Return to Finder

 

We’ve been readers of Joe Finder’s espionage thrillers at Shots Magazine for some time now, and have bumped into him many times both in America at Thrillerfest and Bouchercon Conventions but also in the UK as he’s been a guest author at Theakston’s Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate several times. In fact in 2017, Joe Finder joined our quiz team adding his weight to his fellow Journalists – sadly we came an honourable [and very close] second. Well in our defence, the winning team had a secret weapon - the writer of AppleTV+ Slow Horses Mick Herron. The creator of James Bond Antidote - Jackson Lamb who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the crime fiction genre – though he dresses better than his creation - Jackson Lamb.

Anyway, I digress……..It’s been a while since we’ve read one of Joe’s thrillers, so both Mike Stotter and I were delighted to meet up with him during Bouchercon 2025, in New Orleans, both watching his panel as well with Gerald Petievich at Otto Penzler’s Mysterious Press anniversary party held on Bourbon Street. 

We learned that Joe’s latest bestselling novel The Oligarch’s Daughter has just been released in Paperback in the UK from his British Publishers, Head of Zeus. On return to the UK, I managed to read this extraordinary novel over two sittings [which is saying something, considering the heft of this thriller].

Here are my thoughts -

Joe Finder’s latest novel is a literary throwback to the 1970s cold war espionage-action thriller but given a high-tech upgrade to pull it into our contemporary times. Ostensibly a cat and mouse chase that traverses trade-craft, technology, time and terrain, it is greater than the sum of its parts because it makes the reader ponder on what it takes to vanish and escape ‘the grid’.

The chase commences in New England, when boat-builder Grant Anderson takes a client out on a sea fishing trip. Little is as it appears, for the client is actually a hired assassin contracted to eliminate Anderson. It is revealed that Grant Anderson is a non-de-plume for Paul Brightman, a New Yorker who vanished many years ago. It seems that Paul Brightman’s cover is blown.

Read our full review at Shots Magazine HERE

Following reading The Oligarch’s Daughter, I had a few questions for the author, and he graciously answered my queries which we present for our readers.

Ali Karim: Welcome back to Shots Magazine, it’s been a while…..

Joe Finder: I know, and it’s good to be back, Ali – thank you for having me!

AK: It was good seeing you at Bouchercon New Orleans in September, so tell us what you got up to in ‘The Big Easy’?

JF: Besides breakfasts at the Ruby Slipper café and a couple of excellent dinners, I was able to catch up with some old friends and make some new ones.  New Orleans was a great setting for the conference, and I always love Bouchercon. I love my community of mystery/thriller writers and readers.

AK: ….your long awaited novel THE OLIGARCH’S DAUGHTER has just been released in Paperback in the UK, so tell us where your fascination with Russian Political Intrigue stems from?

JF: I’ve been interested in Russia since before my college days, when I discovered the works of the Great Russian novelist and short-story writer Nikolai Gogol.  I was fascinated by a culture that could produce such a writer, and in college I majored in Russian studies, with a focus on Soviet politics and intelligence. That led to my first book, a nonfiction book about the most prominent American businessmen who had personal connections to the Kremlin . . . which in turn led to my first novel, THE MOSCOW CLUB, which centred on a coup in the Kremlin. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, I moved on to other topics in my thrillers but remained interested in Russia.  It took me a while, but I finally got back to it in THE OLIGARCH’S DAUGHTER.

AK: THE OLIGARCH’S DAUGHTER is rather prescient, when you consider the Russian special operation in Ukraine and the curious Russian financial matters internationally since the fall of the Soviet Union; so did you have any fears setting this novel with such a backdrop?

JF: I’ve written about a curious break-in at my office a few years ago that followed my criticizing Putin and the Russian secret services on live Russian TV.  After which, the FBI warned me not to visit Moscow again. So yes, I was apprehensive about writing another book that dealt with Russian matters. But I did it anyway. Though I don’t plan to be visiting Russia any time soon.

AK: When I read THE OLIGARCH’S DAUGHTER it reminded me of a Robert Ludlum international thriller, but with updated technology and faster velocity. Would you care to comment?

