by Francesca Kay (2016)
Set in London in the early eighties, award-winning novelist Francesca Kay's third novel tells the story of a spy who falls for the wrong woman. What happens to a man who has his ear pressed to the lives of others but not much life of his own? When Stephen Donaldson joins the Institute, he anticipates excitement, romance and new status. Instead he gets the tape-recorded conversations of ancient communists and ineffectual revolutionaries, until the day he is assigned a new case: the ultra-secret PHOENIX. Is PHOENIX really working for a foreign power? Stephen hardly cares; it is the voice of the target's wife that mesmerizes him. -- Publisher.
Ian Fleming
Marking the centennial of the author's birth, a comprehensive anthology of short fiction chronicling the exploits and adventures of the suave British agent includes the tales that served as the inspiration for such films as Octopussy, The Living Daylights, For Your Eyes Only, and the upcoming Fall 2008 Quantum of Solace.
Madeleine E. Robins
In a Regency London that isn't quite the one we know, young women of family whose reputations have been ruined are known as the Fallen. Young Sarah Tolerance is one such: a daughter of the nobility who ran away with her brother's fencing-master. Now that the fencing-master has died, everyone expects her to earn her living as a whore. But Sarah is unwilling. Instead, she invents a new role for herself, and a new vocation: "investigative agent." For Sarah, with her equivocal position in society, is able to float between social layers, unearth secrets, find things that were lost, and lose things too dangerous to be kept. Her stock in trade is her wits, her discretion, and her expertise with the smallsword -- for her fencing-master taught her that as well. She will need all her skills soon, when she is approached by an agent of the Count Verseillon, for a task that seems routine: reclaim an antique fan he once gave to "a lady with brown eyes." The fan, he tells her, is an heirloom; the lady, his first love. But as Sarah Tolerance unravels the mystery that surrounds the fan, she discovers that she--and the Count--are not the only ones seeking it, and that nothing about this task is what it seems.
Pam Jenoff
What kind of man could fake his own death and then, for more than a decade, let his loved ones suffer? After such a betrayal, what woman would want him back? Meet erstwhile Cambridge University sweethearts Jared Short and Jordan Weiss, whose star-crossed odyssey continues in Jenoff's intriguing sequel to Almost Home. Following Jordan's discovery of Jared's apparent survival--and her own narrow escape from enemies still out to silence him--the plucky young diplomat chucks her State Department commission to seek closure. But instead of answers, what lies ahead on a perilous chase stretching from London to the Aegean are more conundrums. Along the way, Jordan encounters Ari Bruck, a seductive mystery man who might be a Mossad agent, and Nicole Short, an elegant blonde who apparently runs in the same circles as Jared.
Ian Fleming
"When a stranger arrives in the Bahamas, the locals barely turn their heads, seeing another ex-pat with money to burn at the casino tables. But James Bond has more than money on his mind; he's got less than a week to find two stolen atom bombs hidden among the coral reefs. While acting the playboy, Bond meets Domino, sultry plaything of secretive treasure hunter Emilio Largo. In getting close to this gorgeous Italian girl, Bond hopes to learn more about Largo's hidden operation."--Jacket.