Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

Published by Hogarth on October 11, 2016

Hag-Seed is a book for fans of The Tempest. I’m sure it can be enjoyed by readers who are unfamiliar with the play, but its great value lies in its exploration of the play’s themes and characters. That exploration will likely resonate more deeply with readers who appreciate the play.

Felix starts Hag-Seed as the artistic director of a summer theater company in Makeshiwig. Felix’s life has been falling apart since his wife left him, leaving him to parent their daughter Miranda, who died from meningitis at age 3. But Felix refuses to believe that Miranda has vanished from the universe. Felix decides to perform a sort of reincarnation by staging The Tempest and making Miranda “the daughter who had not been lost.” This evasion of death will give Felix a chance to glimpse, through his art, the adult daughter he will never know.

Unfortunately for Felix, his artistic concepts (Caliban as a paraplegic) don’t go over well with the Board, although he fears he has been undermined by Tony, to whom he always delegated interaction with the theater’s patrons. Tony, of course, has been maneuvering behind the scenes to replace Felix. After that happens, Felix finds himself teaching Shakespeare in prison, and producing plays with a cast of prisoners.

I like the idea of teaching Shakespeare as part of a prison literacy program. Of course, objections are raised that prisoners are too stupid to learn Shakespeare, but Margaret Atwood provides a blueprint for how it might be done. She also anticipates and addresses short-sighted objections by "law and order" types who think prison should punish (and punish and punish some more) rather than rehabilitate. That's an issue that probably resonates even more strongly in the United States than in England, where the novel is set. The American public loves punishment, the harsher, the better.

Eventually, circumstances (and the plot) dictate that Felix will produce The Tempest in prison. The prisoners like Macbeth because of its sword fights. They like Julius Caesar because they understand betrayal. They like Richard III because they can relate to power struggles. But the prisoners (and government officials) have some qualms about The Tempest, which seems a little gay to them. Felix nevertheless convinces them to see Ariel as a space alien, not a fairy (or air-spirit), and the show goes on.

The play is modernized a bit with the addition of rap and some contemporary language so that the prison audience can follow it, but fans of The Tempest should love this book for the insightful analysis of key scenes and characters offered by Felix and the inmates. There’s always a schemer in a Shakespeare play, and so it is in this book about the production of a Shakespeare play. Felix hatches a scheme that might be worthy of the Bard. It might not be credible, but the credibility of a plot never bothered Shakespeare, so why should it concern Margaret Atwood?

The situation in Hag-Seed sets up as a comedy and much of the story is amusing, but it’s impossible to read Shakespeare without learning something, and Felix learns something about himself as the story unfolds. Felix is haunted (or comforted) by the ghost (or memory, or fantasy) of his dead daughter, and the play teaches something about the power of illusion ... and about the need to set illusions free. And of course, the prisoners learn something, because The Tempest is (as the novel reveals) a play about prisons and the different ways of living within them. And, as the last line of The Tempest reveals, the play is about pardons, which must be earned. The modern illustrations of the lessons taught by one of Shakespeare’s best plays make Hag-Seed a fun and informative read.

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Gunmetal Gray by Mark Greaney

Published by Berkley on February 14, 2017

I typically roll my eyes at thrillers that require the hero to defeat dozens of highly trained fighters, as if he were a superhero. I make an exception with Gray Man novels because rolling my eyes would divert my attention from the fun, fast-moving story. Besides, Gunmetal Gray strikes me as being more credible than most action thrillers, simply because it illustrates how badly intelligence agencies foul things up when they try to meddle with the rest of the world.

Having resolved his little misunderstanding with the CIA, Courtland Gentry accepts a contract to carry out its latest scheme. Fan Jiang, the best hacker working for the Chinese government, has bolted, making his way to Hong Kong with a head full of secrets. When Gentry arrives in Hong Kong to look for him, a Chinese colonel offer him a contract to kill Jiang. The person offering the contract is someone who doesn’t mess around, but neither does the Gray Man.

An elderly British assassin, a female Russian spy, and Triad gangsters all enter the plot before a hundred pages have passed. And that’s only the beginning of the criminal and intelligence organizations that step on each other’s toes as they try to use or kill Fan. The difference between the spies and the gangsters is often negligible, but Gentry tries to rise above it all to carry out a mission of his own — one that departs from the expectations of both the CIA and the Chinese colonel.

To recover Fan, Gentry frequently finds himself caught between paramilitary operations run by the Chinese and Russians, not to mention the Triad, the Vietnamese army, heavily armed Cambodian and Thai thugs, and the Mafia. All in a day’s work for the Gray Man.

Of course, there are things Gentry doesn’t know about the full scope of the CIA’s plan, because the CIA worries that he’ll go off reservation — again — if he learns the truth. And, of course, the CIA is right about that. The truth matters to Gentry, and being told to be a good little patriot and do what he's told doesn't sit well with him. There’s plenty of action in Gunmetal Gray, but also a fair amount of intrigue.

