Espionage Aficionados discussion

An agent with the cover-name of "Brahms" appeared in what espionage novel?

If this is answered quickly and easily I might change the format. If it is a real stumper, I'll continue on with it.

I think the difficulty is good, so I am providing only a hint, not the answer: the main overall storyline is retold from the point of view of the central mole in a later book in the series.

Feliks, I still think you are missing some real treats by not continuing your reading of the series.

Playin' it cagey eh? Good sportsmanship, this

Just saw this and am wondering if you are thinking of the Len Deighton Trilogy Berlin Game. I read it when the books were first published and enjoyed them emensely.

A winnah!

next: 'Cicero'

Brahms Four was an agent in Berlin Game, but the series is more than a trilogy. It is actually 10 books, including a prequel (https://www.goodreads.com/series/6559...). In my opinion, all but #4 and the prequel are solid 4-star espionage classics (and those two are 3 stars).

The first three books were made into a fine miniseries starring Ian Holm as Bernard Samson. You can find it on YouTube with a search on "Berlin Game" or "Game Set & Match".

I don’t think I know a fictional spy with the code name Cicero (there was a real one).

For extra credit, how about a mole named Archimedes?

You are right, but the nonfict story made a swell movie

Your extra credit has me temporarily stumped

The Ian Holm mini-series was superb and somehow became a rare collector's item. I followed it for years, waiting for the price to drop. During all that while, I only knew of one source in remote Australia who boasted of a pristine copy. $200 US!

Re: #8. Is 'Archimedes' in a book I have read or have not read? If it is not in any book I have read, then I must 'pass' and move on.

Next up: 'name the secret organization'

Archimedes is in a book by a major espionage novelist. Goodreads shows you have read four of his books, but not this one. We will see if someone else gets it.

The Ian Holm mini-series was rare because 6-foot-plus tall Deighton reportedly hated the casting of 5'-5" Holm as Bernard Samson and refused to allow any rebroadcast or redistribution.

You're right, I remember now. Ridiculous. I never knew Sir Ian Holm's height from anything I ever saw him in; I only found out about it later from reading about it. It never detracted from his performances as far as I was concerned. His acting was always credible.

In the opening title scene, Holm only comes halfway up the height of truck grille behind him. Of course, 5'-5" was an average height for a British man in those years. I agree he did a fine job.

I think you are really missing out on some great espionage novels by not trying the next three in the series, but "you can lead a horse to water..."

Evolutionary change in that short a time? Still is the average height, I believe. Unless you're factoring in the deprivation of WWII. Remember when the Brit sub was captured by Iran? The size of the crew when they came out on deck?

This reminds me of Stanley Baker. For years known as the "English John Wayne". Just one guy to boast of! Of course, Harry Andrews was another Goliath. Anthony Quayle, John Gielgud, Sean Connery, Michael Caine, and Peter O'Toole were tall; John Cleese. I believe Patrick McGoohan as well. But the USA's immigrant diversity gave us many such men. Anyway, Ian Holm portrayed Samson as "tenacious" and I think his stature helped the role, if anything.

Clothes I've bought in the past ten years: I can't shop at Asian stores, that's for sure. But more recently I've turned to Scandinavian chains and been bewildered. I always thought Nordic males were burly. It took me return after return to find an XL jacket which was truly XL size. Are Norwegians shrinking?

Series: in general I have never been a series reader unless the series was complete and closed and final when I picked it up. I've never even seen a movie sequel (except Rocky II and Jaws II). The whole idea of 'serial' stories makes me fidget. Dislike surprises; probably why I never enjoyed comic books. Sure, I owned some as a kid; but they frustrated the heck outta me.

My argument is that it breaks Aristotlean and Jacobean principles of drama to keep characters and plots going longer than it takes for the natural progress of life to them off.

Not evolutionary change, poor childhood nutrition, what with WW I, the Great Depression and WW II. The average limey bloke is now at least 5'-9".

Anyway, Deighton's Bernard Samson series was complete in 1996 and the rest of the novels are waiting for you, if you ever feel so inclined. Just trying to suggest something I think you would enjoy in repayment for your good tips over the years, most recently Fast One.

I saw you write on another thread that you are a "strictly nonfiction reader these days". So here are a couple more nonfiction recommendations I think you'll like:

The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia. Nonfiction about real-life spies that reads like a gripping thriller

The White Nile. More about explorers than spies, sometimes a small distinction

And you might enjoy this collection of short essays if you are in a curmudgeonly mood: Our Culture, What's Left of It: The Mandarins and the Masses. If you don't like it, you can pitch it after a few essays; they are only a few pages each.

You should be able to get any of those from the library without depleting the Dzerzhinsky treasury.

I'm familiar with the first title but not the others. Thanks. And my budget is good.

I don't have a library card anywhere though --faugh! Databases and records of my reading habits? It all winds up somewhere...

What high-powered British rock star had a father who worked in MI5 during the war?

Breeze, I'm puttin' you on the spot -- time to double down!

So, who is the fictional spy with the code name Cicero?

Archimedes was a character in Charles McCarry's fine 1995 novel Shelley's Heart, about a stolen presidential election.

The rock star is tough. Joe Strummer's father was in the British foreign service, but I don't think he has ever been acknowledged as a spy. Police drummer Stewart Copeland's dad was CIA. Ian Hunter's dad was MI5, but I don't consider him "high-powered". Olivia Newton-John's dad was MI5, but few would consider her "rock".