JF: Thanks, Ali – I take that as a compliment, because I’ve always loved Ludlum’s novels.  High literature it ain’t, but Ludlum was unparalleled in the way he created and sustained tension throughout his stories.  Ludlum – who was a friend, by the way – was also skilled at conspiracy novels, stories in which a conspiracy is gradually revealed and becomes larger in scope, involving higher and higher circles of power, in an atmosphere of growing paranoia.  I tried to do something like that with THE OLIGARCH’S DAUGHTER, and I’m delighted that you think I succeeded.

AK: ..wow friends with Robert Ludlum……and so which of Robert Ludlum’s thrillers would be favourites of yours and why?

JF: I have particular fondness for THE HOLCROFT COVENANT, which starts in a classic conspiratorial way: an American architect meets with a mysterious stranger on a train in Geneva.  He then meets his father, a man he never knew, and discovers a massive plot involving the children of Nazis. I’m also quite fond of THE MATARESE CIRCLE, in which a CIA agent and a KGB agent are forced to work together to try to defeat a far-reaching conspiracy whose origins date back more than a century.  And of course THE BOURNE IDENTITY is just a solid-gold classic that begins with an irresistible premise – a man awakes one day with amnesia, having no idea who he is.  The only clue is a piece of microfilm with the numbers of a Swiss bank account.

AK: One of my favourite Ludlum works is THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND….one of his slimmer thrillers [and as adapted for the screen, it was sadly Sam Peckinpah’s final directed film]…anyway, putting you on the spot…can you name a few thriller writers that influenced you [or impressed you] when you were young, and their most important work [in your opinion]?

JF: There are a number of thriller writers who made a deep impression on me: Eric Ambler (THE MASK [aka COFFIN] OF DIMITRIOS, JOURNEY INTO FEAR), Frederick Forsyth (THE DAY OF THE JACKAL), Ken Follett (EYE OF THE NEEDLE), John le Carré (THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD) are just a few of them. And when I was younger, I loved the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming.  It’s a rich genre.

AK: Back to THE OLIGARCH’S DAUGHTER, I found some of the supporting characters such as Grant Anderson / Paul Brightman’s girlfriend Sarah Harrison; his estranged father Stan, his nemesis the former CIA Asset Geraldine Dempsey among many others are interestingly delineated – can you tell us how you paint characters so distinctly in such a fast-moving plot-driven thriller without slowing the pace?

JF: It’s a funny paradox: in a fast-paced thriller it’s quite difficult to establish full-blooded characters, yet a suspense novel doesn’t work unless we care about the central characters.  These characters – particularly Paul’s father, Stan, and his nemesis, Geraldine Dempsey – came to me in the round, so to speak. They felt real to me. I think the trick is to employ brush strokes of characterization, highly specific bits of description, lines of dialogue, reactions – so that they come to life in the reader’s mind, as real as they were in the writer’s.

AK: Your work has been filmed, with amazing casting such as Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd in High Crimes and Liam Hemsworth, Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford in Paranoia, so have you any news of film options on your other works?

JF: Yes! I recently signed a deal with a terrific producer, Carl Beverly of Timberman/Beverly (producers of Justified, Masters of Sex, Elementary, Seal Team, and Kidnapped) for a TV series based on my Nick Heller character, starting with an adaptation of my Nick Heller novel GUILTY MINDS. And I also have signed a deal for another TV series based on THE OLIGARCH’S DAUGHTER. Both deals are with excellent producers, but this being Hollywood, anything can happen . . .

AK: Are you still active with International Thriller Writers [ITW] as you were a founder, and still involved with the Association of Former Intelligence Officers?

JF: I’m very active in ITW, recruiting writers for anthologies that help underwrite ITW’s activities that assist beginning and mid-career thriller authors, and of course I always go to ThrillerFest in New York.  And although I’m less active in AFIO, the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, I remain friendly with former CIA officers (I was not one) and often call upon them to help me research my novels.

AK: And finally, what’s on the horizon for Joe Finder?

JF: I’m deep into a new book, the beginning of a new series, and as usual, it’s taken me over . . .

AK: Thank you for your time Joe.

JF: Thank you, Ali, and thanks for your enthusiasm about THE OLIGARCH’S DAUGHTER!

Shots Magazine would like to pass our thanks to Joe Finder and his British Publisher Head of Zeus for this interview.

The Oligarch’s Daughter is now released in the UK and Ireland in Paperback, and for more information on the work of Joe Finder > https://josephfinder.com/

Here’s an interesting video [below] where Joe Finder discusses The Oligarch’s Daughter with the editor of The New Yorker David Remnick.

