Todd Robins Book Recommendations & Book Mentions

Todd Robins

If you'd told me in the 90s the extent to which people would be unfamiliar with the works of Robert Stone by 2020, I'd have been surprised. DOG SOLDIERS is lights out great, to name only one. Bell's biography captures it all. https://t.co/tITivxwNeb

Todd Robins

I've never had anyone come back & tell me they didn't like a Lawrence Osborne novel. The list of stellar works continues to grow. This year's THE GLASS KINGDOM is money in the bank. https://t.co/D4IhvEAgmM

Todd Robins

@rustybarnes23 Ben Macintyre makes it into a narrative, right from the start, in "A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal." Then he splices Philby's background, as and when. You probably can't do that with all biographies, though.

Todd Robins

Coming in July, cool title, I'm ready. https://t.co/fRKczRceNZ

Todd Robins

Possibly an early Gen Xer or older is more easily triggered by this tale. But I'm doing a deep dive of Jefferson Morley's trilogy: OUR MAN IN MEXICO; THE GHOST: THE SECRET LIFE OF CIA SPYMASTER JAMES JESUS ANGLETON; & SCORPIONS' DANCE. https://t.co/87DxebH0Wg

Todd Robins

Working on @PaulFecteau's stuff this morning got me thinking about David Talbot's books. I reviewed The Devil's Chessboard when it came out. https://t.co/NOSbRRLD0p

Todd Robins

@nkolakowski Curious: how many words in Jim Thompson's Savage Night. A long novella or a short novel. I prefer novellas and short novels, roughly the 35 to 55 thousand range. But I must be in the minority.

Todd Robins

Possibly an early Gen Xer or older is more easily triggered by this tale. But I'm doing a deep dive of Jefferson Morley's trilogy: OUR MAN IN MEXICO; THE GHOST: THE SECRET LIFE OF CIA SPYMASTER JAMES JESUS ANGLETON; & SCORPIONS' DANCE. https://t.co/87DxebH0Wg

Todd Robins

If you haven't read him yet, Lawrence Osborne is the man. I am rereading The Ballad of a Small Player for the sheer pleasure of it. Every page is a luxurious gem. Lord Doyle, a lawyer on the lamb, gambling away his ill-gotten gains in Macau.

Todd Robins

I didn't get everything right this week, god knows. But working in Ken Bruen's The Devil on Audible was definitely the way to go. Gerry O'Brien's narration--good stuff.