{"id":3410,"date":"2025-11-07T09:28:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T16:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=3410"},"modified":"2025-11-07T09:28:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T16:28:32","slug":"originality-the-spice-of-spy-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=3410","title":{"rendered":"Originality – the spice of spy fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

World traveler Paul O\u2019Connor reads a lot of popular fiction these days, maybe while stranded in airports when flights are canceled. Fortunately for fellow fans, he also sometimes finds the time to write reviews and alert us to diversions we might enjoy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Reviewed by Paul T. O\u2019Connor<\/p>\n

PARIAH. By Dan Fesperman. Knopf. 369 pages. $30, hardcover.<\/p>\n

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Screenshot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since my retirement seven years ago, I\u2019ve been reading a lot of popular fiction \u2013 spy, crime, historical novels.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019ve noticed the similarities in the work of the most popular authors. They move their stories along quickly, with plot twists and original plot lines, although original only within established formulas. Some of the writing is good: Alan Furst is my favorite. Most is weak, clich\u00e9-ridden with the same superhero characters from their previous books and a cardboard supporting cast.<\/p>\n

I enjoy Dan Fesperman\u2019s books because he writes as well as Furst and, while sticking to the conventions of his genre, he fashions original storylines and unique characters.<\/p>\n

Pariah<\/em>, his latest novel, has maybe his most unusual lead character, Hal Knight, an action-movie star\/comedian who somehow got elected to Congress as a liberal and then had to resign because he was caught on camera berating a woman. Now he\u2019s hanging out on the island of Vieques, drinking and trying to forget his troubles, when he gets wrapped up in a spy adventure.<\/p>\n

Bolrovia\u2019s President Nikolai Horvatz is a big fan of Knight\u2019s, especially his comedy, and he invites him to visit. Bolrovia, an autocracy, is on hostile terms with the U.S., so the CIA persuades Knight to accept the invitation and do a little spying while he is there.<\/p>\n

Knight is no James Bond or Gabrielle Allon, the Daniel Silva superhero. He\u2019s really a fool, and readers probably won\u2019t root for him. After all, most of the people who know him, and the CIA operatives who recruit him, don\u2019t like him, either.<\/p>\n

So he goes off on this adventure, knowing full well that it\u2019s dangerous, and we know he\u2019s going to screw up. For most of the book, we don\u2019t know what he\u2019s supposed to find in Bolrovia or whether this is a serious spy novel or a farce. That\u2019s part of the fun \u2013 but only after finishing the book.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s as much of the plot as I\u2019m going to reveal, but for those unfamiliar with Fesperman, know that his novels always tap into the real world, and eventually Pariah<\/em> does, too. So, what starts somewhat slowly really speeds up at the end.<\/p>\n

Is this my favorite Fesperman novel? No.<\/p>\n

Lie in the Dark<\/em>, Safe Houses<\/em> and Cover Wife<\/em> are. But Pariah<\/em> is still fun, and it\u2019s different. Very different, which is something those far- better-known spy novelists might try someday.<\/p>\n

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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

World traveler Paul O\u2019Connor reads a lot of popular fiction these days, maybe while stranded in airports when flights are canceled. Fortunately for fellow fans, he also sometimes finds the time to write reviews and alert us to diversions we might enjoy. \u00a0Reviewed by Paul T. O\u2019Connor PARIAH. By Dan Fesperman. Knopf. 369 pages. $30, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[831,14],"tags":[884,1497,1496],"class_list":["post-3410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-thriller","category-thriller-suspense","tag-dan-fesperman","tag-pariah","tag-spy-thriller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3412,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3410\/revisions\/3412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}