An Honorable Man - Hardcover

Vidich, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1843449579 ISBN 13: 9781843449577

Publisher: No Exit Press, 2016

Synopsis

Washington D.C., 1953. The Cold War is heating up: McCarthyism, with all its fear and demagoguery, is raging in the nation's capital, and Joseph Stalin's death has left a dangerous power vacuum in the Soviet Union.

The CIA, meanwhile, is reeling from a double agent within their midst. Someone is selling secrets to the Soviets, compromising missions around the globe. Undercover agents have been assassinated, and anti-Communist plots are being cut short in ruthlessly efficient fashion. The CIA director knows any news of the traitor, whose code name is Protocol, would be a national embarrassment and compromise the entire agency.

George Mueller seems to be the perfect man to help find the mole: Yale-educated; extensive experience running missions in Eastern Europe; an operative so dedicated to his job that it left his marriage in tatters. The Director trusts him but Mueller has secrets of his own and as he digs deeper, making contact with a Soviet agent, suspicion begins to fall on him as well. Until Protocol is found, no one can be trusted and everyone is at risk . . .

About this title

Review

"A cool, knowing, and quietly devastating thriller that vaults Paul Vidich into the ranks of such thinking-man's spy novelists as Joseph Kanon and Alan Furst. Like them, Vidich conjures not only a riveting mystery but a poignant cast of characters, a vibrant evocation of time and place, and a rich excavation of human paradox" - Stephen Schiff, writer and co-executive producer of the hit FX series, The Americans

"Cold War spy fiction in the grand tradition--neatly plotted betrayals in that shadow world where no one can be trusted and agents are haunted by their own moral compromises"-Joseph Kanon, New York Times bestselling author of Istanbul Passage and The Good German

"An Honorable Man is that rare beast: a good, old fashioned spy novel. But like the best of its kind, it understands that the genre is about something more: betrayal, paranoia, unease, and sacrifice. For a book about the Cold War, it left me with a warm, satisfied glow" - John Connolly, #1 Internationally Bestselling Author of A Song of Shadows

"Paul Vidich is a very strong new voice in spy fiction. The writing is powerful, the setting real, the characters magnetic. Vidich portrays the paranoia of America's anti-communist moment brilliantly, and he captures the grey, gritty realities of counterintelligence. If you love Charles McCarry, read Vidich" - Adam Brookes, Author of Night Heron

"Paul Vidich's tense, muscular thriller delivers suspense and intelligence circa 1953: Korea, Stalin, the cold war, rage brilliantly, and the hall of mirrors confronting reluctant agent George Mueller reflects myriad questions. Just how personal is the political? Is the past ever past? An Honorable Man asks universal questions whose shadows linger even now. Paul Vidich's immensely assured debut, a requiem to a time, is intensely alive, dark, silken with facts, replete with promise"- Jayne Anne Phillips, New York Times bestselling author of Quiet Dell and Machine Dreams

"An Honorable Man is an unputdownable mole hunt written in terse, noirish prose, driving us inexorably forward. In George Mueller, Paul Vidich has created a perfectly stoic companion to guide us through the intrigues of the red-baiting Fifties. And the story itself has the comforting feel of a classic of the genre, rediscovered in some dusty attic, a wonderful gift from the past' - Olen Steinhauer, New York Times bestselling author of All the Old Knives

"Taut storytelling reminiscent of old-school John Le Carre spy thrillers" - --Judith D. Collins Must Reads

"Atmospheric, moving and enigma-laden, this is spy writing at its very best." --Love Reading

"An old school spy thriller in the best sense!" --Writer's Bone

"Assured storytelling with a manageable and convincing cast of characters... right up your street if you like Le Carre, Joseph Kanon and Alan Furst." -- Crime Review

"Controlled, noirish and pleasurable. A great holiday read, recommended." --Nudge

"Bestselling Irish author John Connolly has given An Honorable Man his seal of approval - it left him with 'a warm satisfied glow' - and Stephen Schiff, writer of TV espionage hit The Americans, is also a fan. If it's good enough for them." --RTE

About the Author

Paul Vidich has had a distinguished career in music and media. Most recently, he served as Special Advisor to AOL, Inc. and was Executive Vice President at the Warner Music Group, in charge of technology and global strategy. He serves on the Board of Directors of Poets & Writers and The New School for Social Research. A founder and publisher of the Storyville App, Vidich is also an award-winning author of short fiction." An Honorable Man "is his first novel.

Edition details

• Publisher: No Exit Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1843449579
• ISBN 13: 9781843449577
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256