Readers who are familiar with the series know what to expect from Gentry, but Gunmetal Gray introduces a female SVR agent who is a worthy adversary, or ally, depending on her mood. Gentry and the Russian don’t know what to make of each other for much of the novel. And while Gentry works alone by preference, he finds himself admiring the Russian’s skills (and curves). That adds a bit of spice to the story.

The plot takes the usual twists and turns that a reader expects from Mark Greaney. He’s a clever writer who doesn’t view the world through the narrow lens that impairs most action/thriller writers who focus on international intrigue. The plot is reasonably complex and, as I noted, it is driven by the unerring ability of intelligence agencies to make a mess of things. But political intrigue aside, most of the novel is about the Gray Man doing his thing, and it delivers action in large helpings.

Notwithstanding that this is an action novel, the ending reveals truths about powerful governments that, regardless of ideology, place a higher value on winning their games than they place on moral behavior. The Gray Man is driven by a moral code and is inevitably disappointed that the CIA is not. A nation’s values mean nothing when they are sacrificed for the illusion of security. I loved the way that lesson is revealed in the novel’s ending.

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NK3 by Michael Tolkin

Published by Grove Atlantic on February 7, 2017

NK3 is a post-apocalyptic story, albeit one that emphasizes the lighter size of catastrophe. North Korea releases nanobacteria into the air. They are targeting South Korea, but things get out of hand. Eventually the United States is affected by NK3, which induces a sense of elation before wiping out memory. The usual apocalyptic events occur: electricity is lost, planes crash, fires rage. But government officials had a chance to counteract the effects of NK3 in a limited portion of the population. They saved people with technical skills who were able to generate electricity and do other useful things, and of course they saved their buddies.

Center Camp, stretching out from Beverly Hills, is surrounded by a fence and controlled by a small number of people who are striving to keep civilization alive while drinking expensive wine and living in really nice houses. They are among the early First Wavers who were able to obtain rehabilitative treatment before the system was overwhelmed. Most people (especially people like writers and millionaires who had no practical skills) died or became Drifters and Driftettes. They aren’t zombies, but they shamble and don’t have much to say. Driftettes like to sweep and dance around naked. Second Wavers received belated treatment and are somewhere between the First Wavers and Drifters.

Some late First Wavers have a Silent Voice that guides them. Usually the Silent Voice — “the alienated echo of who you were” — tells them to lie about everything.

Erin is among the early First Wavers at Center Camp who use the DMV database to help match Drifters with their identities. When they verify that people once had skills that the community needs, the Drifters can join the community inside the fence and stop living like scavengers. The community then brands them and endeavors to restore their skills.

Seth Kaplan is a late First Waver who joins Center Camp after Erin verifies that he was once a doctor. And then there’s a young woman who was once a famous pop singer. She gets to join because, well, she’s a celebrity even if nobody remembers her.

Another faction controls the airport and hopes to find a pilot so they can go to a better place, if one exists. Outside of both areas is Hopper, who has been sent on a mysterious mission by someone he calls the Teacher.

Several other characters have taken new names (having forgotten their old ones), including AutoZone, Frank Sinatra, Go Bruins, and Pippi Longstocking. Some people are still around who weren’t affected by NK3, but they really aren’t welcome in the new world order. After all, they’re the ones who caused the problem. Killing them for being normal is the default option.

NK3’s carefully constructed future is full of interesting details, from the clothes that people wear to the mythology that explains an unremembered past. The plot … well, the story is so meandering that discovering a plot is a challenge. The novel is more a collection of amusing subplots that sort of come together, in the way that golden retriever puppies crash into each other randomly when they’re not running off in their own directions.

NK3 makes fun of committee meetings, the snobbery of privilege, the ephemeral nature of popular culture, religions and their various gods, the arrogance and shallowness of power, and people who believe a society should be organized by class membership. Oh, and fences. NK3 definitely mocks people who think building a fence to keep outsiders out is a smart idea.

The story of the pop singer gets a little strange as it nears the end (not that the story isn’t strange before that), as does Hopper’s story. The novel seems to be racing toward a profound resolution that it doesn’t quite achieve. While some of the plot threads disappear in a way that leaves the story feeling incomplete, others manage to come together by the end. A mystery is solved and the story never loses coherence. NK3 isn’t laugh-out-loud funny, but it is consistently amusing and worth reading for that reason, and the notion that we are living our own mythologies (which is my takeaway from the novel) gives the book some modest literary heft.

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Death Penalty by William Coughlin

First published in 1992; published digitally by Endeavour Press on June 10, 2016

Charley Sloan was a successful lawyer until his desire for bourbon overcame his desire to win cases. He’s back in court after selling shoes during a one-year suspension of his license. Taking a year off would be a professional death penalty for most lawyers, but Charley opened a scaled-down practice in a small town near Detroit and, after a headline-making victory, is starting to rebuild his flow of clients. After three failed marriages, he also needs to rebuild his life.

