My Bookish Journey
Volume 1: From Passionate Reader to Passionate Writer!
I am delighted to launch my Substack newsletter, BOOKENDS. The only activity I enjoy more than reading is writing, and spoiler alert, my second novel, The Fulcrum, publishes June 10th !
With this newsletter, I’ll share books I’ve read, recommendations from book festivals I’ve attended and any unusual or fascinating bookstores I’ve discovered.
Each issue of Bookends will also include news of my writing journey, publications and events.
What I am Reading: Spies I have Loved
I have always loved spy novels. My earliest spy love affair was with the novels of Ian Fleming featuring the debonair and dashing James Bond with his martinis shaken not stirred.
I have read every one of Ian Fleming’ Bond novels and novellas and watched the numerous film adaptations, each one memorable for a different reason. Bond has evolved from the debonaire, Scottish Sean Connery to the grittier Daniel Craig, but the compelling nature of the films remains the same.
My fascination with spy novelists has progressed from Ian Fleming to John le Carre to Daniel Silva and most recently to Mick Herron. It’s been a journey well worth taking.
John Le Carre’s master spy, George Smiley, is brilliant, yet unassuming. In my favourite of the novels - Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy – George Smiley is engaged in the uncovering of a mole in the British Secret Service. He matches wits and tactics and tradecraft against his Soviet counterpart, Karla.
This is le Carre at his best. Laying out the plot, developing the remarkable characters and then bringing it all to a brilliant, somewhat tragic conclusion.
George Smiley is truly a man with no illusions, yet he has one blind spot: his devotion to his wife, the faithless Anne, who compromises his ability to see clearly the spy in his midst. Russian spymaster Karla discovers this fatal flaw in George Smiley’s armour and ruthlessly exploits it.
Alex Guinness played George Smiley in a BBC series based on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He is perfectly understated in the role. Smiley is not James Bond. He is clever but not dashing. He is brilliantly patient but not violent.
After George Smiley, my attention turned to a non-British spy, Gabriel Allon, the creation of American author Daniel Silva. The head of the Israeli spy service, the Mossad, Gabriel Allon is also an expert art restorer, backed up an extraordinarily skilled but probable group of operatives.
The plots are intricate. The conflict intense. Allon is caught between his true love (art restoration) and what he sees as his duty as a spy. (At which he is also preternaturally skilled). He moves stealthily through the countries and the elites of the planet, pursuing his mission.
It’s extraordinary that twenty-eight books in, Daniel Silva still manages to deliver thrilling Gabriel Allon stories. The next one, An Inside Job, publishes in July 2025, and I already have it on pre-order.
Most recently, my spy addiction has been fed by the remarkably different novels of Mick Herron. His master spy is the unlikely Jackson Lamb, who has been put out to pasture. MI6 have dumped Jackson into a ramshackle building known as Slough House. The other failed spies (but still employed) who make up his motley crew are known as the Slow Horses.
Jackson Lamb is filled with vulgarity and rudeness; a spy who farts loudly and frequently. He is the very antithesis of the suave James Bond. But Jackson Lamb is also brilliant at what he does. And he has an old-school integrity that puts at odds with the very political leadership of the current day clandestine services.
Mick Herron’s Slow Horses series of novels have been turned into an award-winning television streaming series on Prime. Well worth watching. I am impatiently awaiting the next book from Mick Herron, due in August of 2025 titled Clown Town.
What Am I Writing?
Just over two years ago my first novel, Shadow Life, was published. After eight books of non-fiction, it was a completely different experience writing and promoting it, one in which I learned a tremendous amount.
Thank you to all those readers, book clubs and bookstores who were so supportive.
The fiction bug hooked me, and I’m delighted to announce that my second novel, The Fulcrum, publishes June 10th - always an exciting and anxiety-producing day for a writer!
The novel continues the stories of Matthew Rice and Mary Louise O’Reilly but moves the story to Harvard University and later to Miami. My publisher, the wonderful team at Girl Friday Productions, have dubbed The Fulcrum an environmental thriller.
I’m grateful to be holding book launches at four amazing independent bookstores in June. All events are free with no need for registration. I hope you’ll join me for one or more of them.
WINNIPEG, Saturday, June 14, 2025, 7pm, Robinson McNally Books, Grant Park In the Atrium4000-1120 Grant Ave, Winnipeg, MB R3M 2A6,Tel: (204) 475-0483
OTTAWA, Tuesday, June 17, 2025, 5pm, Perfect Books, 258 Elgin St, Ottawa, ON K2P 0J2, Tel: (613) 231-6468
TORONTO, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 6pm, Ben McNally Books, 108 Queen St E, Toronto, ON M5C 1S4, Tel: (416) 361-0032
ORANGEVILLE, Date TBC. BookLore, 121 First Street, Orangeville, ON L9W 3J8, Tel: (519) 942-3830.
And…drumroll please…The Fulcrum is now available for pre-order! Pre-ordering is so helpful in planning for the bookseller, publisher and of course to the author. There are numerous ways for you to obtain a copy:
By calling the bookstores above and asking to put one aside.
Through Amazon (both e-book and print).
e-Book versions through Indigo, Kobo Rakuten and Apple Books.
Please keep an eye on this newsletter and/or my website, michaeldecter.com, or more additions, plus reviews and media mentions.
"In the romantic thriller The Fulcrum, lucky lovers work to bring awareness to the dangers of climate change." – Foreword
And please connect with me @MichaelDecterAuthor on Instagram, Goodreads and Facebook. I’d love to hear about what you’re reading.
I’m a fan of the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. So here it is a very happy author holding his first copy of his new novel, The Fulcrum.
Behind my writing desk is a Charlie Pachter rendering of the marvellous Margaret Atwood entitled “Handmaiden of Honour.” I felt her critical gaze as I struggled to write this novel. And also the presence of her grace and greatness. Hopefully through the mysterious process of osmosis, a tiny amount of Ms Atwood seeped into my own writing.
Until next time, fellow book-lovers!
Michael