 

 

Relieve Omicron Anxiety with Audible

 

In case you’ve been living in cave for the last two years, we have entered the age of anxiety. Reality has turned a tad surreal and rather scary with this ever-mutating virus in our midst. Just when we thought the COVID vaccines would return our lives into some form of normalcy, up pop these variants. Firstly, we had the Delta [variant], named after the 4^th letter of the Greek alphabet [and used in Chemistry and Physics to signify change]; and now we have the Omicron [aka Omikron Variant] named after the 15^th letter of the Greek alphabet – and this variant appears to be evading our vaccine defensive barriers.

But what has this to do with thriller novels, apart from our perceived reality resembling the title of Robert Ludlum thriller?

Because reading, or listening to audio books can significantly reduce anxiety; the overthinking of our situation, creating existential problems that reside in our mind and keep us from sleep, or focused on the tasks at hand – instead our minds rage with unhelpful thoughts like an ocean in a storm.

What to do?

Bibliotherapy, the reading of fiction / or listening to narrated books are medically recognised and prescribed for the easing of anxiety, and returning the mind to a calmer state.

This article is enlightening –

“During the last lockdown, when my anxiety was high, a friend suggested I tried re-reading books I used to enjoy. While the thought of starting a new book felt somehow daunting, reading something familiar appealed, so I gave it a go. And it worked: I found that I was able to lose myself completely. Absorbing myself in a story I already knew and loved was as good as a mental rest, and now, if I feel anxiety creeping in, I’ll reach for a well-thumbed novel!'

Literature has the power to transport us away from the to-do lists and troubles of life and soothe us with a comforting balm of captivating characters and scintillating storytelling. But how exactly does reading aid our mental health? Here we outline seven of the top benefits”

Read More CLICK HERE

I read in bed to ease me to sleep, but find at times I find reading in itself a challenge because my attention span becomes truncated as my mind wanders from unwelcome thought to troubling thought – but I found a solution. Instead, I listen to a well narrated audiobook.

I’ve been a member of Audible, for some time now and found their thriller range my medication to combat anxiety and worries, both existential and real.  

A number of titles on the audible platform are exclusive, acted as dramas and narrated professionally so they engage and hold the mind captive from those unwelcome worries and anxieties that derail our thinking.

The importance of the narrator’s performance is critical, such as Scott Brick among others such as Stephen Fry.

The market leader in Audio Publishing, is the Amazon subsidiary Audible who not only provide a platform for audiobooks, but also generate their own productions, using actors, vocal artists as well as soundscapes so the reader can become part of an immersive experience.

As reported within the publishing industry –

Even though the availability of audiobooks in digital format is relatively new, their origins date back as far as the 1930s when they were sold as analog cassette tapes and vinyl records and used as an educational medium in schools and libraries. Since the shift to digital, the audiobook market has grown exponentially with new entrants jostling for market position.

The undoubted leader is Amazon-owned Audible, the world’s largest producer of downloadable audiobooks. Since its 1995 launch, Audible’s library includes more than 200,000 audio programs covering all genres – subscribers downloaded 725 million hours of audio last year, almost double that of 2011.

But the market has opened up. Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller argued back in 2014 that audiobooks are “following almost the exact pattern and trajectory as e-books in that we are seeing a massive explosion in response to a switch to digital. But it’s also more exciting because you can do so much more with audio – it’s not just a facsimile of the print book.”

Read More

So, what’s new from Audible?

Well, I’ve enjoyed two particular titles, tucked up in bed and I’d like to share them with Shots Magazine Readers -

Life Sign by Carl Goodman

The second book in the DI Eva Harris series, is a dark and totally engrossing thriller -

In an abandoned warehouse, a schoolboy makes a grisly discovery: ninety-six containers, each filled with exquisitely preserved bodily remains. Detective Eva Harris knows the line between life and death better than most. Having survived a near fatal encounter with the criminal underworld once before, she is still haunted by the repercussions of her actions – and fearful of the whole truth emerging. With the remains showing signs of experiments and modifications, she is forced to contemplate a difficult question: what does the perpetrator of this extraordinary crime imagine themselves to be? Artist, scientist - or something completely new? Her search for answers takes her across Europe, from the upper echelons of society’s glittering elite to the dark and tangled web of the underworld – and finally, to the very limits of humanity.

