Thoughts of The November Man and Three Missed Series 

So the other day while I was straightening up, I came across one of my old book journals. The journal covers the years from 1992 to 2000 (roughly my 40s).

Anyway, when I was looking at the journal, I also for some reason checked my Goodreads’ bookshelves. I discovered  none of the books from 1993 were listed. So I  started out to shelve the books.

Book No. 8 for the year was Burning the Apostle  by Bill Granger. It is the 13th and final book in Granger’s November Man series. The first November Man book I read was The Infant of  Prague, which I read in 1988. Between 1988 and 1993 I read the last five books in the series, as well as, the second book in the series Schism.

In the late 1990s Granger had a series of strokes. Finally, in 2000 he had a major stroke which ended his writing career. He passed away in 2012. In 2014 the November Man came to the big screen with Pierce Brosnan playing Devereaux.

Thinking about The November Man started me thinking about other series that I used to read. I thought of three more series. The authors of the following series have all passed away but their books should live on!

Brady Coyne – William G Tapply

William G Tapply’s first Brady Coyne novel Death at Charity’s Point was published in 1985. The 28th and final Brady Coyne novel Outwitting Trolls was published in 2010.

Brady is a Boston lawyer with a small but very rich clientele, that somehow always found a way to get in trouble. Most of the action on the books takes place outside of the court room.

Anyway,  Brady’s character is great and so are the supporting characters. So check out a Brady Coyne book.

There are 28 books in the Brady Coyne series. I have read 18 of them. Hmm, even though William G Tapply has passed, I still have 10 Brady Coune books to enjoy. So I should read at least one soon!

Porfiry Rostnikov – Stuart Kaminsky

Porfiry Rostnikow is an inspector with the Moscow police department. He is a….

…. A bruising bear of a man, whose love of weightlifting and American pizza has left him as squat and powerful as a . 38 bullet, Rostnikov may be the toughest cop in Moscow.

The first Rostnikov book I read was A Cold Red Sunrise the fifth book in the series. I read it because I saw it had won the Edgar award as best mystery novel. It wasn’t long after that I went back and read the earlier books in the series.

This series is one of my all time favorites I love Porfiry and his family along with all of his fellow officers. One of my favorite characters in the series is Emil Karpo who is referred to as the “Tartar” or most often as the “Vampire” based on his appearance.  Emil is a true believer in the Communist system and Will support it to the very end.

The stories are always well-written , fast-moving and interesting. So check it out!

There are 16 books in the series. I have read 13 of them. It seems I missed three books (9-11) published in the mid-90s. Note to self finish the series!!

Stuart M. Kaminsky was a profiling writer. In addition to the Porfiry Rostnikov series Kaminsky wrote series featuring Toby Peters, a private detective in 1940s Hollywood (1977-2004), veteran Chicago police officer Abe Lieberman (1990-2007) and finally a  Sarasota, Florida, process server named Lew Fonesca (1999-2009).

Kaminsky passed away in  October of 2009.

Robert (Mongo the Magnificent) Fredrickson – George C. Chesbro

Another series that I miss features a different kind of Private Eye Dr. Robert “Mongo” Fredrickson, a.k.a. Mongo the Magnificent. Mongo is …..

…..a fictional private eye and criminologist who has dwarfism……his rather unusual nickname is actually his stage name, from his days as an acrobat in a circus (a career that is over by the time the book series begins).

Mongo and his brother Garth always seemed to get involved in some kind of case with some strangeness in it.

 ….Playboy magazine as “Raymond Chandler meets Stephen King by way of Alice’s looking glass.”

Mr. Chesbro’s best-known character “is definitely an acquired taste that requires certain suspensions of perception and expectation,” wrote Dick Adler in a 1993 Chicago Tribune review.

“Imagine a dwarf who honed his physical skills as a circus acrobat called Mongo the Magnificent and then, using his real name, Dr. Robert Frederickson, became a world-famous criminologist,” Adler wrote. “Add to that the fact that Mongo’s world is filled with good and bad witches, satanists, warlocks and magicians of every shade as well as the normal run of murderers, swindlers and thieves.”

