ONE OF THE BEST SPY THRILLERS OF 2023
The Iraq War is a raging storm of blood and violence, the Service is fighting for its survival on and off the battlefield, and an Iranian diplomat in Paris reaches out to a retired spy. Enter Owen Roberts, a young, idealistic spy who joins the Service after 9/11 to make a difference.
In Richard Snyder’s debut spy thriller, we learn that The Clandestine Education of Owen Roberts is a tale of self-discovery. But it’s more than just one man’s story; it’s about the grand arc of espionage, how history never lets go of the present, how the injustices and demons of the past are always with us, lurking beneath the surface, ready to pull us down into the darkness.
Along the way, we see Owen’s humor, cynicism, and boyish wonderment as he fights in the bare-knuckled arena of espionage. Owen and his comrades and enemies operate in a sphere of deceit and self-delusion, creating paths of destruction wherever they go.
No one is ever safe in this world.
THE BEST POLITICAL SPY THRILLER OF 2024
Defector in Paradise is the second novel in the Owen Roberts’ trilogy. It just happens to be an election year, and a Russian agent is a step away from making it to the White House. Tragic circumstances force Owen to team up with a cagey Soviet defector to expose one of the Cold War’s last and biggest secrets: the identity of a high-level mole operating within the US government.
This is not the same officer we read about in The Clandestine Education of Owen Roberts. It is twenty years later, and Owen is no longer the young, idealistic man he once was. He wants to be, but his secret life in the world of espionage is beginning to wear on him. His career is going nowhere, and once again, he finds himself fighting against a formidable enemy who forces him to question his own moral code.
As Owen walks down a path of death and destruction, he realizes that he has become the last man standing between the mole and the White House. But in this stirring sequel, Defector in Paradise is more than just a spy thriller. It is a novel about the unimaginable manipulation of American politics, and the actions of those who refuse to believe truths they cannot accept. Owen Roberts teaches us that while the truth can set you free, sometimes it is better just not to know. The truth, after all, is the most dangerous weapon of all.