Read about 20/20, the first in the DI Eva Harris Series CLICK HERE

Read more about Carl Goodman’s writing of LIFE SIGN Click Here

To download LIFE SIGN written by Carl Goodman and Narrated by Louise Brealey then CLICK HERE

To download the first in the DI Eva Harris series 20/20 written by Carl Goodman and Narrated by Louise Brealey then CLICK HERE and search [“20/20 Carl Goodman”]

A Perfect Stranger by Shalini Boland

A troubling and all-engrossing domestic thriller from the dark imagination of the prolific Shalini Boland.

Annie comes home from a market trip with her young son George only to make a gruesome discovery. Could the perpetrator be the new lodger she and her husband David just rented their spare bedroom to? Emily dreams of one day owning a house where her son Josh and the little one on the way can grow up, but when her husband Aidan insists on leaving his lucrative job as a luxury car salesman, she senses something more is afoot—even while she harbours a secret of her own. What is Aidan hiding and will it jeopardize their young family’s future? Meanwhile, Aidan’s boss, Marcus, finds himself caught between placating his wife Dani’s all-consuming desire to get pregnant and managing the less than savoury group of associates now helping to run his car dealership. How far is Marcus willing to go to prove his love for Dani? Or will his business come first?

The production values of this audible original production are extraordinary, with vocal talents of Alison Campbell, Tamsin Kennard, and Ciaran Saward who bring this thriller to life.

Highly recommended

To download A Perfect Stranger by Shalini Boland or any of the authors’ previous audiobooks, Click Here and put ‘Shalini Boland’ into the search box.

Images © 2021 Audible Studios

 

Criminal Snippets

Gerald Gilbert in The Independent explains why the adaptation of John Le Carré's The Night Manager was worth the twenty-year wait. Meanwhile Jasper Rees in the Telegraph explains why the final episode of The Night Manager had a superb climax.

Also in the Independent Max Wallis lists the 10 best spy novels.

If you are a mystery buff as well as a traveller then you will be interested in Deutsche Welle’s Travel Tips for Mystery Buffs.

According to The Bookseller the debut crime series by former criminal barrister Helen Fields is to be published by Avon and introduces readers to half French half Scottish former Interpol officer Luc Callanach, and detective inspector Ava Turner.  The first book in the series Perfect Remains will be published in December 2016.

Transworld are according to The Bookseller to republish the late James Crumley’s classic novel The Long Good Kiss with a new introduction by Ian Rankin.  First published in 1978 the new edition will be published in April 2016.

The latest Jason Bourne book is to be published by Head of Zeus.  According to The Bookseller.  Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Enigma, will be published this summer.

Headline have also according to The Bookseller bought the rights to a psychological domestic noir thriller Without a Trace by Mary Torjussen.  Initially due to be published in digital in November it will be published in mass market in April 2017.

According to the BBC, Tim Roth and Samantha Morton have been cast in a new three part series of Rillington Place, which will be filmed in Scotland and London.  The three-part drama is based on the real-life multiple murders undertaken by John Christie in Notting Hill in the 1940s and Fifties.

ITV have commissioned an eight-part thriller Paranoid. A conspiracy thriller, Paranoid, tells the story of a female GP who is murdered in a rural children’s playground with an abundance of eyewitnesses. A group of detectives embark on what seems to be a straightforward murder investigation, but as they delve deeper into the case they are quickly drawn into the twists and turns of an ever-darkening mystery, which takes them unexpectedly across Europe.

Sad to hear that on 19 March Japanese mystery writer Shizuko Natsuki whose 1973 novel (Johatsu) Disappearance won the Japanese won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award has died.

Best of???  According to Taste of Cinema the 10 Best Sherlock Holmes movies can be found here.  The 20 best South Korean thriller movies are here.

Interesting article in the Concord Monitor commenting on the fact that police shootings of blacks influence the crime fiction genre.

Alison Flood in The Guardian reviews Jonathan Moore’s novel The Poison Artist.

With the new ITV Maigret being shown this evening (28 March) French Today published sometime ago (which is certainly worth reading) an essay on how to follow in the footsteps of the fictional Maigret in the City of Light. 

Sarah Paretsky talks to Prose ‘n’ Cons about her writing and the state of publishing today.