Good News, Bad News

Rating:
Summary: exhilarating espionage thriller
Review: British Security Services Agents twenty-seven years old Scotsman Charlie Millar and almost fifty George Shaw separately receive good news that their next respective assignments will be their last ones for each of them. The cover for their final assignment is a shabby photo-processing booth, where each must hide his real identity from the other, while awaiting their final mission orders. However, the bad news is that those final assignments are to assassinate the other.

Quickly, Charlie and George realize something is not right as the cover is really for one person. When they learn each other's assignment, they agree to flip a coin with the loser on the run, but first want to learn why their employer would use such a drastic means to terminate them. As Charlie and George work closely together, the good news is that they make headway; the bad news is that treachery runs very high in their agency that wants them and others dead immediately.

The good news for readers is this is an exhilarating espionage tale reminiscent of F/X as Charlie and George trust no one except somewhat each other; the bad news is that the audience needs to set aside several hours to finish in one sitting. The tale hooks the audience once George explains to Charlie in their photo lab section that he is retiring because his cousin's aorta was too tiny to handle the stress. The plot never slows down though it is often amusing with comparative observations on spying and modern life by the delightful George and Charlie until a final explosive confrontation in North America.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: Typical British Spy Novel Well Done
Review: Few novels capture the mood of a nation, especially one in decline, as this one does. It pays homage to le Carre in both spirit and soul. It is emblematic of the hollowness that is modern Britain. Vanished are the old qualities of patriotism, idealism, faith, allegiance and moral purpose. Instead, we are left with characters who are little more than amoral automatons going through existential motions. Yet both Charley and George fight to live even if they have nothing to live for.

The writing is cutting, edgy, even poetic at times in its descriptions of an alternate world of murder without question, secrecy for its own sake, neuroticism to the point of psychosis. The setting and opening were so well designed - from the curious tracking of a mand and woman to the reader's discovery of their true identity to the shocking discovery of their mission. Their almost primordial survival instincts make for great action-packed reading and the occasional lapse into that forbidden area - romantic love - provided depth and even pathos.

There is a beauty in the telling of the spy chief, again symbolic of the modern British spy world. The old friend, the first recruiter who appears to be the only normal one in the bunch, has a cameo before starring toward the end. And the ending - very, very satisfying. In fact, the book, despite its moral bleakness was a kind of morality tale played out on a damp, gray stage. A good read.

Rating:
Summary: Wolstencroft...What A Find
Review: I brought the book on a lark because I love the writer's television series (MI-5 on A&E)...and boy was I rewarded for listening to my spirit of adventure. Wolstencroft is an extremely clever and entertaining writer who rewards his reader with every turn of the page. You will love his rich characters, relish his creative plot twists and marvel at his sheer talent for storytelling. I simply couldn't put the book down. Now if only it were December, all my Christmas shopping would be done.

Rating:
Summary: A DAZZLING SPY THRILLER DEBUT
Review: If you love MI-5, you'll love this book. If you've never watched MI-5 (on A&E) you'll still go crazy over it. This is a phenomenal rollercoaster spy ride with two of the most original and entertaining characters I've read in a long time. George and Charlie remind me a little of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and I don't think I've enjoyed a yarn quite so much since I saw that movie. Also, I loved MI-5 on A&E because of the twists and turns and this book has more than the whole show put together. They just keep coming until the final standoff. The good news is, this book delivers on all its promises. The bad news is, we'll have to wait a little while for the next one!

Rating:
Summary: A Delightful Read.
Review: Since peace has broken out and there's no more big bad KGB, the spy thriller has hard time. Some writers have simply gone back to before peace and continued as was. Some writers have taken the point of using older spy's and giving them one last mission before their retirement. But what do you do when you're just barely out of training for the spy business, you're still in your mid-twenties like Charlie Millar.

The story -- well it's a spy story about espionage and stuff like that which gets all screwed up. The Good News - it's a delightful read. The Bad News - this is a new book, so it will be quite a while until we see another from the author.

Rating:
Summary: A perfect combination of humor, wit, and suspense
Review: You get the feeling, almost from the first page of GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS, that you are reading something special. There are all sorts of influences here, from John le Carre to Monty Python to even John Woo --- but all of it is pure David Wolstencroft. GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS is Wolstencroft's first novel, but not his first artistic work; he is the creator and writer of the British spy drama "Spooks," broadcast in the United States on the A&E Network under the name "MI-5."

Wolstencroft nails every scene, every sentence, every word like the English language had evolved to its present stage just for him. The proof positive here is about halfway through GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS. I am sorely tempted to reproduce the passage here, but I will not because I want you to get this book and read it; suffice it to say that it is contained in a passage that describes the eighteenth century and the Cambridge Library in terms of the feeling that both invoke. The closest that anything comes to it for dead-bang brilliance is Bob Dylan's line from "Visions of Johanna": inside the museum, infinity goes up on trial/voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while. Yes. Wolstencroft is a bit more scatological in his description, but the emotion it invokes is the same, stated in such a way that, once you have read it, you know that no other way will come close.

But I am ignoring an important element here while getting lost in the literary wonders of this work. GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS is a fun read. I may have read a better book (or two) this year, but I have not read one that is as enjoyable an experience as this one is. Wolstencroft has somehow mastered the ability of injecting humor into his narrative without sacrificing an iota of suspense. I do not believe that I have ever read a novel wherein Edward Lear was referenced, however briefly and indirectly, in the middle of a scene where two guys are desperately on the run, and yet the reference is not stretched or strained; it is perfect.

So what is GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS about? It is so difficult to summarize without giving away the multitude of surprises within. Suffice to say that two British spies, both of whom work for "the Agency," are, for different reasons, ready to retire. They are each given a final assignment: each is assigned to terminate the other. This poses a number of problems: the men are friends, each is aware of the other's assignment, and they have no clue as to what either of them might have done to deserve the extreme termination. As a result, they trust each other with a wary eye as they simultaneously seek to evade death from an unknown source while attempting to determine how their peculiar set of circumstances has come about.

Both men are very, very good at what they do, and are well versed in all the elements of spy craft --- but so is their mysterious pursuer. The fact that neither of the targeted agents has been completely honest with the other heightens the suspense, which would be excruciating if not for Wolstencroft's droll, wonderful wit, which he exhibits in tempered moderation while dealing out surprise after surprise, right up to the final chapter.

Put GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS at the top of your Don't Miss list for 2004. Even if you hate espionage novels, Wolstencroft's style and wit will keep you interested and aboard this wild ride, and scanning the television listings for those episodes of "MI-5" that you missed.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub