Old Boys

Charles McCarry is considered by many to be the master of world class spy fiction, brilliantly staking his claim with such bestsellers as The Tears of Autumn and The Miernik Dossier. Peers and critics alike have been unrestrained in their enthusiasm for his riveting novels. Christopher Buckley wrote that McCarry "is not only one of the best writers in America but one of the most important. He dazzles, from epigraph to epilogue," and the Los Angeles Times hailed his work as "first rate, in the tradition of the best espionage fiction, John Buchan to Eric Ambler and John le Carre." In his magnificent new novel, McCarry returns to the world of his legendary character, Paul Christopher, the superior intelligence agent as skilled at choosing a fine wine as he is at tradecraft, at once sophisticated and dangerous, and no stranger to the world of dirty tricks. As the novel begins, Paul, now a remarkably fit 70ish, is dining at home with his cousin Horace, also an ex-agent. Dinner is delicious and uneventful. A day later, Paul has vanished. Months pass and his ashes are delivered by a Chinese official to the American consulate in Beijing, and a memorial service is held in Washington. But Horace is not convinced that Paul is dead and, enlisting the support of five other retired colleagues-a sort of all-pro backfield of the old Outfit-he gets the "Old Boys" back in the game to find Paul Christopher. They start with a photo found in Paul's study: a woman's hand holding a centuries-old scroll, once the possession of the Nazis and now sought by the U.S. government and Muslim extremists alike. Harassed by American intelligence, hunted by terrorists, Horace and the Old Boys travel the globe, from Xinjiang to Brazil, from Rome to Tel Aviv, Budapest to Moscow, on a thrilling and dangerous search for Paul Christopher and the unspeakably dangerous truth.McCarry, Charles is the author of 'Old Boys', published 2004 under ISBN 9781585675456 and ISBN 1585675458.