Waistcoats and Weaponry by Gail Carriger

Class is back in session...
 
Sophronia continues her second year at finishing school in style--with a steel-bladed fan secreted in the folds of her ball gown, of course. Such a fashionable choice of weapon comes in handy when Sophronia, her best friend Dimity, sweet sootie Soap, and the charming Lord Felix Mersey stowaway on a train to return their classmate Sidheag to her werewolf pack in Scotland. No one suspected what--or who--they would find aboard that suspiciously empty train. Sophronia uncovers a plot that threatens to throw all of London into chaos and she must decide where her loyalties lie, once and for all.

Gather your poison, steel tipped quill, and the rest of your school supplies and join Mademoiselle Geraldine's proper young killing machines in the third rousing installment in the New York Times bestselling Finishing School Series by steampunk author, Gail Carriger

Gail Carriger burst onto the fantasy scene a few years ago with her Parasol Protectorate series, a fantastic historical urban fantasy, full of great characters, humourous dialogue and exciting action scenes. A kind-of-prequel - set earlier than the first series though initially seemingly without any of the same characters -  the Finishing School Series continues in the steampunk vein of the first series, adding the setting of a floating espionage school masquerading as a finishing school. While the first book did not blow me away, I enjoyed it enough to carry on. The series has got steadily better and this, the third book, is fantastic.

Following Sophronia and her friends once again, Waistcoats and Weaponry sees major changes in the status quo, as werewolves plot rebellion and vampires strike at mechanicals. Forced to take possession of a runaway train, Sophronia and her friends go up once again against the Picklemen. There are major changes in store before the book reaches its end, all of which Carriger handles with her usual humour. Her writing continues to be a delight, full of wit and funny turns of phrase, and Sophronia really grows as a character, willing to go once more against the prevailing societal pressures of her time. Her relationship with Soap is especially well handled here 

Setting up the final book in the series nicely, Waistcoats and Weaponry finally begins to bring the Finishing School Series up to the same level as the Parasol Protectorate. 

I gave Waistcoats and Weaponry 4 stars.

The Heist by Daniel Silva

 
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When one of Gabriel Allon’s long-term allies stumbles upon a murder, the Israeli spy is roped in to investigating the murder by the Italian art police. The victim, it seems, was not only a former British spy – he was also involved in the theft, forgery and sale of stolen artwork. And he may hold the key to the holy grail of the stolen art world: a Caravaggio that vanished decades before. But as he tracks down the movements of the dead spy, Allon begins to uncover a conspiracy that hits much closer to home, one that has allowed a brutal Syrian dictator to continue to kill his own people with near impunity. So begins a new game of cat and mouse as the legendary spy gathers friends, allies and former enemies to pull off what could well be the heist of the century…

Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon series is one of the best thriller/spy series out there at the moment. Already clocking in at a hefty 14 volumes, our spy/assassin/art restorer hero does not show any signs of flagging, and neither does the man who has brought his adventures to life. In this latest novel, Allon once again finds two worlds colliding: that of the art theft world he has often been involved with in the past with the deadly world of international terrorism he lives in daily. What begins as an attempt to recover a lost masterpiece quickly becomes much more complicated, as Allon discovers ties between a worldwide criminal art ring and an unnamed Syrian dictator whose identity is very loosely hidden in Silva’s novel. Once again, Silva manages to create an exciting, tense thriller that crosses countries and continents, painting fantastic pictures of every city his hero visits and peopling them with both the good and the sinister. At the same time, Silva continues to force his character to grow and change – having accepted the post of head of the Israeli secret service, Allon begins to use his newfound position to great effect, pulling together a team of allies that begin to plan the sort of theft only Gabriel Allon could manage. Resonating even more due to the current events in Israel and Gaza, Silva’s novel gives us a hero for our age, one we wish was out there somewhere protecting us from the shadows.

I gave The Heist 5 stars.

The Good Spy by Kai Bird

 

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Robert Clayton Ames was a very good spy.

The day President Bill Clinton oversaw the signing of the Oslo Accords between Palestine and Israel, a group of CIA officers strode up to Arlington Cemetary to visit the grave of one of their own - Bob Ames, a CIA operative who specialised in the Middle East, whose actions lay the groundwork for the very accords being signed that day. Heading back in time, The Good Spy tells the story of Ames' entry into the CIA and how he rose to become one of their foremost experts on the Middle East. As he tries to walk the difficult line between reality and politics, he slowly heads towards his final destiny among the ruins of the American embassy in Beirut...

I love spies. Anything relating to espionage, both in fiction and non-fiction will get my attention. A few years ago I read Tim Werner's wonderful overview of the CIA, Legacy of Ashes, and remember reading about Robert Ames. So when I saw The Good Spy, a full biography of the man, on Netgalley, I immediately requested an advanced copy. And I am extremely glad I did because The Good Spy is a tour de force exploration, not only of one man but of the world he inhabited. Bird does a great job of peeling back the various layers of Ames' life as his career in the CIA takes him from one Middle East city to another.

While the book is centred on Ames, Bird takes the time to delve into the world around him. A number of key figures in the PLO are carefully depicted, especially the "Red Prince", Hassan Salameh, who shares almost as much page-time as Ames. Throughout the book, though, there is a constant threatening feeling overshadowing the narrative as we get ever closer to the horrific events of April 1983 and the bombing of the Beirut embassy. Bird deals with the aftermath in a respectful way, showing the effect of so much death on the country at large, but also more specifically those who knew Ames personally.

The Good Spy does a great job of providing a rounded, well-written exploration of an unsung American hero. Not afraid to deal with the darker aspects of Ames' career, Bird manages to give us true insight into his world. I gave The Good Spy 4 presidential briefings out of 5.