Maybe someone else will get it. Extra credit: who were the sixth, seventh and eighth men in the Cambridge spies? 🤣

Ian Hunter's pop is the answer. Very good, Breeze!

'Cicero' is portrayed by James Mason in "5 Fingers".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Fingers
Based on the true story of this Nazi spy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elyesa_...

One more for the pot: what thriller describes the fictitious organization, 'Die Spinne'

I'm horrible at Jeopardy, but willing to embarrass myself to see if this a coincidence or not. The title you write looks to be German. I don't believe you would read a Kate Quinlan novel or I would have guessed "The Huntress". :)
But someone gave me a book called "The Ratline" three weeks ago which I just started. I think that was published in 2020 so I'm probably wrong.

No cigar for the little lady

Damn!!! :)

How long will you make me suffer?

Until you learn to, stay authentic! Remember, "snobbery is merely another term for perfectionism"!

Ummm... I'm not sure if you are sending a subliminal message
or giving me a hint.

Just reminding you that I only read classics, that's all.

Feliks wrote: "Just reminding you that I only read classics, that's all."

Ok Felix-
It's time to put me out of my misery.

"Cryin' Uncle" eh? Okay. No shame in that. Some of these questions are obscure/difficult.

'Die Spinne' (the spider) is the secret neo-Nazi organization bent on hiding former SS officers, found in Frederick Forsythe's, "The Odessa File".

This book is not as well-known as some of his others but it's damn good, and was made into a movie, too.

Yes, "Cryin' Uncle.... :). Thank you!
I can't believe I missed that, knowing "Die Spinne"
Read the book and saw the movie as well.
Great book, great author.

Yep. It's got a real shocker at the last page or so, too. Whew

Bravo to you for not cheating!

In what modern thriller is the protagonist adept in --and especially trained for --silent, one-on-one, total darkness/locked room, hand-to-hand combat which can last for hours?

NOT JLC's George Smiley!

I am not sure I know that one. My best guess is that it was the same spy who survived a suitcase nuke detonation by scrambling behind a rock 485 meters away. Yeah, sure...

Extra credit: who was the spy who supposedly survived the suitcase nuke and what was the novel?

That sounds maybe like Tom Clancy 'Sum of All Fears'?
Just a guess, because I haven't read it.

Or, 'This Suitcase Is Going To Explode'?
(actually a personal fave, rippin' good read)

Feliks, you have read the suitcase nuke book, and rated it four stars. But it is not one of your guesses.

H'mmm! Well, then is it 'The Fifth Horseman'?

Nope. Another hint: the same novel features a nerve gas with psychotic effects.

This is getting embarrassing. H'mmm...

'Andromeda Strain' by Crichton? 'Fire' by Alan Rogers? 'Floating Dragon' by Peter Straub? 'Fourth Protocol' by F. Forsythe? 'Firestarter' by Stephen King?

I'm deliberately not looking at my own shelves.

None of the above. I am holding off on giving the answer in case the same spy is the answer to your original locked room question. When you are ready to give up on the suitcase nuke, I will provide my guess (which I think is wrong, but is the same spy) on the locked room.

You are a cagey character! ha

There are no 'big story' nukes in the story challenge I originally posted. It's all nuts-and-bolts, mano a' mano thrillerdom.

Allow me a little more time to mull over your puzzler.

SPOILER

These are still my favorite books. It's the The Tango Briefing by Adam Hall featuring Quiller where he ran and hid behind a rock to escape his own bomb. I have to think about which book he was wrestling in.

My god I love that novel. Astute shout-out by Susan. Quiller is my #1 favorite thriller hero.

It might very well be the answer.

It would be just like that ornery cuss (coolbreeze), to trip me up like that. 'Hoist me up on my own petard', as it were.

Congratulations, Susan! The Tango Briefing is correct. So, my guess for the locked room spy was Quiller. It sort of sounds like him, but I can't recall a specific scene or novel with that scenario.

I thought The Tango Briefing was very good (I also rated it four stars), but I thought surviving a nuke at 485 meters was over the top. Between the heat, blast (shockwave, oxygen depletion) and radiation I don't think a rock is really going to make it survivable at that distance.

Agreed. It's just 1/3 of a mile. You need something that mimics an actual bomb shelter. Unusual for Adam Hall to make a mistake like that.

So, who is the locked room ninja? I don't think it is Quiller or Nicholai Hel from Shibumi.

Hey, that would have been a really good guess (Nicholai Hel).

But, I won't hold out on you any longer. It is the protagonist "Drew Maclane" from 'The Fraternity of the Stone' by Canadian author David Morrell



Drew is --I dunno --some kind of ex SEAL or something --and is one of the few soldiers ever trained in this rare: "darkened room, total silence" combat.

Morrell has excellent descriptions of these battles where the opponents must circle each other blindly, moving only inches at a time, so as not to make any sound or give away their position.

Morrell as you know, is the author of the 'First Blood' series which gave us Rambo. He also wrote, 'The Brotherhood of the Rose'.

With the latter, he began a little trilogy called the "Mortalis Series"; consisting of some very conceptually-similar yarns. All of the heroes are highly "esoteric" soldiers like in Trevanian's 'Shibumi'.

Morrell has now moved on to historical fiction, I believe.