The writing, nonstop and violent, can also be very funny. Mongo played on a local  softball team in his spare time and noted that he led the league in walks.  Complete obituary

There are 14 books in the Mongo series. I have read all of them except Dream of the Falling Eagle the final book in the series.

So thinking about these four series has stirred up a lot of memories. I think I should create a mini-reading challenge”. I’ll challenge myself to read at least one book by each of these authors over the next four months! Anyone want to join me!!

The post Thoughts of the November Man lead to Series I Miss! appeared first on .

I’ve seen other bloggers post about Forgotten Books, and I’ve done my share of Forgotten Music—so here’s a dive into a forgotten book series that still sticks with me: Bill Granger’s November Man.

I started keeping a book journal in 1987, jotting down the dates I finished each book along with a few thoughts and star ratings. Looking back, I noticed that in both March 1988 and March 1989, I read one book from this series each year—and both left a strong impression.

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📖 March 1988 – The Infant of Prague

Rating: ★★★☆☆

This was book #8 in the series. My journal says:

“Devereaux tries to bring a defector out of Czechoslovakia. The story kept moving and the ending was satisfying. Better than the previous one I read (*Hemingway’s Notebook*).”

📚 Amazon synopsis here

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📖 March 1989 – Henry McGee is Not Dead

Journal comments:

“Henry McGee is an agent who crossed over in Alaska. There’s a complex plot to destroy R Section, a bomb on the pipeline, and Devereaux and Denisov (Soviet defector) are in the middle of it. The writing was occasionally difficult, but overall a good read.”

📚 Amazon/PW synopsis here

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🕵️ Why I Loved the Series

These were some of the best spy novels I read back in the day—always exciting, with a fascinating lead character in Devereaux. The books had an edge, a Cold War atmosphere, and a different tone from your typical spy thrillers.

More on Bill Granger at Fantastic Fiction

Looking back, the November Man books definitely laid the groundwork for my later love of authors like Brad Thor, Vince Flynn, and Alex Berenson.

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📚 Forgotten Book Tip

If you ever see a copy of a Bill Granger novel at a library sale or used bookstore—grab it! You won’t be disappointed.

The post Forgotten Books – November Man appeared first on .

Bill Granger -November Man

I have seen other bloggers post about Forgotten Books and I’ve done Forgotten Music. So here is a post about forgotten books. I started keeping a book journal in 1987. I also recorded the date I read the book and some thoughts, Occasionally, I added ratings. ratings. Anyway,  going back through the early book, I came across a series that I really enjoyed the November Man series by Bill Granger. Looking back at March of 1988 and 1989 I read a November Man novel in each year. In 1988 it was the 8th book in the series The Infant of Prague, which I gave 3 stars and said it was better than the previous book I had read  Hemingway’s Notebook. The brief blurb I wrote says Devereaux tries to bring a defector from Czechoslovakia. My comments says the story kept moving and the ending was satisfying! Here is the synopsis at Amazon.

In March of 1989 I read Henry Magee is Not Dead. The synopsis says that Henry Magee is an agent who crossed over in Alaska and there is a complicated plan to ruin R Section (the secret organization that Devereaux heads), a bomb on the Alaskan pipeline and Devereaux and Denisov (Soviet spy defector) end up in Alaska.  There was something about that writing style that made for difficult reading at times but overall a good read! Amazon has a synopsis from Publisher’s Weekly that is a little bit (an understatement) better than mine here

You can see more about Bill Granger and his work at Fantastic Fiction

Final Thoughts

All I remember is that the books were some of the best spy novels I read. They were always exciting  and I loved the title character Devereaux.  These books set me on a course that led to authors like Brad Thor, Vince Flynn and Alex Berenson! If you ever see an old  copy at a library book sale or you online, pick it up. You won’t be disappointed.

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Bill Granger

Bill Granger Page

Amazon

AbeBooks

ThriftBooks

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