Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: London Station: A Novel by David McCloskey

 

The fifth book about CIA agent Artemis Aphrodite Procter, London Station (Norton, September 2026) by David McCloskey is plainly inspired by recent events in the United States. There’s a new president in the White House, who it was rumored intended to lower the boom on the CIA. His pick for CIA director was an unconventional one. Bobby Jerome started a home building company with three employees and now it has more than 15,000 personnel. He has vowed to bring a business perspective to the running of the agency, despite his complete lack of knowledge or experience in the field, and reduce the budget which he considered bloated. To do so, he brought several of the senior managers of his corporation to fill the upper level slots, all as clueless as he is.

One of Jerome’s first acts is to examine how much money the CIA is spending to support its fellow agencies in other countries and sees the balance is heavily weighted on the U.S. side. He unfortunately decides to withdraw support from the British Secret Intelligence Service to better balance the relationship financially, leaving some of their agents dead as a result. The SIS is in an uproar and, after Jerome offends the chief of SIS in a meeting, he fires the CIA’s head of London Station because he is too supportive of the British. In his place Jerome appoints Artemis, despite her disinterest, and tells her she is in charge of rebalancing the relationship.

Artemis is an espionage agent to the core and she knows that all intelligence agencies work together to assess threat and defend against it. After a few more demented instructions from Jerome and his buddies, she decides she has to find a way to aggressively protect the U.S.-British relationship and its agents while she protects herself.

In the meantime the abruptly terminated former head of London Station, whose pension is being threatened by Jerome, has gone to work for a private intelligence agency run by an eccentric billionaire for a purpose as yet unclear. The former CIA chief of station still has an active Rolodex and he can draw on internal sources to help him in his new work.

Artemis has her work cut out for her in this galloping story of boots-on-the-ground tradecraft and political maneuvers punctuated with wisecracks. One of Jerome’s henchmen annoys her so severely she establishes a swear jar every time she’s tempted to smack him. By the time the book ends, she’s graduated to a large wastebasket that is overflowing with cash. McCloskey’s background in the agency and his first-hand knowledge of the work show in every scene. A very good read. Especially for fans of espionage thrillers.

 

 

·         Publisher‏: W. W. Norton & Company

·         Publication date:‎ September 29, 2026

·         Language: ‎English

·         Print length: ‎432 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎1324123214

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1324123217

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link:  https://amzn.to/4iRyofB 

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night

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Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Gray Man by Mark Greaney

Mark Greaney co-wrote the last three Jack Ryan books that Tom Clancy authored and then he continued the series by writing four more titles. He created the Gray Man thrillers about a former CIA operative turned international hit man, which so far has 10 books. Netflix has optioned the character for a feature film with Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, and Billy Bob Thornton, scheduled for release in 2022.

The Gray Man (Berkley, 2009) introduces Courtland Gentry, whose skill at taking out his assignment and then disappearing is so pronounced he’s considered nearly invisible. After a falling out with the CIA, he left their employ and became a skilled assassin for hire, working through an English security services firm that ostensibly provides bodyguards for high placed executives and consults on organizational security issues. The firm’s less savory services are advertised via word of mouth.

Unfortunately the Gray Man’s latest assignment in the Middle East, successfully executed of course, has caused a ripple in certain circles and pressure is brought to bear on his handlers to give him up. When the team sent to extract him from Iraq turns on him, the Gray Man does not know why but he evades their attempt to restrain him and goes on the run. Then his handler’s family becomes the focus of pressure and Gentry has to decide whether to give himself up or call the kidnappers’ bluff.

The relentless motion ranges from the Middle East to England to France. It reminded me a good deal of The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth (Viking, 1971). Gentry is just as cold-blooded as the Jackal, but where the Jackal took his victims out one at a time, Gentry is far more efficient, killing three or four or five at once. Gentry’s ability to fight wounded defies credibility and the plot is nothing out of the ordinary, but it’s a great piece of nonstop action with some carefully choreographed fight scenes. It will be interesting to see how the story transfers to screen. Fans of Orphan X and similar thrillers are especially among the target audience for these books. Definitely a binge-worthy series.

·         Publisher: ‎ Berkley; Original edition (September 29, 2009)

·         Language: ‎ English

·         Paperback: ‎ 464 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎ 051514701X

·         ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0515147018 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2021

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

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Sunday Movie Review: Black Water

I like action movies. A movie that has Jean-Claude Van Damme is sure to get a look. Even if what they are doing has been done to death. Black sites and escapes from them have all been the action movie rage the last couple of years in between the flood of cartel drug gang violence flicks. BLACK WATER takes the black site deal from the oil tanker or underwater base and puts it on a submarine.  

A skeleton crew of Navy personnel works in one part of the submarine while a CIA team works in the other part doing what they do. Dolph Lungren plays the role of a captured German intelligence dude who is already onboard when Jean-Cluade, in the role of Scott Walker, CIA operative and studly hero, is brought on board to be tortured about missing files.

The interrogation by the CIA team led by a traitor goes wrong—or right if you are Jean-Claude—and he escapes to do his version of Bruce Willis causing trouble in a skyscraper –submarine style. This is a decent action movie as long as you don’t think about it too much. Plenty of violent action, but nothing that is excessive or gory. There is no frontal nudity though there is a very little bit of side nudity of one of the actresses.

We got it by way of Netflix who also provides the synopsis/details below.  For those who wonder, there is no frontal nudity though there is a very little bit of side nudity of one of the actresses.

After he's spirited away to a submarine being used as a secret CIA interrogation site, operative Scott Wheeler learns that he's been framed for treason. But to prove his innocence, he must team up with a fellow prisoner and find a way to escape.

Cast 

Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Patrick Kilpatrick, John Posey, Jasmine Waltz, Courtney B Turk, Tandi Tugwell, Lance E. Nichols, Tom DeNucci, Mark Sherman

Director 

Pasha Patriki

Genres 

Action & Adventure, Action Thrillers, Indie Action, Indie Suspense & Thriller

Moods 

Violent, Exciting

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