Death Penalty follows Charley’s attempts to help a series of clients in civil and criminal cases, including his representation of Doctor Death (always an unfortunate name for a physician), but the plot’s focus is on the appeal of a multi-million-dollar product liability verdict he has been hired to handle. He will get a percentage of the trial lawyer’s fee if he wins, providing a cushion he needs to restore his financial health. The trial lawyer has heard rumors that some judges on the Michigan Court of Appeals are open to bribes and thinks that would be the best way to assure success. Charley assures the lawyer that the rumors are untrue -- until he is approached by an intermediary who suggests otherwise.

Charley is easy to like. He’s smart, compassionate, funny, and humble. William Coughlin adds human drama to courtroom drama with Charley’s baby-step efforts to restore his life and dignity, including his tentative approaches to romance with a couple of different women. The small town atmosphere adds local color to the story and allows Charley to introduce a variety of likable supporting characters to the cast. Their lighthearted banter adds humor to the story.

Most legal thrillers milk the drama of trials. This one is unusual in its reliance on an appeal. An appellate argument doesn’t rely on theatrics, as do the best trials, but they can be just as intense. Coughlin conveys that effectively. Trials are more fun, however, and when Dr. Death gets charged with another murder, Charley handles the case in a small county where criminal trials are viewed as a sporting event.

Coughlin also conveys the criminal defense lawyer’s instinctive disdain for informants -- criminals who are supposedly helping the police when, in fact, they are only interested in helping themselves avoid full punishment for their own crimes. Informants reveal a remarkable disloyalty to former friends that makes everything they say or do suspect. Charley’s unwillingness to act as one, even at risk of being arrested, reflects the humanity that he nurtures in his heart. He knows, at the same time, that people who refuse to sacrifice their honor are usually sacrificed by the system -- by powerful people who (as the novel illustrates) take care of each other.

Death Penalty does not end with the kind of clever twist I always hope for in a legal thriller. I like the way the Dr. Death story resolves, but the conspiracy plot coasts to an easy conclusion that lacks suspense. That’s my only complaint about Death Penalty, and it is overshadowed by the novel’s merits.

Describing the courthouse where he spent most of his career, Charley says “It wasn’t the kind of place that inspired nostalgia any more than a rectal thermometer evoked happy memories for an overworked nurse.” Sentences like that provide more than adequate reason to recommend Death Penalty. A fun story and a likable main character make Death Penalty a good choice for fans of legal thrillers.

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A Divided Spy by Charles Cumming

Published by St. Martin's Press on February 14, 2017

A Divided Spy is the final book in the Thomas Kell trilogy. It builds on the death of Kell’s girlfriend, Rachel Wallinger, and makes occasional reference other to key events in the earlier novels, but it can easily be read as a standalone. However, the reader will likely appreciate the depth of the characters more fully with the benefit of insights provided by the first two novels.

At 46, Thomas Kell has left behind his dangerous days as a spy. Since Rachel’s murder in Istanbul, Kell has gone out of his way to avoid former colleagues at MI6. Kell would like to seek vengeance against Alexander Minasian, the man he holds responsible for Rachel’s assassination, but he has almost resigned himself to injustice. Or at least, he is resigned to it until he learns that Minasian has been spotted at a resort in Egypt.

Kell’s first step is to befriend Bernhard Riedle in Brussels. Riedle is Minasian’s jilted lover. Perhaps Kell can use Riedle to set up Minasian … but who is setting up whom? As is common in spy novels, trust is easily misplaced, leaving the reader to puzzle out the intrigue.

The other plot development involves Shahid Khan, who is returning to England (his birthplace and a land he now views as evil) to carry out a mission. Kell learns, indirectly and incompletely, that a terrorist plot against London might be afoot, and that soon becomes the focus of Kell’s investigation — to the limited extent that his boss, who doubts the authenticity of Kell’s source, will allow him to do anything at all. Of course, the spy who ignores his boss in order to do what he believes to be right is a time-honored theme of spy fiction, and Kell fits within that mold.

Modern spy novels often feature ISIS terrorists while Cold War spy novels reliably focused on Russians. It’s unusual to find a novel that includes both, but Charles Cumming manages to merge them deftly.

Much of the tension in A Divided Spy comes from uncertainty as to whether Kell is being played and, if so, by whom. The battle of wits between Kell and Minasian never quite enters Le Carré territory, but it is both convincing and engaging. The novel’s strength, in fact, is its portrayal of two spies who, while separated by ideology, are fundamentally similar people — a theme Le Carré executed to perfection and that Cumming handles with aplomb.

Cumming’s exploration of the mentality of a spy is really an exploration of anyone who deceives. Telling a constant stream of lies, whether for personal gain or to advance a government’s interests, changes a person’s nature, prevents him from being true to himself. People who care about the truth (people who are not sociopaths) may be destroyed by living a lie, and that is seen to different degrees in both of the novel’s central characters.

At the same time, living with ambiguity, never knowing whether a source (or even a colleague) can be trusted, makes it hard to maintain a moral center. Trust can get you killed; an inability to trust can do the same. The moral conflicts that characterize the best spy fiction are particularly strong in the concluding chapters of A Divided Spy. The novel is a fine end to a series that, taken as a whole, is probably Cumming’s best work.

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