Review of Spy Thriller Karla's Choice with retired CIA officer Carmen Amato

Did Nick Harkaway accurately portray 1963 spy craft and continue John le Carre's legacy?

FIND OUT! Mystery/thriller author and retired CIA intelligence officer Carmen Amato joined me to review Karla’s Choice, a 2024 novel by Nick Harkaway that continues the George Smiley spy thriller series.

This book review was recorded for my newsletter, podcast and Substack site. Read the transcript and view the complete interview on Substack, or on You Tube. Or listen to as a podcast.

What's is all about?

Introducing 2024 Karla’s Choice by Nick Harkaway

“Set in the missing decade between two iconic installments in John le Carré's George Smiley saga, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Karla’s Choice marks a momentous return to the world of spy fiction's greatest writer.” (quote from the publisher).

This fabulous novel is penned by le Carré's son, who writes under the name Nick Harkaway.

Meet Our Expert, Carmen Amato

Our expert today is mystery and thriller author Carmen Amato. Carmen is a retired CIA intelligence officer, a recipient of both the National Intelligence Award and the Career Intelligence Medal, previously head of a U.S. National Intelligence Tradecraft School, and also head of an intelligence collection program with responsibility across the Western Hemisphere.

Could we have a better expert? No.

Carmen draws on her counter-drug and espionage experiences to craft intrigue-filled crime fiction, notably the award-winning Detective Amelia Cruz police series set in Acapulco. The series won the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from Crime Masters of America in multiple years and has been optioned for television. (Find Carmen at carmenamato.net & on mysteryahead.substack.com, and meet Carmen here: facttofiction.substack.com/p/meet-our-experts-author-carmen-amato