Charles McCarry

Christopher's Ghosts
The Overlook Press, 2007

Charles McCarry (born 1930 Massachusetts, USA) is an American writer primarily of spy fiction.

Early life

His family is from The Berkshires area of western Massachusetts, where he currently lives.[1]

Career

Military and correspondence

McCarry served in the United States Army, where he was a correspondent for Stars and Stripes, and has been a small-town newspaperman.

As an editor and writer

McCarry was editor-at-large for National Geographic and has contributed pieces to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other national publications.

The Last Supper
Arrow edition, 1984

His novels are currently published by Overlook Press, starting with Tears of Autumn, republished in 2005. Charles N. Brown, the publisher of Locus, which primarily addresses the science-fiction publishing world, wrote in the July 2006 issue: "Two Charles McCarry hardcover reprints from Overlook... aren't really SF or fantasy, but they are two of the best spy thrillers ever written and form a secret or alternate history of the 20th century."[2]

McCarry is best known for a series of books concerning the life of super spy Paul Christopher. Born in Germany before WWII of a German mother and an American father, Christopher joins the CIA after the war and becomes one of its most effective spies. After launching an unauthorized investigation of the Kennedy assassination, Christopher becomes a pariah to the agency and a hunted man. Eventually he spends ten years in a Chinese prison before being released and embarking on a solution to the mystery that has haunted him his entire life: the fate of his mother who disappeared at the beginning of WWII. The books are notable for their historical detail and depiction of spycraft, as well as their careful and extensive examination of Christopher's relationship with his family, friends, wives, and lovers.

Also notable are two books dealing with Paul Christopher's American cousins, Horace and Julian Hubbard: The Better Angels and Shelley's Heart. These novels tell the story of a U.S. President who approves the assassination of the leader of an oil-rich Arab nation who has acquired nuclear arms and intends to pass them onto a terrorist organization. When news of this threatens to ruin the President's chances for re-election, the Hubbards conspire to steal the election. In Shelley's Heart, the conspiracy is revealed and the newly re-elected President is impeached and placed on trial in the Senate. Both books indicate an extensive knowledge of Washington politics on the part of the author.

McCarry's most unusual book in the series, also concerning the Christopher family, is Bride of the Wilderness. Set in the 17th century, it's a historical romance concerning one of Paul Christopher's ancestors, the English-born Fanny Harding. After the death of her father, she travels to America and is abducted by Indians during the French-Indian Wars and eventually marries one of her captors, a French officer named Philippe de Saint-Christophe (or Christopher).

The film Wrong is Right (1982) starring Sean Connery was loosely based on his novel, The Better Angels.

McCarry has also written several standalone novels. The most recent of these is The Shanghai Factor (2013). Publishers Weekly says "Meticulous, intelligent prose is the real star of this excellent espionage thriller." McCarry "focuses more on the psychological challenges faced by street-level agents and those running the operations than on physical action."[3]

Influences

He is an admirer of the work of W. Somerset Maugham, especially the Ashenden stories. He was also an admirer of Richard Condon, author of The Manchurian Candidate, Prizzi's Honor and numerous other novels.[1]

Books

Novels featuring Paul Christopher or his family

In terms of reading sequence, the events in The Secret Lovers come after The Miernik Dossier and before The Tears of Autumn despite the publication sequence. Those who wish to follow the events in order should thus read The Secret Lovers before reading The Tears of Autumn.

Other novels

Non-fiction

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Birnbaum v. Charles McCarry by Robert Birnbaum". The Morning News. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  2. ↑ "Locus Magazine 2006 index". Locusmag.com. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  3. ↑ anonymous (1 April 2013). "The Shanghai Factor".
  4. ↑ "The Shanghai Factor".

External links