductive behaviors lead to an incredibly dangerous and complex plot.
I have to admit, I was a bit confused at times as the story moves back and forth in time and is narrated by a character, Aiken, with a brain tumor that may or may not be causing hallucinations. Some of the action sequences are a bit beyond belief and Muir's legendary ability to plan and predict behaviors well in advance likewise stretch credulity, but all-in-all this is a great addition to the Spy Game franchise.
April 24, 2023
Rabbit Hole or Wilderness of Mirrors?
And the saga continues... Relentlessly intricate in his storytelling and tradecraft, Michael Frost Beckner smashes my staid concept of what a spy novel should be with this, the second in the Muir "Spy Game" trilogy. Intelligence operations - aka "spying" - are built on a web of deception, lies, and half truths with consequences that can be as deadly as the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Albert Camus once said that "fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.” Beckner takes Camus one step further to show us how the lie might become the truth and the endgame become something no one ever imagined. If you enjoyed "Spy Game", the movie, you'll love "Bishop's Endgame", the novel.
And the saga continues... Relentlessly intricate in his storytelling and tradecraft, Michael Frost Beckner smashes my staid concept of what a spy novel should be with this, the second in the Muir "Spy Game" trilogy. Intelligence operations - aka "spying" - are built on a web of deception, lies, and half truths with consequences that can be as deadly as the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Albert Camus once said that "fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.” Beckner takes Camus one step further to show us how the lie might become the truth and the endgame become something no one ever imagined. If you enjoyed "Spy Game", the movie, you'll love "Bishop's Endgame", the novel.
January 7, 2025
Ties a lot of the first book and movie together but felt a littler slower and more convoluted. Good read, but debating the third, based off of the ending of this one.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews