Old Boys

Product Description Charles McCarry is considered by many to be the master of world-class spy fiction, garnering praise from peers and critics alike for his riveting novels. Christopher Buckley wrote that McCarry ''is not only one of the best writers in America but one of the most important. He dazzles, from epigraph to epilogue,'' and the Los Angeles Times hailed his work as ''first rate, in the tradition of the best espionage fiction, John Buchan to Eric Ambler and John le Carre.'' In this magnificent novel, Charles McCarry returns to the world of his legendary character Paul Christopher--the savvy intelligence agent as skilled at choosing a fine wine as he is at tradecraft, at once sophisticated and dangerous, and no stranger to the world of dirty tricks. Now Paul Christopher has mysteriously disappeared. Months pass and a memorial service is held for him in Washington. But a group of his retired colleagues--the ''Old Boys'' from the Outfit--refuse to believe Christopher is dead. Led by Christopher's cousin Horace, the Old Boys embark on a thrilling worldwide search for the master spy and an ancient scroll that may reveal an unspeakably dangerous truth. Review ''Old Boys is like the best parts of ten John le Carre novels all put together.'' -- Time ''As soon as he began publishing fiction more than three decades ago, Charles McCarry was recognized as a spy novelist of uncommon gifts. . . McCarry is a careful plotter and an unfussy stylist; he nourishes his narrative with cosmopolitan reflections on the craft. . . Old Boys is, at heart, a lament for a dying generation of American spies, an elegy for the human twilight, Cocoon with a cloak and dagger.'' --Washington Post''McCarry is the best modern writer on the subject of intrigue.'' -- P. J. O'Rourke, The Weekly Standard A [new] novel from ''the greatest espionage writer that America has ever produced.'' --Otto Penzler, The New York Sun'''McCarry's latest is an old-fashioned, rollicking adventure that beats Ludlum and Cussler at their own game. . . McCarry's commitment to [his] fanciful premise is absolute, and the resulting yarn combines the intrepid exploits of John Buchan, the cagey intrigue of Eric Ambler, and the clipped cadences of Dashiell Hammett. Tremendous fun.'' --Booklist About the Author CHARLES MCCARRY is the author of ten critically acclaimed novels and nine nonfiction books. He is a former editor-at-large of National Geographic and has contributed dozens of articles, short stories, and poems to leading national magazines. His op-ed pieces and other essays have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. For ten years he served under deep cover as a CIA operations officer.